Planet Arduino

Redditor “Higgs8” had a gas convection heater that is (or was) controlled manually, but they wanted something a bit more. To accomplish this, they came up with a small Arduino-based thermostat.

This allows you to set the desired temperature using a potentiometer, and it senses the current temperature value via a DS18B20 thermometer unit. It then adjusts the formerly manual knob with a stepper motor and custom gear reduction in response, maintaining the desired comfort level.

Feedback is displayed on a small OLED screen, which charts the room’s temperature over a 24-hour period. It also shows if the heater was on, letting you see if it was working properly.

More details can be found on Higg8’s Imgur page here.

Most of North America has been locked in a record-setting heat wave for the last two weeks, and cheap window AC units are flying out of the local big-box stores. Not all of these discount units undergo rigorous QC before sailing across the Pacific, though, and a few wonky thermostats are sure to get through. But with a little sweat-equity you can fix it with this Arduino thermostat and temperature display.

We’ll stipulate that an Arduino may be overkill for this application and that microcontrollers don’t belong in every project. But if it’s what you’ve got on hand, and you’re sick of waking up in a pool of sweat, then it’s a perfectly acceptable solution. It looks like [Engineering Nonsense] got lucky and had a unit with a low-current power switch, allowing him to use a small relay to control the AC. The control algorithm is simple enough – accept a setpoint from an encoder, read the temperature sensor, and turn the AC on or off accordingly. Setpoint and current temperature are displayed on an OLED screen. One improvement we’d suggest is adding a three-minute delay between power cycles like the faceplate of the AC states.

This project bears some resemblance to this Arduino-controlled AC, but it seems more hackish to us. And that’s a good thing – hackers have to keep cool somehow.

Filed under: Arduino Hacks, home hacks

by EasyIoT @ instructables.com:

In this tutorial we will show how to build WiFi controlled thermostat with ESP8266, Arduino and touch screen display. Thermostat will also show other info, like weather forecast and temperature outside. Total cost for thermostat is about 40EUR, which is price for basic commercial thermostat in shop.

Basic features:

6 modes – Auto, Off, LOLO, LO, HI, HIHI
Touch screen
WiFi connected
Four set temperatures (LOLO, LO, HI, HIHI) and weekly schedule
Time display
Additional data display – temperature in other room, air pressure and weather forecast

ESP8266 WiFi touch screen thermostat - [Link]

 

When [William’s] thermostat died, he wanted an upgrade. He found a few off-the-shelf Internet enabled thermostats, but they were all very expensive. He knew he could build his own for a fraction of the cost.

The primary unit synchronizes it’s time using NTP. This automatically keeps things up to date and in sync with daylight savings time. There is also a backup real-time clock chip in case the Internet connection is lost. The unit can be controlled via the physical control panel, or via a web interface. The system includes a nifty “vacation mode” that will set the temperature to a cool 60 degrees Fahrenheit while you are away. It will then automatically adjust the temperature to something more comfortable before you return home.

[William’s] home is split into three heat zones. Each zone has its own control panel including an LCD display and simple controls. The zones can be individually configured from either their own control panel or from the central panel. The panels include a DHT22 temperature and humidity sensor, an LCD display, a keypad, and support electronics. This project was clearly well thought out, and includes a host of other small features to make it easy to use.

Filed under: Arduino Hacks, home hacks

bbustin @ instructables.com writes:

Not everyone lives somewhere with central air, or is willing to pay for a Nest or similar “smart” thermostat. The Climaduino is a DIY Arduino-based thermostat designed to control a wall unit A/C. I incorporated both temperature and humidity sensors in order to optimize comfort and reduce energy usage. I then developed a Raspberry Pi-based web interface to control the Climaduino from my phone.

This is still a work in progress, but is definitely functional. I am posting this instructable so others can both build their own smart thermostats, and hopefully build on this project with their Climaduino improvements.

Introducing Climaduino – The Arduino-Based Thermostat You Control From Your Phone! - [Link]

Mizchief100 @ instructables.com wanted a way to control with dorm air conditioner so he build an Arduino thermostat that controls the control knob using a servo motor:

I am currently living in a college dorm. Like most dorms it’s about the size of a tissue box but less comforting. Fortunately, my room has a heater/AC with four positions: low, medium, high, and off. Unfortunately in winter an hour on the low setting makes the room a stifling 80 degrees and when turned off it drops quickly to 60 degrees. My solution uses an arduino, temperature sensor, and motor to automatically turn the heater on/off to keep the room within a desired temperature range. Not only is this more comfortable but it dramatically reduces the time the heater is used, saving lots of energy. (Also note that the motor is only driven to switch the setting and then turned off so no holding energy is wasted.)

Arduino Thermostat (Mechanical) - [Link]

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Arduino is not only for hobby projects, there are also good way to use it to semplify your work. This is a good example, submitted by [sspence65].

This is a project I did at work to control two water baths for a process control. Two custom tanks have to be kept at 180F, using DS18b20 temp sensors, an Arduino 2560, 4 SSR’s, and $15 1500 watt electric elements.

On the [website] you can find all about the project, included the code for the Arduino Mega.