Pellet Level Monitor for Home Assistant with HC-SR04 and ESP8266

[@stephennoska5851]

Great idea. I plan on using this method to measure the amount of chicken feed and water (in their respective containers) for our chickens. I will use the waterproof sensor (JSN-SRT04T) instead since they are outside. I use HA to control the coop door and the chicken run door so this fits my ecosystem perfectly. Thanks for including the code.

[@TasteTheCode]

Thanks! Let me know how it goes. I also made a version with a laser distance measuring sensor (VL53L0X) and it works much better, a lot less noise. This is the video on it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fKS0eJhsjb2Yh6c

[@cookedaudio]

Very neat that you heat your house that way. Living in Florida, I'd never seen that sort of device before for home heating.

[@TasteTheCode]

Yeah, wood pellets are a big thing here. Winters know to be quite harsh sometimes going to -20 Celsius.

[@dixonbg]

This is exactly what I plan to do. Though I don't have a lid and I need to mount the sensor on the edge of the container or on the ceiling. I wonder if laser TOF sensors will be better for this.

[@TasteTheCode]

Laser TOF is something I just learned about so I'm not sure how that will work but people seem to say it is better. Mounting it on the ceiling might be viable as long as the measured distance is less than 3 meters.

[@Hellawacked]

Pretty cool idea. If you get timing from the feed motor you could also estimate how many pellets are being used that way. I believe this is how Harman’s doing it on there new accentra stoves. Log the timing and when the hoppers empty you should have a count on how many feed pulses it takes. You’d have to keep the feed setting constant. (Depending on the stove some will pulse say 7 seconds then vary the off time others vary the pulse time and keep the off timing consistent.) but once you get a idea you can probably estimate for the other feed settings from there. Hope this helps.

[@TasteTheCode]

Thanks! I definitely considered using this to figure out my spending but I did not had the time to look into it yet. One issue that I'm having right now is that at times, the pellets level will drop significantly, but then as some pellets fall from the sides, it goes up. This will affect the spending measurements as it will look as if someone put some more pellets in. Not sure how I can tackle this.

[@Hellawacked]

@@TasteTheCode maybe add a bass shaker. To force the pellets to drop then take a reading after?

[@TasteTheCode]

That's an interesting thought. I'm guessing it will require some power to operate which will complicate the build but sound promising. Thanks!

[@filipporossifavilli68]

Simple and functional 🔝🔝🔝🔝

[@TasteTheCode]

Glad you like it! 👍👍👍

[@erboy5546]

just my 5 cents. I would consider putting wemos d1 to sleep (d1 mini is perfect for than). One digit is confusing for me. I would recommended none

[@TasteTheCode]

I would not worry about putting it in sleep as it runs off a mobile charger and it is always on. I did not get your suggestion on the one digit though. Can you please clarify?

[@cosmintoma5197]

Can you make one for me?I will give you that measurements that you can program it for me.I will pay it of course !no problem about the price.

[@TasteTheCode]

Hi there, unfortunately, I don't make this as a product yet. I do provide all of the details and software so you can make one for yourself if you already have Home Assistant at your home.