• Irrigation again

    MaBe42 • 02/10/2025 at 19:58 • 0 comments

    Going back to my irrigation control: https://hackaday.io/project/198352-experiences-with-esphome/log/233542-replacing-ospi-opensprinkler

    This is controlled by automations on HA which switch on/off the valves by relays using the ESPhome switches. But what will happen if my HA crashed while the water is on? Perhaps while I'm on holiday?

    to be continued

  • Some interesting things

    MaBe42 • 02/10/2025 at 19:52 • 0 comments

    Status LED:

    Most of the ESP boards have a status LED. There exists a primitive to directly access it:

    light:
  - platform: status_led
    name: "Status"
    pin:
      number: GPIO2
      inverted: true
    restore_mode: ALWAYS_OFF

     This allows easily using the status LED as an indicator when programming automations in ESPhome.

    HA Button:

    A switch from ESPhome shows as a switch in HA and can be toggled there. However, sometimes you would like to have the equivalent of a tactile button in HA, for example to press a button in the HA companion app on a smartphone to open a garage door.

    output:
  - platform: gpio
    pin: GPIO0
    id: gpio_d3

switch:
  - platform: output
    name: "Generic yellow switch"
    id: yellow_switch
    output: gpio_d3

button:
  - platform: template
    name: "Garagentor"
    id: tortaster
    on_press:
      then:
        - switch.turn_on: yellow_switch
        - delay: 1s
        - switch.turn_off: yellow_switch

     So pressing on this button in HA turns the yellow switch on for 1 second. Similar to pressing a button for 1 second.

  • Measuring temperature

    MaBe42 • 02/10/2025 at 19:36 • 0 comments

    There exist numerous possibilities to measure temperature. On is the Dallas DS1820 sensor. It uses a single GPIO. It is necessary to define that this GPIO is used for a 1-wire bus. And then, the 1-wire bus is referenced by its id in the sensor itself:

    one_wire:
  - platform: gpio
    pin: GPIO12
    id: wire1

sensor:
  - platform: dallas_temp
    name: Temperatur
    update_interval: 5s
    one_wire_id: wire1

    and it shows in HA:

  • A rotary encoder

    MaBe42 • 02/10/2025 at 19:27 • 0 comments

    Considering https://community.home-assistant.io/t/homeassistant-number-how-does-it-work/842982/10 let's make the device independent from HA, i.e. add the possibility to dim the LED. The most intuitive way is perhaps a rotary button.

    This can be done easily and just requires two GPIOs:

    The code needs to be added to the sensor section.

    sensor:
  - platform: rotary_encoder
    name: "Rotary Button"
    pin_a: GPIO4 #D2
    pin_b: GPIO5 #D1
    min_value: 0
    max_value: 100
    on_clockwise:
      - light.dim_relative:
          id: red_led
          relative_brightness: 5%
          transition_length: 500ms
    on_anticlockwise:
      - light.dim_relative:
          id: red_led
          relative_brightness: -5%
          transition_length: 500ms

    The code is pretty self-explanatory.

    This also turns up in the sensors field in HA. But to dim it from HA, the red LED needs to be clicked.

  • Basics: Input Button or Switch

    MaBe42 • 02/10/2025 at 07:12 • 0 comments

    Of course, there need also to be inputs. For example a switch or a button. I added a button to toggle the red LED. To interact between different components, the components need to have an id. So, an id needs to be added to the red LED:

    light:
  - platform: monochromatic
    name: "red LED"
    id: red_led
    output: gpio_d7
    default_transition_length: 1.5s

    As can be seen, the transition length can be fractions of seconds.

    To add the button or switch as an input, a binary_sensor needs to be added:

    binary_sensor:
  - platform: gpio
    name: "Button"
    pin: 
      number: GPIO14 #D5
      inverted: true
      mode: 
        input: true
        pullup: true 
    filters:
      - delayed_on: 50ms               # debouncing
    on_click:
      max_length: 1000ms            
      then:
        - light.toggle: red_led

    The button connects the gpio pin to ground. Therefore, a pull-up resistor to Vcc is needed. This can be done using an internal pull-up. As the gpio goes to 0 when the button is pressed, inverted: true is used which provides a logic 1 when the button is pressed. max_length is used to define what is considered a click.

    Now, the red LED can be toggled using the button and in addition its intensity can be changed from HA.

    In HA, there is now an additional Sensors field which shows the state of the button:

  • PWM output (for lights)

    MaBe42 • 02/09/2025 at 08:19 • 0 comments

    Something you quite often want to have with lights is that you can dim them.

    Ok. But don't look for something like Light-PWM. What you want to change is not the abstract light component but the underlying output. And here we find several components: 

    - ESP32 LEDC

    - ESP8266 Software PWM

    - LibreTiny PWM

    - Slow PWM

    As I'm working with the Wemos D1 mini which is an ESP8266 board, I choose ESP8266 Software PWM.

    The first thing I have to change is a single line in my code to make the red LED dimmable:

      - platform: esp8266_pwm

    instead of gpio.

    But a dimmable light is not a binary one any more. Therefore, this needs to be changed, too and becomes:

      - platform: monochromatic

    instead of  binary.

    The appearance in HA is the same but when clicking on the red LED, a widget pops up where the brightness can be set to anything between 0 and 100%.

    And looking at the log, the following can be seen:

    [09:06:28][D][light:036]: 'red LED' Setting:
[09:06:28][D][light:047]:   State: ON
[09:06:28][D][light:051]:   Brightness: 53%
[09:06:28][D][light:085]:   Transition length: 1.0s
[09:06:31][D][light:036]: 'red LED' Setting:
[09:06:31][D][light:047]:   State: OFF
[09:06:31][D][light:085]:   Transition length: 1.0s
[09:06:32][D][light:036]: 'red LED' Setting:
[09:06:32][D][light:047]:   State: ON
[09:06:32][D][light:085]:   Transition length: 1.0s

    There is something called "Transition length" which defines how long it takes to fade-in/fade-out. And with the button below the slider, the light can be switched on/off. But "on" is then the previously set intensity. In the above case it means it will return again to 53% intensity - not to 100%.

    Looking into the documentation, (https://esphome.io/components/light/#config-light) there are plenty of possibilities for setting parameters like default_transition_length but not all can be used with the monochromatic light.

    For example: 

    light:
  - platform: monochromatic
    name: "red LED"
    output: gpio_d7
    default_transition_length: 3s

  • Basics: Binary Output

    MaBe42 • 02/08/2025 at 20:31 • 0 comments

    This can be something like a LED or a relay that can be switched by switching a digital output.

    There are several possibilities to do this which end up in slightly different appearances in HA:

    Output - GPIO

    output:
  - platform: gpio
    pin: GPIO13
    id: gpio_d7

     But this does not show up in HA.

    If you want it to be shown in HA, you can for example use

    Light - Binary Light

    You need to add a few lines to the above. The result is:

    output:
  - platform: gpio
    pin: GPIO13
    id: gpio_d7

light:
  - platform: binary
    name: "red LED"
    output: gpio_d7

     As you see, in the light you refer to the output's id.

    The result looks like this in HA:

    You could also define a

    Switch - GPIO Switch

    The code is:

    switch:
  - platform: gpio
    name: "Yellow output"
    pin: GPIO12

     Result:

    or you can use

    Switch - Generic Output Switch

    Replace the above code with:

    output:
  - platform: gpio
    pin: GPIO12
    id: gpio_d6

switch:
  - platform: output
    name: "Generic yellow switch"
    output: gpio_d6

     Beware, you can have only a single output section. So together with the red LED it looks like:

    output:
  - platform: gpio
    pin: GPIO12
    id: gpio_d6
  - platform: gpio
    pin: GPIO13
    id: gpio_d7
    
light:
  - platform: binary
    name: "red LED"
    output: gpio_d7

switch:
  - platform: output
    name: "Generic yellow switch"
    output: gpio_d6

     And the result in HA:

    And there are other components which in the end only toggle a GPIO between 0 and 1.

  • Let's go back to the start

    MaBe42 • 02/08/2025 at 19:57 • 0 comments

    The more I used ESPhome, the more confused I got. So I decided to start over again and provide some examples for things I had understood or which at least I thought I had understood.

    I took a Wemos D1 mini board and generated a new yaml to which I just added a wifi sensor, as it's always good to know the wifi strength when testing.

    esphome:
  name: eh-test

esp8266:
  board: d1_mini

# Enable logging
logger:

# Enable Home Assistant API
api:
  password: ""

ota:
  - platform: esphome
    password: ""

wifi:
  ssid: !secret wifi_ssid
  password: !secret wifi_password

  # Enable fallback hotspot (captive portal) in case wifi connection fails
  ap:
    ssid: "Eh-Test Fallback Hotspot"
    password: "password"

captive_portal:

sensor:
  - platform: wifi_signal
    name: "WiFi Signal Sensor"
    update_interval: 10s

     As for the wifi credentials, it's necessary to create a secrets.yaml in the same directory as the above yaml file and provide the credentials there:

    wifi_ssid: "your_ssid"
wifi_password: "your_secret_password"

    In home assistant (HA) this can then be seen as 

    (Settings -> Devices & Services -> ESPHome -> Devices)

  • Soil moisture sensor

    MaBe42 • 01/01/2025 at 20:46 • 0 comments

    After my first positive experiences with ESPhome, I had a closer look into the documentation and found out that deepsleep is also implemented.

    I had some soil moisture sensors connected to an ESP8266 to detect if irrigation is necessary. The device is powered by an 18650 cell. It wakes up every 30 mins, switches on the power to the sensor, reads the sensor, sends the measured value via MQTT and goes back to deep sleep. It was not too difficult to implement it in ESPhome:

    esphome:
  name: eh-bodenfeuchte3
  on_boot:
    - switch.turn_on: Sensor_Vcc
    - delay: 1s
# Terrassensensor

esp8266:
  board: huzzah

# Enable logging
logger:

# Enable Home Assistant API
api:
  password: ""

ota:
  - platform: esphome
    password: ""

wifi:
  ssid: !secret wifi_ssid
  password: !secret wifi_password

  # Enable fallback hotspot (captive portal) in case wifi connection fails
  ap:
    ssid: "Eh-Bodenfeuchte3"
    password: "EfGXNoIANTV5"

captive_portal:

deep_sleep:
  run_duration: 12s
  sleep_duration: 30min
  id: ds

switch:
  - platform: gpio
    pin: GPIO14 #D5
    id: Sensor_Vcc

binary_sensor:
  - platform: homeassistant
    id: no_deep_sleep
    entity_id: input_boolean.no_deep_sleep

mqtt:
  broker: 192.168.2.204
  discovery: false
  discover_ip: false

sensor:
  - platform: wifi_signal
    name: "WiFi Signal Sensor"
    update_interval: 10s

  - platform: adc
    pin: A0
    name: Terrassenfeuchte
    samples: 10
    update_interval: 8s
    id: terrassenfeuchte
    filters:
      - multiply: 1000
    on_value:
      - mqtt.publish:
          topic: "ESP/H2O/Sensor3"
          payload: !lambda |-
            return to_string(int(1*id(terrassenfeuchte).state));
          retain: true
      - if:
          condition:
            binary_sensor.is_on: no_deep_sleep
          then:
            - deep_sleep.prevent: ds
#            - logger.log: "No sleep!"
          else:
            - deep_sleep.allow: ds
#            - logger.log: "Let's snooze!"

    Each time it wakes up, the **on_boot**-section is carried out. There I switch on the voltage for the sensor. As it does not draw much current, I power it directly from a GPIO.

    The implementation in ESPhome allowed me even to add a switch to HA to prevent the device from going to deep sleep again after the next time it wakes up again. This allows easily flashing OTA without opening the waterproof housing. A feature which I did not have before.

    I put the device into the soil in April and remove it at the end of October. I charge the cell at the beginning of August to be sure that it lasts. That's good enough for me.

  • LED lighting

    MaBe42 • 12/27/2024 at 21:57 • 0 comments

    An incomplete yaml file to control two LED strips for illumination using two buttons. The buttons allow only to switch between on and off. From HomeAssistant dimming is possible.

    The device uses a Wemos D1 mini.

    The LEDs are controlled using PWM output and are connected using a logic-level n-MOSFET (IRLU 024N). The maximum level is set to 95% to prevent the LEDs from to early degradation (at least I hope so).

    The buttons used to toggle the lights include a very simple debouncing (filter).

    esp8266:
  board: d1_mini

# LEDs: 13, 14 (D7, D5)
# Taster: 5, 4 (D2, D1)
    
output:
  - platform: esp8266_pwm
    pin: GPIO14 #D5
    id: Fenster_pwm
    frequency: 440 Hz
    min_power: 0
    max_power: 0.95

  - platform: esp8266_pwm
    min_power: 0
    max_power: 0.95
    frequency: 440 Hz
    id: Bett_pwm
    pin: GPIO13 #D7


light:
  - platform: monochromatic
    name: "Licht Fenster"
    id: Licht_Fenster
    output: Fenster_pwm
    default_transition_length: 3s

  - platform: monochromatic
    name: "Licht Bett"
    id: Licht_Bett
    output: Bett_pwm
    default_transition_length: 3s

#  - platform: status_led
#    name: "Status"
#    pin:
#      number: GPIO2
#      inverted: true
#    restore_mode: ALWAYS_OFF

binary_sensor:
  - platform: gpio
    name: "Taster_Fenster"
    pin: 
      number: GPIO4 #D1
      inverted: true
      mode: 
        input: true
        pullup: true
    filters:
      - delayed_on: 50ms
    on_click:
      max_length: 500ms
      then:
        - light.toggle: Licht_Fenster

  - platform: gpio
    name: "Taster_Bett"
    pin: 
      number: GPIO5 #D2
      inverted: true
      mode: 
        input: true
        pullup: true
    filters:
      - delayed_on: 50ms
    on_click:
      max_length: 500ms
      then:
        - light.toggle: Licht_Bett

sensor:
  - platform: wifi_signal
    name: "WiFi Signal Sensor"
    update_interval: 300s