I found a simple way to save my lungs

[@plc_memes]

Relays won't last long switching big inductive loads like these motors. You can avoid this by using the relay to drive the coil of a contactor instead. It probably won't catch on fire when it fails. But if it does, it won't be the first one that did.

[@JonathanRansom]

I like the idea of modifying existing hardware for uses like this. Keeps it simple.

[@FishersShop]

So cool man! I love how you just have to add a little switch to each tool. Can't wait to see the automated blast gates

[@jeffrey_k]

Home Assistant + ESPhome are truly awesome and I cant imagine doing home automation without them. But when you start adding more and more to HA, and you will, I would rethink the raspberry pi, or at the very least make sure you hook up a real SSD and don't use an SD card. Home assistant writes a lot of data and kills SD cards. My personal recommendation would be to run HAOS in a VM if you already have a home server, but most people don't. A cheap used mini pc is also a good option, compiling the esphome will take a fraction of the time too. Also make sure to setup regular backups for HA encase that SD does fail, i recommend the google drive backup plugin.

[@LelandSindt]

you can run esphome as a docker container on your laptop which _should_ compile considerably faster.

[@lesumsi]

Great Idea! Tip: You can create a helper sensor/variable in HA. Make this the sum of all devices' power. This way you need only a single automation and have covered scenarios where multiple devices are running.

[@RandomBogey]

Just be sure the amp rating printed on the smart switches is the actual amp rating for the relay inside of them. I don’t know what circular saws and dust collection fans will run, but I had some smart switches (I forget if they were the early iHome or early Wemo switches) that said they were rated for 15A, so I thought a little space heater with a max 12A rating wouldn’t be a problem since it would be left on low or medium. Everything was good for a couple months until it started acting up and wouldn’t turn off (reported back that it turned off, but didn’t physically cut power). When I disassembled it, the little plastic housing for the “in use” indicator board, a little IR emitter and receiver across one of the prongs to tell if something was physically plugged in or not, had melted and started to burn and, because the relay was toast always, I tore it apart and the plastic case and potting compound/epoxy was baked to the point it was brittle and the contacts inside were essentially welded together. I couldn’t read the engraving on the burnt relay, but opened another identical switch and that relay inside that one said it was only rated for 10A max, while the outside housing said it was rated 15A. Maybe a bit of user error, but I’ve checked every smart switch I’ve purchased since no matter what I plan to use it for

[@PosiCat]

You've got a little bit of a logic problem there, if you have 2 tools that can trigger the collector, and turn one on, and then the other, it will toggle the collector back off. You might be best creating a sum of all amperage on all tools, when that goes above 1A turn on the collector, and then a separate rule for when it returns to 0A to turn off the collector (after 30 sec just to make sure the dust is out of the hose).

[@andriessalm]

This can be done in Home Assistant using helpers and instead of the sum, just measure the maximum cuurent of all devices.

[@dennisgoransson2768]

Dont think your problem applies to the logic in this automation. I understand that it would work incorrectly with toggle but that is not what the automation does if you read it. It has the turn on & turn off logic, which can be triggered multiple times with the same results.

[@andriessalm]

@@dennisgoransson2768 In any case, if you use multiple copies of the current automation, and if multiple devices are turned on, only the switching of one device will turn off the dust collection. This is not the intended behaviour.

[@famousamoso7]

Something I might add if possible is add a delay for turning off the dust collector. Because even when the tool is off immediately after using you will still have dust circulating around your shop.

[@bytesizedengineering]

@@famousamoso7 I mentioned that at the end. This is customizable and I can add delays as needed

[@famousamoso7]

@@bytesizedengineering sorry I jumped the gun on my comment :D I did watch through until the end.

[@SHKEKEKE]

Ya, for the miter saw specifically, might want to add a much longer delay so the vac won't be short cycling

[@JustPlainRob]

The second you clicked the toggle for the dust collector my power went out. Only for a few seconds, but hilarious timing.

[@bytesizedengineering]

@@JustPlainRob that was just a warning shot. Next time will be worse! 🤣🤣

[@mpsadre132]

Nice video. And a great idea 👍 Be aware to use plugs with enough Amps And you could also zigbee plugs (like i do). In that case you don't have the hassle of the ESPhome installation. Have a look at the blitzwolff zigbee plugs as an example. Thanks for sharing your idea.

[@FrankGraffagnino]

if you are just using the sonoff's for current measurement and you don't need the relay going on and off (meaning you don't want the sonoff powering each tool to accidentally get turned off) then you can configure them to always keep the relay on. This is useful for me on my washing machine where i only use it to know when the washing machine is running or not.

[@burninruber60]

Welcome to Home Assistant! As a fellow user, I feel sorry for your future addiction.

[@ralph5450]

Plus you learned another skill. 😊👍

[@HesselAnnema]

I miss a delay in shut off. When shutting of a device, there still can be some dust in the pipes. So it is better to turn it of after 30 sec. so the pipes are empty.

[@thaitichi]

I tried this with some smart plugs I bought online. They can sense current and power, but there seems to be too much of a delay to work properly. I'm still using the arduino design you shared many years ago. I just find myself having to swap out relays when they get stuck on. Looking forward to the blast gate video!

[@NabilTouchie]

Loved the idea!!

[@tylerslater]

That's cool. I gotta try out Home Assistant. Looks powerful.

[@CrAzYDr1veR]

did the same automation but using all original sonoff stuff, turns off the car charger when i use the kettle to not overload the solar inverter.

[@andriessalm]

I made a similar system a few years ago and I also used the Sonoff switches. The only issue I had that there was no wifi in the workspace. Luckily, with some programming I enabled the switches to communicate directly to each other.

[@bytesizedengineering]

@@andriessalm I should have made it more clear that I know I'm not the first one to do this. I am looking into using ESP now so that the devices can talk directly to each other and not rely on a Home Assistant server

[@andriessalm]

@@bytesizedengineering I also used ESP Now. If you need a copy of my source code, just let me know. (It is only between 2 devices though)

[@Giftedmike359]

Good to see you back

[@bytesizedengineering]

I never went anywhere! 😂

[@danhigham1283]

I used to use a smart switch on my dust collector, I went through two of them because eventually that surge when the impeller spins will blow them up.

[@danhigham1283]

Although I notice the plug you're using is rated for 1800w! Which is the maximum output for a 110v 15amp socket anyway!

[@drollins]

Gotta drive a contactor from the switch relay. Inductive loads kill small relays like this.

[@famousamoso7]

I've actually been looking for a solution like this for my washer and dryer. Something that could automate alerting us when a load is finished. I am def going to look into this further. Thank you

[@vegaswayne247]

I have done this for my washer and gas dryer. Another solution is needed if you have an electric dryer.

[@famousamoso7]

@@vegaswayne247 did you do it the same as here? If not can you explain how you did yours? Thank you, Both of my machines connect via 110v.

[@vegaswayne247]

@@famousamoso7 Similar to the video except I send a notification instead of turning on a dust collector.

[@fin3125]

That's what I did. Also use them every place else. And I think you did it the hard way.

[@humzakhatri7085]

yeah, cheaper than a $50 switch, JK, great video.

[@__Ben]

In the automation instead of doing if dust collection off / turn dust collection on / else turn dust collection off I'd click the 3 dots on the triggers and click "Edit ID" then you can give your triggers a name and in the choose block use "when triggered by". Same outcome but at the moment if you turn on one tool, followed by another it will probably turn the dust collection off. To be fair you're probably not going to run two tools at once, though.

[@jorsanflo]

Thumbnail goes hard ngl

[@TilmanBaumann]

One suggestion, at the condition duration for a minute or so for the off condition so it doesn't switch off right away if you let go of the saw trigger for a moment.

[@stevenebstein3391]

You should add some hysteresis so you don't get the relay turning on and off quickly if the current change is not perfectly monotonic, eg. turn on above 2.1 A, and turn off below 1.9 A.

[@bytesizedengineering]

@@stevenebstein3391That's a great suggestion. I should have thought of that!

[@mattb4043]

How can you adapt this to 220?

[@Zolli07]

Its a good idea, but honestly I thinks its a badly executed. the relay in these devices are rated for 15A continus current, max, most of the tool uses 10-12Amps, and when powering up the initial power drawn is much-much more, so it is not really safe to use these in your shop. The solution I think is to use some kind of CT (current transforemer) to monitor power draw of high power equipment, you could find many examples based on esphome. Or, if you want to work with these smart plugs, these S31s have a so called "relay bypass mod" where you remove the realy and bypass the contact with a big ass solder joint to carry the current continusly and only use the device for power monitoring, not a good solution but at list a bit safer. But in the end HA is a great choice for automating this, but i prefer some kind of standalon solution (as you previous solution is) to not depend on an external system for this kind of "critical" workflows.

[@AnthonyDeChiaro]

I agree, you really need to watch out for the current draw on these inductive loads. I'm willing to bet the 15A rated current is only for a resistive load and it would be significantly less for an inductive load (which large motors definitely are) - and this de-rating for these loads is typical for relays. There have also been fires reported with similar devices on some forums when people would try to control some high-current devices (just search for "sonoff fire") - I would exercise a lot of caution here.

[@vegaswayne247]

Shelly makes a 16A power monitoring device that doesn't have a relay. They cost about $12 and would be a better choice for monitoring the table saw,

[@Zolli07]

@@vegaswayne247 yes, for sure. I don't look into how these work, but I prefer non invasive solutions for these kinds of loads

[@drewcomposed]

Can you build a device that mutes my neighbors whenever my microphone has phantom power running?

[@bytesizedengineering]

@@drewcomposed I'll get right on that

[@nerdCopter]

xx number of seconds for sure; maybe even xxx number of seconds 😉

[@johnwhelan6115]

simple ?