home-server

A custom server for managing appliances at home using ESP8266-based devices like Sonoff and Wemos D1 Mini

_Screenshots_

!Dashboard

!Hardware setup

Motivation

I bought a bunch of Sonoff devices and decided to upgrade their firmware to Sonoff-Tasmota.

By replacing the stock firmware, I can have complete control over the device.
Sonoff-Tasmota uses MQTT as the underlying protocol for communication between a broker and the device.

After using MQTT Dash for some time, I decided to build a Progressive Web App.

Setup

Server runs on a local Raspberry PI model 3 B+ which has the following services:

- Mosquitto MQTT Broker
- Redis server

I currently own 6 Sonoff devices, which are connected to the following appliances:

- Patio lamp
- Desk lamp
- Room lamp
- Room heater 1 (this one also reports values from its SI7021 temperature and humidity sensor).
- Room heater 2
- Wall socket

I also have a bunch of sensors connected to a Wemos D1 Mini (flashed with the same firmware above) in my living room:

- DHT22/AM2301 temperature and humidity sensor
- HC SR501 PIR motion sensor
- BMP280 temperature and atmospheric pressure sensor
- BH1750 light level sensor
- Infrared receiver and remote control
- RF transmitter and receiver

How it works

All devices establish a connection to the MQTT broker and report their state while also subscribing to a control topic, allowing you to switch them on/off.

Server runs as a daemon and subscribes to all sensor topics. Some logic decides when to switch the room heater on/off.

The UI is built on React and consists of simple components that allow the user to switch the appliances on/off and view sensor, weather and derived data, like the "real feel" temperature.

The browser keeps a connection to the MQTT broker over a Websocket.

What's next?

Not sure, but I recently started playing with electronics and found home-automation to be my new hobby.

I'll keep experimenting with dev boards like Arduino, NodeMCU, ESP8266 and Sonoff devices. They are low cost devices that allows easy customization.

$3

- Automatic plant watering for my garden 🌻
- OLED display screen showing sensor data 📺
- Remote controled car 🚙