visitors this year: 1,346 Here is a tank level sensor that’s more useful than anything you can buy. This post focuses on my housing and the calibration for a basic sensor to measure oil...
visitors this year: 2,697 how to make a heating oil tank level sensor that’s more useful than anything you can buy. This sensor… Background: homes like mine use diesel oil as a fuel to...
visitors this year: 2,049 how to make a heating oil tank level sensor that’s more useful than anything you can buy. This sensor… Background: homes like mine use oil as a fuel to keep...
visitors this year: 681 If you need to know when a device, like a dryer or washing machine has finished working, get a ‘smart plug with energy monitoring‘. Amazon list many of them but...
visitors this year: 655 ‘Smart meters’ and metering devices usually measure the electricity used by the whole house*. However I prefer to pay attention to the electricity used by individual devices, such as a...
visitors this year: 184 smart sockets have uses. A smart socket adds a little cleverness to a table lamp or electric heater. The printer upstairs takes five minutes to warm up so switching it...
visitors this year: 2,797 they work together but not everything is possible As an early adopter I’ve come to feel that Philips Hue lighting system gains more praise than it needs. Dozens of other...
visitors this year: 116 smart bulbs and sockets have select uses. A smart socket adds a little on/off cleverness to a table lamp, electric heater or the printer upstairs that takes five minutes before...
visitors this year: 1,029 … and see how to add features to the Home Assistant display An interest in solar energy is a possible reason to record the sun’s azimuth and the time of...
visitors this year: 1,490 The Google nest thermostat (or its Hive equivalent) are devices which I’d be happy to pay for and recommend. I could easily make something that turned on the heating with...
visitors this year: 601 The Sonoff POWR2 can replace the timer on a hot water immersion heater. This model also measures electricity as volts, amps and current. This feature provides the key to saving...
visitors this year: 902 Domestic hot water can be heated by a gas or oil central heating boiler or by an electrical immersion heater. I take advantage of half-price nighttime electricity and use an...
visitors this year: 439 A Raspberry Pi is a small low power computer that hopefully has a use that chimes for you. I don’t think you’d want to use a Pi for emails and...
visitors this year: 248 There are a variety of camera types to help monitor the drive, a pet, a baby, a device, a bird feeder – whatever. You might want to know what’s eating...
visitors this year: 114 Here’s how to add a little functionality to Home Assistant, the automation platform. Do try this especially if you’re just starting to add features to Home Assistant. speedtestdotnet: scan_interval: hours:...
visitors this year: 928 Travel information can be one of the things you need easy access to. If you have Google Home or Alexa you’ll find it helpful to recall the exact way to...
visitors this year: 356 When you have a few smart devices you meet a need to be able to see them easily. We might have a camera pointed at the front door but it’s...
visitors this year: 1,119 The Xiaomi Mijia sensor runs for ages on a AAA battery and it can be stuck to a wall to show the temperature and humidity. It’s an attractive Bluetooth Low...
visitors this year: 648 The LED striplights in a kitchen use 12v transformers and they are powered through smart plugs / sockets. The sockets are by TP-link – and they remember their on-off state...
visitors this year: 3,720 fit a sensor to the electricity meter for a minute by minute readout The UK electricity meter shows electricity use in kWatt hours, and a human sometimes pops by to...
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visitors this year: 5,585 make a heating oil tank level sensor that’s more useful than anything you can buy Some homes use oil as a fuel to keep warm in winter. Over the course...
visitors this year: 13,197 how much heating oil ought I use each year? Of course it depends but 1000 to 1500 litres a year is a useful figure. Let start with an example (which...
visitors this year: 732 A volume control at hand and ready to turn. Bash the top and the video or track pauses. Double bash to skip to the next track. It’s plug and play,...
rogerfrost.com is a compendium of ideas for using technology with sciencey questions in mind. Started in 1995 to offer ideas to school science teachers, Roger Frost expanded the coverage to home automation, gadgets and sensors to measure, or understand, what’s going on around him.
To find things the search box, the menu and the keywords work perfectly (and we’re totally free as in advert free).
Roger Frost has been writing about technology since 1988 and this web includes articles; radio interviews with scientists and tutorials to use technology at home and the classroom.
Please enjoy and share this content. To say hi – there’s a reply button on each page that goes straight to me in Cambridge, UK. Send a private message on this page.
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