SonOff Low Cost Wifi Switches for Home Automation

air

I've installed one of these recently on my boiler to give me smart phone control and control of time schedules.
https://www.itead.cc/sonoff-dual.html
They have a wide range of products, plug sockets, light fittings and even multi output DIN rail mountable units for controlling multiple devices.
They compare well with the likes of Nest and Climote at about €8 delivered.
https://www.itead.cc/sonoff-dual.html
They are based on the ESP8266 chipset and are arduino compatible. It's possible to reprogram them using the Arduino IDE if you're so inclined.

Their app is decent enough for a Chinese company, you can share devices with other users and manage their privileges.
Initial setup only involves inputting your WiFi password and clicking next a few times.
No complaints from me so far.

Plenty of resellers on eBay also.

B-D-P--

Can you log into this from outside your wifi?
as in if on holidays you want to turn on lights at home?

air

Yep, works from anywhere through their app. Obviously your WiFi needs to be on at home.

Jaden

Can we make this play ball with IFTTT, or I daresay Alexa?

bittihuduga

is this like those TP link wifi smart plug?

air

bittihuduga wrote: »

is this like those TP link wifi smart plug?

No, absolutely nothing like it.

air

Jaden wrote: »

Can we make this play ball with IFTTT, or I daresay Alexa?

You can reflash them with an MQTT compatible firmware which may help with this:
https://github.com/arendst/Sonoff-MQTT-OTA-Arduino

Stoner

air wrote:

I've installed one of these recently on my boiler to give me smart phone control and control of time schedules.

I've one too, great device

beanian

air wrote: »

You can reflash them with an MQTT compatible firmware which may help with this:
https://github.com/arendst/Sonoff-MQTT-OTA-Arduino

Just to call out this requires being comfortable with a soldering iron and connecting GPIO pins etc.. I was ready to buy a couple until I saw this

air

beanian wrote: »

Just to call out this requires being comfortable with a soldering iron and connecting GPIO pins etc.. I was ready to buy a couple until I saw this

The TH16 version has GPIO14 available on the jack port so no soldering required for that one.
Regardless, the hacking involved is very minimal.

This guy has great videos on them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mz5sCAvDAY

durtybit

I was in the middle of ordering these also for the same purpose as the timer part packed in on my heating switch.

air

Go for it durtybit, I doubt you'll find a mechanical switch as cheaply!
Just to be clear they work straight out of the box with the manufacturers app for basic applications. Hacking of any sort is only required if you want to run alternative firmware versions etc.

durtybit

air wrote: »

Go for it durtybit, I doubt you'll find a mechanical switch as cheaply!
Just to be clear they work straight out of the box with the manufacturers app for basic applications. Hacking of any sort is only required if you want to run alternative firmware versions etc.

Totally understand! ON/OFF and a timer is about as much as I need

I had the idea a few weeks ago and was not sure if they could be applied to this objective. Nice to see you answered that question in my head.

durtybit

Would it be better to go for the higher amp rated one to replace the heating switch?

air

No need, your boiler and circulation pump are likely to be well within the limits of the lower amp model, consult an electrician if at all unsure though or if you have something different than a basic domestic boiler with circulation pump.

You should be quite happy with it I think.
The only downside to the default firmware for basic use in my opinion is that the physical button on the unit doesn't toggle the outputs, it's only used for entering programming mode to set the WiFi details etc.
Easy to put a switch in parallel though for manual override.

Stoner

Usually it's all handled and sized at 5 amps
The issue here is that you'd need to make sure you feed the circulation pump , you'd hope that the boiler will do that for you once you give it a permanent live and a switched live through this unit.

The unit I have has a 433 MHz remote too. So it works when wifi is down.

I haven't used it in heating though so I'm not recommending or condemning their use here.

durtybit

Stoner wrote: »

Usually it's all handled and sized at 5 amps
The issue here is that you'd need to make sure you feed the circulation pump , you'd hope that the boiler will do that for you once you give it a permanent live and a switched live through this unit.

The unit I have has a 433 MHz remote too. So it works when wifi is down.

I haven't used it in heating though so I'm not recommending or condemning their use here.

Electrician will be coming at some stage to fit outdoor lighting so I can add this to the list (might use a few on the outdoor lighting too!!)

air

The Sonoff is also available with 433 RF as an option for a euro or 2 more if you feel it necessary. WiFi is only necessary for manual control though or if you want to change the settings, the timer will work away happily without it in a network outage.

Chet T16

I had our heating ran off a sonoff in our old house without issue. I reflashed it with some home assistant compatible firmware which I kind of regret as it's not the road I want to go down now and there is no going back to the itead firmware which was great for plug and play.

http://www.chet.ie/#category/1/article/240

air

Is there no way to easily back up the Itead firmware before reflashing? A shame if they don't make the compiled code available.

The Black Oil

Would be interested in this for the boiler. Wouldn't have a clue on the electrical side, though.

air

The Black Oil wrote: »

Would be interested in this for the boiler. Wouldn't have a clue on the electrical side, though.

It's not a whole lot more advanced than wiring a plug to be honest, live and neutral in and live out. They even have sprung terminals for terminating the wires.

The YouTube video I linked above gives a great run down on how to enclose it within an enclosure and link out the earth etc for a really safe and secure installation.

beanian

air wrote: »

It's not a whole lot more advanced than wiring a plug to be honest, live and neutral in and live out. They even have sprung terminals for terminating the wires.

The YouTube video I linked above gives a great run down on how to enclose it within an enclosure and link out the earth etc for a really safe and secure installation.

why does it need to be a dual switch instead of a standard sonoff single switch?

air

beanian wrote: »

why does it need to be a dual switch instead of a standard sonoff single switch?

It doesn't, sorry if I gave that impression.

beanian

air wrote: »

It doesn't, sorry if I gave that impression.

grand, I thought I was missing something with the wiring!

beanian

air wrote: »

It's not a whole lot more advanced than wiring a plug to be honest, live and neutral in and live out. They even have sprung terminals for terminating the wires.

The YouTube video I linked above gives a great run down on how to enclose it within an enclosure and link out the earth etc for a really safe and secure installation.

I got my Sonoff switch based on your recommendation! However we need the existing heating control panel to work as it currently does. Is it possible to wire the sonoff in parallel so the heating can be turned on/off from either the panel or via wifi?

air

beanian wrote: »

I got my Sonoff switch based on your recommendation! However we need the existing heating control panel to work as it currently does. Is it possible to wire the sonoff in parallel so the heating can be turned on/off from either the panel or via wifi?

Yes, 100% and I've done it for a friend already. Just mounted it below the exiting heating timer, the heating runs if either the old timer or the Sonoff is on.

Eric Cartman

these look decent. If anyone needs larger loads, always remember you can fit a contactor such as this : to your fuse board *please get an electrician to do this. Then you can use cheap AC wifi switches to do whatever you want.

25A : http://ie.rs-online.com/web/p/contactors/7446854/
40A : http://ie.rs-online.com/web/p/contactors/7912966/

beanian

air wrote: »

Yes, 100% and I've done it for a friend already. Just mounted it below the exiting heating timer, the heating runs if either the old timer or the Sonoff is on.

I don't suppose you could explain how you did this? I have basic wiring knowledge but dont want to have to get a sparks in just to wire this in.

air

The switched live goes to both the timers / controllers and then to the device to be controlled.
Just basically establishes 2 parallel circuits from the live supply to the device. If either the timer or the controller closes then power is supplied to the device.
Please ensure your basic wiring knowledge is sufficient to allow you to do this safely before you start.
If you have any doubts consult a qualified and competent professional.

beanian

air wrote: »

The switched live goes to both the timers / controllers and then to the device to be controlled.
Just basically establishes 2 parallel circuits from the live supply to the device. If either the timer or the controller closes then power is supplied to the device.
Please ensure your basic wiring knowledge is sufficient to allow you to do this safely before you start.
If you have any doubts consult a qualified and competent professional.

OK I think I understand. In this scenario though the SonOff is unaware that the boiler is on if switched on via the panel. And if you turn it on via the panel you must turn it off via the panel & vice versa is that right?

air

Yes, you have it spot on.
The alternative would be to use a second SonOff upstream of the mechanical switch that could act as an absolute shutoff.

beanian

Great video detailing exactly how to flash the Sonoff with custom firmware, looks much easier then I thought
https://youtu.be/-JxPWA-qxAk

The Black Oil

Have ordered a few.

The Black Oil

Is there a typical time frame by which stuff tends to reach the Irish postal system after it's been through HK?

Ordered March 30th.
Shipped April 11th
Departed HK April 24th
May bank hol, blah blah.

Guess I should just be patient.

bk

Massive delays with stuff coming from China being delivered by An Post at the moment.

The items are arriving in Ireland and then An Post seem to be keeping them for weeks if not months before delivering!

Item Ordered February 28th, it arrived in Ireland on March 17th, two months later I've received it today from An Post!

B-D-P--

bk wrote: »

Massive delays with stuff coming from China being delivered by An Post at the moment.

The items are arriving in Ireland and then An Post seem to be keeping them for weeks if not months before delivering!

Item Ordered February 28th, it arrived in Ireland on March 17th, two months later I've received it today from An Post!

Thought that was just me,,, A lot of items I'm getting from China are getting massively delayed.

bk

B-D-P-- wrote: »

Thought that was just me,,, A lot of items I'm getting from China are getting massively delayed.

Nope, 500 post thread with loads of people having the same problem here:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057689533

Stoner

bk wrote: »

Massive delays with stuff coming from China being delivered by An Post at the moment.

The items are arriving in Ireland and then An Post seem to be keeping them for weeks if not months before delivering!

Item Ordered February 28th, it arrived in Ireland on March 17th, two months later I've received it today from An Post!

i ordered on batch of snoff on November that arrived in April!!!

The Black Oil

ITEM HAS BEEN ACCEPTED DUBLIN MAIL CENTRE EXT
DUBLIN 12
19-May-17
17:02
HONG KONG

Progress.

tweek84

Stoner wrote: »

i ordered on batch of snoff on November that arrived in April!!!

Sorry to be bumping up an old thread, but i was interested in these sonoff units i ordered one to test out.

Quick query for you Stoner, When the power is killed to the Sonoff unit does it take long to connect back to the wifi? or does it need to be paired again?

And sorry to be a Safety Stan but are they CE approved? I would be worried about them going up on fire and the insurance company not covering the damage. I suppose i could put the feed to the Sonoff unit on a rcbo for a small bit of added safety.

Stoner

They hold the wifi code.

They have a CE mark.

No way I'd use them with out fusing them down though

So a plug top or spur with a 5 amp fuse

tweek84

Stoner wrote: »

They hold the wifi code.

They have a CE mark.

No way I'd use them with out fusing them down though

So a plug top or spur with a 5 amp fuse

Oh good i was a bit concerned about the lack of approval on them, i have heard recently of an incident where an insurance company are refusing to pay out due to a fire from un-ce marked equipment.
Once they units arrive i will put them through a couple of tests and see how they go. I plan on using 4 channel one of them to control my heating using relays and i will use the single channel as a test board.
Do you know if they provide any of them that are capable of dimming or are dali dimming?

Stoner

tweek84 wrote:

Oh good i was a bit concerned about the lack of approval on them, i have heard recently of an incident where an insurance company are refusing to pay out due to a fire from un-ce marked equipment. Once they units arrive i will put them through a couple of tests and see how they go. I plan on using 4 channel one of them to control my heating using relays and i will use the single channel as a test board. Do you know if they provide any of them that are capable of dimming or are dali dimming?

No they are not Dali, there is no seperate control circuit they switch the power on and off

I have ones with the rf remote on them too

tweek84

Stoner wrote: »

No they are not Dali, there is no seperate control circuit they switch the power on and off

I have ones with the rf remote on them too

Yes but do sonoff do a dali type controller, i have seen that they do a led kit complete but i haven't seen the controllers seperate.

Black_Knight

Stoner wrote: »

They hold the wifi code.

They have a CE mark.

No way I'd use them with out fusing them down though

So a plug top or spur with a 5 amp fuse

Which CE mark?

Stoner

Edit they have no CE mark.

Stoner

tweek84 wrote:

Yes but do sonoff do a dali type controller, i have seen that they do a led kit complete but i haven't seen the controllers seperate.

TBH I don't know sorry, I didn't realise you were up to speed on it.

I've seen 16 amp ones for the American market but haven't see them for 220V.

Maybe they have a better range for different markets TBH I'd be very surprised if they had a Dali interface

Stoner

One very handy thing with SONOFF it has a feature where you can share a device. This is handy as you can control other devices in other locations or let others control your devices without opening all devices to others.

For example, you could install one on your mother's heating and share it with your account you can then turn on and off her heating but she can't see your devices.

Stoner

tweek84 wrote:

Quick query for you Stoner, When the power is killed to the Sonoff unit does it take long to connect back to the wifi? or does it need to be paired again?

I checked that they are back up in about 3 seconds

GryKyo

Stoner wrote: »

I checked that they are back up in about 3 seconds

I have several sonoff switches, some of which I have reflashed and use via Node-Red and MQTT. The Sonoffs are fairly robust but depending on what is happening on your router, DHCP etc they can take a while to re-connect to WiFi. On the stock firmware the Sonoff requests an IP address from the dynamic range on your router. Any re-connect delay can often be your router and the DHCP management however and if this is a problem where a fast re-connection is needed then I suggest re flashing and using a static IP address. Devices generally connect instantly in this case.

As an example: I have quite some bit of kit in my attic space ranging from CCTV to network switches, a PoE power supply and TV antenna amp, all powered and all "potentially" a fire hazard. I have a smoke alarm up there which is set up to connect to the WiFi and push-message my phone in the event of smoke. This uses a static IP address and from activation to message pop-up on my phone is under 5 seconds. The sonoff switches can take minutes depending on the mood of the various equipment!

With regard to Sonoffs, these are fantastic resources, especially if you hack stuff: Pete Scargill's Tech Blog, as is Jonathan Oxer's SuperhouseTV channel on YouTube. Also John Ward has been testing the Sonoffs for max power rating and will test the case for "self extinguishing" soon. For the keen hacker: For inspiration on sensible home automation perhaps trust "The guy with the Swiss accent", Andreas Spiess on YouTube.

Hope that helps

Garry