z-wave or ??? candles

Posted on
Sun Apr 03, 2022 6:45 pm
jroach offline
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Joined: Oct 29, 2010

z-wave or ??? candles

Looking for a recommendation from somebody that has found an LED candles that works with indigo. I saw a post for real candles but a little afraid of the liability:).
Thanks in advance!

Posted on
Thu Apr 21, 2022 3:31 pm
whmoorejr offline
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Location: Houston, TX

Re: z-wave or ??? candles

Where is this post on real candles? If I can automate fire, I can totally up my home security game.

Bill
My Plugin: My People

Posted on
Thu Apr 21, 2022 3:51 pm
whmoorejr offline
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Re: z-wave or ??? candles

Possible solution....
remote control LED candles + plugin + IR Device = :D

Plugin: https://www.indigodomo.com/pluginstore/197/

IR Device (Broadlink RM3 Mini): https://www.amazon.com/Broadlink-Automation-Learning-Universal-Compatible/dp/B07K2DHXB6/ref=sr_1_5?crid=3LVGOTA7GO0ND&keywords=broadlink%2Brm3&qid=1650577495&sprefix=broadlink%2Brm3%2Caps%2C110&sr=8-5&th=1

I don't have any of the above, but your original post got me curious.

Other than that.... there are hard wire options or LED flicker bulbs that could be placed in an automated light or off an automated light switch.

Bill
My Plugin: My People

Posted on
Fri Apr 22, 2022 8:45 am
jroach offline
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Joined: Oct 29, 2010

Re: z-wave or ??? candles

There are a few but here is one I found:

https://ludela.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwpImTB ... faEALw_wcB

Posted on
Fri Apr 22, 2022 8:55 am
jroach offline
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Re: z-wave or ??? candles

Bill, thanks.
Was looking for plug-n -play type of device. Your right, I think something can be put together and if I can't find anything I'll come back to your links:)

Posted on
Fri Apr 22, 2022 9:21 am
ryanbuckner offline
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Location: Northern Virginia

Re: z-wave or ??? candles

this post wins the forums today. ... if you pull it off

Posted on
Sat Oct 15, 2022 10:01 am
dduff617 offline
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Location: Massachusetts, USA

Re: z-wave or ??? candles

i have multiple sets of candles purchased at Costco (so pretty generic battery-powered candles). I have Harmony remote and use the Indigo Harmony plugin to turn them on and off. i can only use them in the two rooms in my house where i have harmony remotes.

i'd prefer to have Z-wave (or Matter) candles, but these were cheap and used stuff i already had.

Posted on
Sat Apr 29, 2023 11:41 am
jroach offline
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Joined: Oct 29, 2010

Re: z-wave or ??? candles

circling back to this project.

could this be done with a battery powered Arduino board coupled with a wifi board? I read an article where a 3v Arduino board can run for 4 months on a single charge (that was without wifi).

I've never done an Arduino project before so if anybody has a place to start with integrating into Indigo.... I read through some of the plugin info and it looks like it will work.

Shopping list:
Arduino WeMos D1 Mini
Real Time Clock, likely a DS3231
18650 Battery and connector
Possibly a power shield
Arduino Plug-in for Indigo
LED Candle

Posted on
Thu May 11, 2023 4:23 pm
jroach offline
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Joined: Oct 29, 2010

Re: z-wave or ??? candles

I've updated the shopping list above based on what I have and what is working so far. I have a ways to go but I've created a sketch that randomly blinks a yellow LED and does a very good job of looking like a candle. Since this stuff is pretty small I expect to fit everything but the battery inside the candle cavity (Sterno brand candles). I'll post my plans, schematic and code once I get everything going.

I'm able to do over the air updates to the board and now I want to connect it to Indigo.

I've downloaded the arduino plugin and configured it as a : Type = Arduino, Model = FREE-undefined

Question, I have an ESP8266 Wemos D1 Mini (clone), will the FREE-undefined work or should I get a different board?

Posted on
Mon May 22, 2023 8:28 pm
mundmc offline
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z-wave or ??? candles

whmoorejr wrote:
Where is this post on real candles? If I can automate fire, I can totally up my home security game.
We should talk...
https://youtube.com/shorts/37XwS3s6In8?feature=share
Image

Posted on
Wed May 24, 2023 2:18 pm
jroach offline
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Joined: Oct 29, 2010

Re: z-wave or ??? candles

@mundmc

The video you attached is oddly interesting to add to my project list but I don't think I would ever get it past the planning committee:)

Have you built a battery powered ESP8266?

I think I need:

- Batteries - one or two 82650s? I picked these as I have a charger and a few laying around
- RTC so that I can put the ESP in sleep mode and wake it up before Indigo starts a routine, ie: wake up at 10min before sunrise then run an indigo routine at sunset
- A shield or something to condition the power to the ESP
- single or maybe LEDs (have a few of these)
- possibly some resistance between the ESP board and LED (maybe this can be via WLED though)

I found the following mods to WLED:

RTC mod: https://github.com/Aircoookie/WLED/tree ... ermods/RTC
Battery mod: https://github.com/Aircoookie/WLED/tree ... ery#readme
and a general usermod link: https://github.com/Aircoookie/WLED/blob ... s_list.cpp

I'm not even certain how to use those links...I downloaded Visual Studio assuming that is one of the development environments but I've confused myself (again).

Posted on
Wed May 24, 2023 8:24 pm
mundmc offline
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Re: z-wave or ??? candles

(Deep breath)
Sounds like you want to make a thing with the following constraints:
- talks to Indigo
- is battery powered (this is a twist)

Is this the same project in which you were planning to use addressable leds and wled?

If so, I advise, before proceeding, to get an idea of how many leds you will be running. At full blast, each led can suck up a fair amount of current.

If you are using standard leds, in most cases a 220k resistor will keep your led from blowing.

As far as RTC, i am not as familiar. I know esp32 has a wake from sleep function, not sure about 8266.

Power conditioner? You can usually get away with running 5V into the Vin pin or micro hdmi. I do this straight from a 5V 6A - 30A power supply. I know you can power it off 3v3, just not sure which pin. I usually put a capacitor between + and - , i think 10uF but not certain.

Posted on
Thu May 25, 2023 3:04 pm
jroach offline
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Joined: Oct 29, 2010

Re: z-wave or ??? candles

Yes, battery powered and talks to indigo.

It is a project I though of after the Bookshelf lighting which I think was the genesis...I figure I have most the parts so what do I do next with them:)

I have standard led(s) lying around and had been using various resistance to get them to the right brightness. Was planning on just using one yellow LED to make the candle effect. I've played with 1 red and 2 yellows and that looks better but as you mentioned I need to keep the power consumption down. Not opposed to buying an LED strip that had the same power consumption but I could not find anything short enough (some LED "sticks" but even those seemed a bit overkill).

@mundmc said: As far as RTC, i am not as familiar. I know esp32 has a wake from sleep function, not sure about 8266.
Good advice. I need to look into the esp32. If it uses less power than the ESP8266 combined with the RTC then its a better choice.
Would indigo be able to wake up the ESP32 (like wake on LAN)?

Power conditioner? You can usually get away with running 5V into the Vin pin or micro hdmi. I do this straight from a 5V 6A - 30A power supply. I know you can power it off 3v3, just not sure which pin. I usually put a capacitor between + and - , i think 10uF but not certain.
.
I have some 10uF's laying around. ...good idea. For my boards the 3.3v is on the opposite side from the 5v (vbus) pin. I had read that one of them goes right to the chip and you run a greater risk of frying the chip but I honestly forgot which one.


This part is off topic but while Im thinking of it....I also wanted to use the ESP8266's for building landscape speakers powered by my (12vAC) lighting; Punch list looks something like this:

- Convert 12vAC to DC (I've got 5 on their way)
- Step down to 5 or 3v,, I might build these myself as I think noise is going to be an issue and might need to play around a little
- 12v DC audio amp, speaker
- ESP8266 with the airplay layer.

Do you think that is doable? (or within reason)

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