Project: Temperature and humidity monitor for the smart home
A smart home offers a wide range of options for making everyday life more convenient and efficient. A popular DIY project in this area is the temperature and humidity monitor, which provides real-time data on the room environment and also serves as the basis for further automation. This project is not only practical, but also relatively easy to implement, especially with inexpensive hardware such as a Raspberry Pi in conjunction with sensors such as the DHT11.
Aim of the project
The aim of this project is to continuously monitor the temperature and humidity in a room and integrate the data into a smart home system such as Home Assistant. This makes it possible to create user-defined automations, e.g:
– Automatically turning on a fan when the humidity rises above a certain level.
– Energy-efficient heating by adjusting the thermostat to the measured temperature
– Notifications in the event of unusual values, e.g. excessive humidity or sudden temperature fluctuations.
Hardware requirements
– Raspberry Pi
– DHT11 sensor for measuring temperature and humidity
– Jumper cable and breadboard for connecting the components
– Monitor to display the values locally
Software requirements
– Home Assistant
– Python for programming the microcontroller
Implementation steps
1. Set up the hardware: The DHT11 sensor is connected to the Raspberry Pi. Power is supplied via 3.3V, while the data is transmitted via a GPIO pin.
2. Program the software: Using the`Adafruit_DHT` library (Python), the measurement of temperature and humidity is programmed. This data can be sent to Home Assistant via HTTP.
3. Integration into Home Assistant: Home Assistant is configured to receive and display the sensor data. Threshold values can also be defined here, e.g. to send a notification at certain temperatures or to control devices.
4. Create automations: User-defined automations can be set up based on the sensor data. For example, the dehumidifier could be switched on automatically if the humidity exceeds a certain value.
Expansion options:
This project can be expanded with additional sensors, e.g. to monitor air quality, automatically open or close windows, or control heating and ventilation systems even smarter.
Conclusion
A temperature and humidity monitor for the smart home is a simple but effective DIY project that makes the home more comfortable and energy efficient. With inexpensive components and flexible software solutions such as Home Assistant, it is easy to integrate useful automation that saves time and resources in the long term.