Self-described technologist and “dreamer of optimistic futures” Danilo Campos has put collectively an open supply Espressif ESP32-based controller and residential automation terminal for warmth pump methods: the ThermTerm.
“I like my warmth pumps. They’re vitality environment friendly and the quickest option to warmth or cool any room,” Campos explains. “However I’ve at all times hated the distant controls that include warmth pumps. They’re clunky and laborious to learn, particularly in low mild. In idea, you may program schedules in your warmth pumps, however in follow the remotes are too irritating to make use of for that. ThermTerm solves all the issues I’ve had with these bodily controls, whereas integrating the warmth pumps into Residence Assistant through MQTT.”
The ThermTerm is an infrared blaster to automate a warmth pump system, doubling as an area management system in addition. (📹: Danilo Campos)
The compact ThermTerm relies on an Adafruit ESP32-S3 Feather Reverse TFT board with rotary encoder and IR blaster added on. These are housed in a 3D-printed case which exposes three fundamental buttons for mode choice, with a bigger 3D-printed wheel related to the rotary encoder for setting the temperature at a swipe.
“Press the dial to toggle energy. Flip the dial to set temperature. Change to warmth mode with the underside backside, cool mode with the highest. Set fan pace by urgent the middle button, then flip the dial,” Campos says of the ThermTerm’s operation. “By way of a TFT display, readouts are seen any time of day. The chunky dial is straightforward to press with out trying.”
To date, the ThermTerm sounds lots like every other thermostat system — till you dig into the small print. The construct additionally features a Sensirion SHTC3 temperature and humidity sensor and a Rohm BH1750 mild sensor, giving it native environmental monitoring and easy occupancy detection at night time. Directions are handed on to the precise warmth pump system through infrared, that means there isn’t any awkward wiring, and the gadget connects to Residence Assistant or every other MQTT-compatible residence automation platform.
Campos constructed the gadget out of readily-available off-the-shelf modules, after proving the idea on a breadboard. (📷: Danilo Campos)
“Out of the field, ThermTerm helps Mitsubishi’s infrared protocol, since that is the system I’ve,” Campos writes. “Due to integration with IRRemoteESP8266, you may make ThermTerm work with your individual warmth pumps by writing a couple of traces of adaptor code. No sign evaluation or reverse-engineering required.”
Campos has launched the mission underneath the permissive MIT license on GitHub, together with full supply code and 3D-printable information for the enclosure and enormous rotary encoder knob.
