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SonOff Low Cost Wifi Switches for Home Automation

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Comments

  • #702
    Dr4gul4
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,417 ✭✭✭Dr4gul4


    Johnboy1951 wrote: »
    Thanks, I had not heard of that "step back" or if I did failed to associate it correctly.
    Any relevant links available?

    On average my floors need 2 hours heating .... depends on room use and other factors of course.
    Need an extra boost at odd times.


    Nothing in stone i'm afraid , and it appears to be manufacturer specific. case in question, my UFH was designed and installed 10 years ago ..


  • #703
    Johnboy1951
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,031 ✭✭✭✭Johnboy1951


    Dr4gul4 wrote: »
    To bring our topic slightly back on track, with UFH there is or was a process devises called "step back" where by, in a 24 hour period, you allow 8 hours for cool down, and 16 for heating, this ensuring a constant average heat within the block.

    It's actually very similar to what your proposing, and fully viable via the sonoff 4 chan device :D

    I have some Sonoffs (4ch and also single) on order to do some tests, and have been thinking about this strategy for the UFH.

    I think I will adopt this idea with some adaptations to suit my situation.

    If each loop return (thus floor) can be kept to a minimum temperature a few times in the 24 hours, then it is likely a lower return temp will be needed, and give less likelihood of 'overshoot' of floor and room temp.

    I will look at that in conjunction with the Sonoff timers.

    Thanks for the ideas ;)


  • #704
    deadlast
    Registered Users Posts: 436 ✭✭deadlast


    My old APT analog immersion switch has given up again. What are my options with regard to fitting a smart immersion switch?

    I've searched the thread and people are saying the SONOFF pow r2 is suitable, others saying they seem to be a fire hazard.
    http://s.aliexpress.com/ERZnMZVr


    I'm have very little knowledge when it comes to electrician work but my brother is law is a sparks so will get stuff and ask him nicely to wire it in....just need to know what to get first?


  • #705
    Johnboy1951
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,031 ✭✭✭✭Johnboy1951


    deadlast wrote: »
    My old APT analog immersion switch has given up again. What are my options with regard to fitting a smart immersion switch?

    I've searched the thread and people are saying the SONOFF pow r2 is suitable, others saying they seem to be a fire hazard.
    http://s.aliexpress.com/ERZnMZVr


    I'm have very little knowledge when it comes to electrician work but my brother is law is a sparks so will get stuff and ask him nicely to wire it in....just need to know what to get first?

    Use a Basic Sonoff switch to Switch a heavy duty relay which will in turn switch the immersion on/off.

    The Basic Sonoff switches are not rated sufficiently well for such use.

    The one you linked seems to be rated highly enough, but .... do you want such a device working close to its rated capacity?
    I wouldn't TBH.


  • #706
    deadlast
    Registered Users Posts: 436 ✭✭deadlast


    Johnboy1951 wrote: »
    Use a Basic Sonoff switch to Switch a heavy duty relay which will in turn switch the immersion on/off.

    The Basic Sonoff switches are not rated sufficiently well for such use.

    The one you linked seems to be rated highly enough, but .... do you want such a device working close to its rated capacity?
    I wouldn't TBH.

    Thanks for the reply. Ive done a little more reading here. https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=106759050&postcount=3

    Someone said they replaced their APT IMM24 (same as mine) with a Tower Optimum OP-SBWF01, and it was a direct swap.
    https://www.tfc-group.co.uk/optimum-products-2/wi-fi-products/op-sbwf01/#prettyPhoto

    I'll run it by the brother in law, and if thats an option i think ill go with that.


  • #707
    taytobreath
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,792 ✭✭✭taytobreath


    Hi

    Just wondering if someone might be able to help me, I have 3 son-off basics controlling lights. A few months ago something happened my broadband router and I had to do a factory reset on my router, this in turn unlinked all my devices, I'm only getting around to linking the son-offs now but I'm having no luck at all, I've tried several approaches, sometimes the app recognizes the switches sometimes it doesn't, but it will never connect to it.
    Would anyone be able to shed some light on this.


  • #708
    msmx5
    Registered Users Posts: 476 ✭✭msmx5


    taytobreath wrote: »
    Hi

    Just wondering if someone might be able to help me, I have 3 son-off basics controlling lights. A few months ago something happened my broadband router and I had to do a factory reset on my router, this in turn unlinked all my devices, I'm only getting around to linking the son-offs now but I'm having no luck at all, I've tried several approaches, sometimes the app recognizes the switches sometimes it doesn't, but it will never connect to it.
    Would anyone be able to shed some light on this.

    It is most likely that router/phone connection is not operating on 5Ghz. The sonoff's don't support this. Most routers will operate at both 2.4Ghz and 5GHz so it should be possible to set the sonoff's up again but you need to make sure the phone you are using to set them up with is on the 2.4GHz wifi.

    How to do this? Depending on your router/broadband provider you may be shown separate wifi SSIDs (wifi names) for each signal, if so, on your phone connect to the one with 2G or something similar in its name. Some routers (latest virgin media home hub being an example) use the same name for both 2.4Ghz and 5GHz signal - this makes it more difficult to know which your phone is connected to, you may need to log into the router and disable 5Ghz while you set up the sonoffs (after they are connected and working you can re-enable 5Ghz).


    Good luck!


  • #709
    taytobreath
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,792 ✭✭✭taytobreath


    msmx5 wrote: »
    It is most likely that router/phone connection is not operating on 5Ghz. The sonoff's don't support this. Most routers will operate at both 2.4Ghz and 5GHz so it should be possible to set the sonoff's up again but you need to make sure the phone you are using to set them up with is on the 2.4GHz wifi.

    How to do this? Depending on your router/broadband provider you may be shown separate wifi SSIDs (wifi names) for each signal, if so, on your phone connect to the one with 2G or something similar in its name. Some routers (latest virgin media home hub being an example) use the same name for both 2.4Ghz and 5GHz signal - this makes it more difficult to know which your phone is connected to, you may need to log into the router and disable 5Ghz while you set up the sonoffs (after they are connected and working you can re-enable 5Ghz).




    Good luck!

    Hi

    Thanks for your help, I bought another sonoff and linked this last night without any problems, it just seems to be the ones that were already installed that will not link.


  • #710
    msmx5
    Registered Users Posts: 476 ✭✭msmx5


    taytobreath wrote: »
    Hi

    Thanks for your help, I bought another sonoff and linked this last night without any problems, it just seems to be the ones that were already installed that will not link.

    Its not the wifi so!

    http://ewelink.coolkit.cc/?p=129 Did you try the two pairing methods?


  • #711
    taytobreath
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,792 ✭✭✭taytobreath


    yep, I tried both methods several times.


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  • #712
    ctlsleh
    Registered Users Posts: 784 ✭✭✭ctlsleh


    deadlast wrote: »
    Thanks for the reply. Ive done a little more reading here. https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=106759050&postcount=3

    Someone said they replaced their APT IMM24 (same as mine) with a Tower Optimum OP-SBWF01, and it was a direct swap.
    https://www.tfc-group.co.uk/optimum-products-2/wi-fi-products/op-sbwf01/#prettyPhoto

    I'll run it by the brother in law, and if thats an option i think ill go with that.

    I’d like to install a WiFi connected immersion controller with a timer. I have a basic on/off with the sink/bath switch

    Any recommendations?

    I have a nest, but I’m thinking that running a kerosene burner to only heat some water for 30mins twice a day esp during the summer is probably not very efficient or cost effective.

    Appreciate any opinions


  • #713
    paulbok
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,987 ✭✭✭paulbok


    New relay switch with dedicated connectors for a switch now out.
    As cheap as the basic, now no gunthering the basic to connect to a switch.
    Will be getting a few of these, if they follow up with a dimmer version, it'll be a game changer for me in the Holy Grail of smart switches.

    Edit, they confirmed in a tweet they hope to have a dimmer version out by the end of the year.


  • #714
    rolion
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,362 ✭✭✭rolion


    I bought about 20 different modules from them.
    I have few dead already.

    Do you send the faulty one back to them ...or ... buy new ones !?


  • #715
    CGI_3
    Registered Users Posts: 299 ✭✭CGI_3


    I can't seem to get inching and power on state to work together.

    The options for power on are ON / OFF / Previous state.

    Inching is in seconds up to 3600.

    What I'm trying to do is set up inching for say 1800 seconds, so that once it's turned on, it automatically turns off after half an hour. This works.

    But, when I enable inching, then the power up options (in my case, Power ON), seems to be ignored, so if I lose power, and the power is restored, the sonoff's output stays off.

    Firmware is up to date.

    Is it a bug..., Or am I missing something else?

    The application I'm trying to use this on is as a time delay function for a landing light. So, when it is switched on, the sonoff comes online with output on, and Inching cuts the output off after half hour. And the landing light goes off.


  • #716
    msmx5
    Registered Users Posts: 476 ✭✭msmx5


    CGI_3 wrote: »
    I can't seem to get inching and power on state to work together.
    ..
    Inching is in seconds up to 3600.

    If I can I'll try to test this over the weekend.

    Using inching in this way would be a good method to get "boost" functionality for a central heating system ~ thanks for the idea.


  • #717
    2011
    Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators, Regional East Moderators Posts: 12,602 Mod ✭✭✭✭2011


    msmx5 wrote: »
    Using inching in this way would be a good method to get "boost" functionality for a central heating system ~ thanks for the idea.

    Exactly. This is what I do with my TH16 Sonoff devices. The kids are great at switching the heating on with a Google Home voice command, however they are not so good at switching it off. Inching solved this issue.


  • #718
    msmx5
    Registered Users Posts: 476 ✭✭msmx5


    2011 wrote: »
    Exactly. This is what I do with my TH16 Sonoff devices. The kids are great at switching the heating on with a Google Home voice command, however they are not so good at switching it off. Inching solved this issue.

    Exactly my use case!! Teenagers turning the heating on but never turning it off. I'll sort that out this evening! :-)


  • #719
    air
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,830 ✭✭✭air


    For inching to work with power on states, it would have to be recording each inching session to the server so that it could resume the session when power is restored. There's no real time clock on the boards to do this otherwise.
    Inching is really intended for motorised blinds and the likes so I wouldn't expect there would be much demand for power on state to be preserved in this manner.
    None the less I like the idea of using it for boost.


  • #720
    2011
    Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators, Regional East Moderators Posts: 12,602 Mod ✭✭✭✭2011


    air wrote: »
    For inching to work with power on states, it would have to be recording each inching session to the server so that it could resume the session when power is restored.

    I believe that it has built in timer.
    There's no real time clock on the boards to do this otherwise.

    I’m told by Stoner that all timers continue to work when connection to the internet is lost. I admit I have not tested this myself.
    Inching is really intended for motorised blinds

    Incorrect, inching is intended for numerous applications.
    Inching can be set for up to one hour, no blind would take that long!!
    Why would it be limited to blinds?
    Where are you getting this information from?
    None the less I like the idea of using it for boost.

    I have had it working flawlessly as a boost for my heating system for some time now.


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  • #721
    air
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,830 ✭✭✭air


    2011 wrote: »
    I believe that it has built in timer.



    I’m told by Stoner that all timers continue to work when connection to the internet is lost. I admit I have not tested this myself.



    Incorrect.
    Inching can be set for up to one hour, no blind would take that long!!
    Where are you getting this information from?



    I have had it working flawlessly as a boost for my heating system for some time now.

    Sorry it obviously does have a built in timer, what I should have said was that it's not battery backed.
    It relies on synchronising again with the server to re-establish real time when power is lost.
    In totally offline mode it would have no means of the knowing how long the inching had run.
    It has very little memory on board and all the history etc is stored on the server.

    Inching was absolutely intended for blinds, motors etc, the clue is in the name!
    The longer duration options are a welcome hack.
    There is also a countdown timer in the app but it's not as convenient as you've to set the duration every time.


  • #722
    air
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,830 ✭✭✭air


    Also I never said it was exclusively intended for use with blinds, hopefully you are familiar of the concept of an example.


  • #723
    2011
    Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators, Regional East Moderators Posts: 12,602 Mod ✭✭✭✭2011


    air wrote: »
    Inching was absolutely intended for blinds, motors etc, the clue is in the name!

    Says who???
    Why would the manufacturer want to limit it's application, it makes no sense??
    There is a reason that it can be set to longer durations than blinds would require.


  • #724
    air
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,830 ✭✭✭air


    2011 wrote: »
    Says who???
    Why would the manufacturer want to limit it's application, it makes no sense??
    There is a reason that it can be set to longer durations than blinds would require.

    Who said the manufacturer wanted to limit it's application?
    You're jumping to an awful lot of conclusions and doing a lot of misquoting since you jumped in here.

    I'm just giving background as to how the feature came about to help explain why there could be limitations in the software around it.
    From a quick search I found the following definition of inching:

    The definition of jogging or inching as described by NEMA is “the quickly repeated closure of a circuit to start a motor from rest for the purpose of accomplisiing small movements of the driven machine.”

    I acknowledge and welcome the fact that Itead have responded to user feedback and extended the time limit on it to allow for alternate applications.

    However the fact remains that the feature was introduced to allow for control of motorised doors, blinds and the like that require momentary operation.


  • #725
    2011
    Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators, Regional East Moderators Posts: 12,602 Mod ✭✭✭✭2011


    air wrote: »
    Also I never said it was exclusively intended for use with blinds

    I read it that you were suggesting this, now I see that you are not :)
    Who said the manufacturer wanted to limit it's application?

    You said Inching is really intended for motorised blinds this sounded limiting to me.


  • #726
    air
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,830 ✭✭✭air


    If you need further convincing, you can feel free to take a look at the inching specs here:
    https://www.sonoff.in/Sonoff-4CH-Pro-4Gang-Inching-Self-locking-Interlock-WiFi-RF-Smart-Switch
    You can see that at one time the maximum inching duration was 4 seconds.
    The intention was to be able to tap the button within the app to run the likes of blinds things up and down in small controlled increments.


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  • #727
    air
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,830 ✭✭✭air


    2011 wrote: »
    I read it that you were suggesting this, now I see that you are not :)

    You said Inching is really intended for motorised blinds this sounded limiting to me.

    What a perfect example of quoting out of context you have provided us with.

    If only you had quoted me completely, readers could see that what I actually said was:
    Inching is really intended for motorised blinds and the likes.

    Motorised blinds is just one of a limitless number of possible applications that would benefit from inching type control.

    Honestly I'd report you were it not for the fact that you are the moderator.

    I don't see what value any of this is adding to the thread.


  • #728
    2011
    Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators, Regional East Moderators Posts: 12,602 Mod ✭✭✭✭2011


    air wrote: »
    What a perfect example of quoting out of context you have provided us with.

    If only you had quoted me completely, readers could see that what I actually said was:
    Inching is really intended for motorised blinds and the likes.

    Calm down, it was a simple misunderstanding. My bad.
    I did not consider a boiler or immersion to qualify as "the likes".
    Honestly I'd report you were it not for the fact that you are the moderator.

    Being a mod doesn't make me any less likely to misinterpret a post than anyone else. You should always report anyone that you think deserves reporting :)
    I don't see what value any of this is adding to the thread.

    You are right, sorry!


  • #729
    air
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,830 ✭✭✭air


    2011 wrote: »
    Calm down, it was a simple misunderstanding. My bad.
    We all misunderstand occasionally and my own initial reply could have been better written, I was on my phone outdoors.
    The selective quoting however just added insult to injury to be honest.
    2011 wrote: »
    I did not consider a boiler or immersion to qualify as "the likes".
    Nor would I, the use of the inching function for these applications is typical feature creep.

    This feature was never originally intended to be used for this type of application, hence it's limitations in those use cases.

    I was explaining the original basis for an inching function to help explain why the developers would not have not included state restoration upon power on.

    The function was originally included for motor drives etc.

    A user that had it hooked up to a garage door for example wouldn't be happy if they left home during a power cut and came home to find the door wide open due to a mistaken power on setting.
    No motive controller would ever be configured to be powered on following a mains failure.


  • #730
    Bruthal
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,422 ✭✭✭✭Bruthal


    Inching control would likely be motor control based alright. Later uses as heating boost etc are likely due to user requests for longer times.

    I have not used any microcontrollers which did not have their own clocks of one sort or another. Crystal oscillation counters etc. Its needed for the operation of the chip. So time based functions can run independent of connection to internet.

    The inching function goes into off position on power loss and reset even if the device is set to power on when powered up, as would be expected for normal inching uses.


  • #731
    Bruthal
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,422 ✭✭✭✭Bruthal


    air wrote: »
    In totally offline mode it would have no means of the knowing how long the inching had run.
    It has very little memory on board and all the history etc is stored on the server.

    The inching runs perfectly fine if the device loses contact with the internet while an inching command is ongoing, or even if the network disappears.

    If you mean by totally offline, that if the device powers off, then it is still easy to keep note of a timer status by writing it to the chip eprom, but no need anyway, as the inching would not want to continue on repowering up.


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  • #732
    Stoner
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,952 ✭✭✭✭Stoner


    I use it on a couple of things to replicate a button press.

    It's perfect for access control release mechanisms to open locks or to open an electric gate.


    Interesting I had a situation similar to what we are talking about here.

    Years ago I had a lightwaverf relay to open my gate.

    I'd it hooked up to Alexa.

    It ran a schedule of

    Open gate+ 3 sec timer+ close gate

    The Alexa channel could access lightwaverf sequences so in this case one command ran three instructions from the lightwaverf hub to the lightwaverf relay.


    Anyway it worked, I never really used it, it was more about doing it I guess.


    I took out the Alexa speaker and moved to Google speakers.

    The Google access to the lightwaverf channel was inferior to Alexa's. It could access schedules . So you had to tell it to open and tell it to close again.

    I forgot all about it. I was getting some work done on the gate and the engineer disabled it, he was struggling with something holding the contact open, a problem with my work due to a cloud based reset from lightwaverf that changed the state of the relay and held the gate closed.

    Anyway that was then.


    I replaced it with a sonoff.

    At the time the Low voltage sonoff was not available. I have some of them now, but you can slice the boards on the older gen 1 sonoff units to make them volt free on the output.

    Mains in with volt free out.

    Anyway long story short.

    One instruction is sent to the sonoff.

    This turns on the gate, runs an internal timer for 2 seconds and then closes the gate.

    So it's fine for this type of thing

    It's also fine for iot operations like using your ring doorbell to turn on a security light for 30 seconds.

    It's great as with stringify gone and Google messing with home assistant it's nice that the hardware has its own timers.

    It can only work with this on or off. You can't operate it like a regular sonoff with on off control. So if you want a timer you are stuck with it

    It definitely only needs one instruction to run. Once activated it does not need to connect to the server or a hub like lightwaverf does to turn off.

    When it is powered down mid timer, it does not continue mid timer when it gets power back. It acts as if all timers have timed out.


  • #733
    air
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,830 ✭✭✭air


    Bruthal wrote: »
    The inching runs perfectly fine if the device loses contact with the internet while an inching command is ongoing, or even if the network disappears.
    Yes I would expect so, I was talking about the limitations when power is lost.
    Bruthal wrote: »
    If you mean by totally offline, that if the device powers off, then it is still easy to keep note of a timer status by writing it to the chip eprom, .
    Of course, but Itead are really running close to the wire in terms of the available memory on the boards as far as I know.
    Bruthal wrote: »
    but no need anyway, as the inching would not want to continue on repowering up
    Exactly, this was my main point. I only got into the details as I was forced to provide an argument to explain that the inching function was intended for ... inching.


  • #734
    thatwilldopig
    Registered Users Posts: 43 ✭thatwilldopig


    Off topic but does anyone have issues with devices going off line intermittently. Open app try to turn off light, device offline comes back online 60 seconds or so later.?


  • #735
    Bruthal
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,422 ✭✭✭✭Bruthal


    thatwilldopig wrote: »
    Off topic but does anyone have issues with devices going off line intermittently. Open app try to turn off light, device offline comes back online 60 seconds or so later.?
    The odd time but not much. You could try changing wifi channel. An app on phone can show the channels in use nearby.


  • #736
    whowantstwoknow
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 755 ✭✭✭whowantstwoknow


    Hi all,

    I'm wondering if these would be any use for the following set up... I have an old av receiver. I'd like to turn this on/off when the android box is turned on/off. The box sends power to its USB ports when on. So can I do something from that to control the receiver?

    Thanks
    W.


  • #737
    Stoner
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,952 ✭✭✭✭Stoner


    whowantstwoknow wrote:
    I'm wondering if these would be any use for the following set up... I have an old av receiver. I'd like to turn this on/off when the android box is turned on/off. The box sends power to its USB ports when on. So can I do something from that to control the receiver?

    So trigger is ??
    Power off on the Android box

    And the action output is a sonoff mains switching the mains to the amplifier?


  • #738
    Stoner
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,952 ✭✭✭✭Stoner


    Not sure how to do it with USB, or how an AV receiver is getting USB power from an Android box. Anyway I must have it wrong.

    Do you mean that the fact that power is present at the USB ports could be a trigger itself ?

    But if you've a sonoff on a 13 amp fused at 10 amps 4 gang extension lead.

    You could have an iot button press of some sort to turn it on and off.

    Or do it from your phone or voice assistant, or add an IFTT button press on your phone to Power on and off both at the same time.


  • #739
    whowantstwoknow
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 755 ✭✭✭whowantstwoknow


    Basically the power to the receiver is controlled by a switch. Only when power is detected from the Android box USB port is the switched closed and thus powering the receiver.

    Thanks
    W.


  • #740
    Villan11
    Registered Users Posts: 249 ✭✭Villan11


    Anyone know how to update devices for daylight savings? My timers are all an hour out.


  • #741
    antietam1
    Registered Users Posts: 359 ✭✭antietam1


    Anyone still using Sonoff, got the new th elite with the lcd? screen.

    Not bad at €19



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  • #742
    VinLieger
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,295 ✭✭✭✭VinLieger


    Looking to get a wifi immersion switch replacement for my bath/sink and immersion on/off switch, ive read previously sonoff is a possibility but have no idea what I need to get any help appreciated.

    Post edited by VinLieger on


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