Re: Home and garden projects
 

And another one for the team :) ... wireless Irrigation controllers. I was at Home Depot tonight, and learned that you can get wifi-connected irrigation controllers that you can control from your phone/computer/etc, and also optionally tie into local weather conditions (like, if it's pouring down, don't water ...). Since I'm a techie nerd/IT guy and love tinkering with such things, this obviously appeals to me! Also, I'm passionate about water conservation and may be away from this place half the year, so the idea of being able to remotely mess with this is pretty cool. I've already tinkered with the whole Samsung SmartThings platform, and have z-wave and/or zigbee bulbs, light switches, sockets, thermostats, water leak sensors, motion sensors, etc tied together so adding irrigation is just a natural next step :) . The current irrigation controller looks utterly counter-intuitive and I was dreading having to learn how to program it!

This is one of the units I saw: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Orbit-B-...7946/206638404 . I only have one zone so my needs are simple. Does anyone have any experience with these things? If it loses network connection it runs a pre-arranged program, so nothing lost.

I adore my ecobee wireless thermostat, if that's anything to go by :)

Re: Home and garden projects
 

It does come on from time to time on it's own, but not often.

The closest is outside the bathroom, one wall borders the bathroom, but the closet itself and the closet door is completely outside the bathroom.

One of those things that make you go hmmmm.

These are all newer build places in the last 5-7 years, have never seen such thing in older buildings I have lived in.

Re: Home and garden projects
 

Try this https://www.rainmachine.com/products/, I have the mini 8. It only takes a few minutes to throw away the old one and put this one in its place.
I love that it polls the local weather and adjusts the watering accordingly, I have saved a huge amount of water due to this.

Some mornings I see my neighbors sprinklers going, and think mine is broken, but then it rains later in the day and realize why it did not run. Of course I could just look at the app on my phone.

Re: Home and garden projects
 

I have a large number of temperature/humidity sensors in my house, just for fun as I like playing with home automation and IoT. This means I can tell the humidity from most rooms in the house.
I have two major sources of humidity, the shower, and the humidifier that runs during winter. The sensor closest to either of these obviously has the most dramatic change, but even the other side of the house picks up the humidity rise.
So I expect that the sensor has been placed to pick up ambient humidity changes, and ignore sharp spikes.
Or maybe it is just to avoid any possible condensation?

Re: Home and garden projects
 

What system do you use for your sensors / automation? I've settled on Samsung SmartThings, although everything I buy is compatible with most other systems as long as they are zigbee or z-wave, which is a standard I understand and like. I did encounter a household that was using 'Connect 4' and the research I did suggested it was a very robust system ... but 'closed', requiring the use of certified technicians for installation.

Re: Home and garden projects
 

I have been thinking about this post throughout the day, because while it has observations that ure undoubtedly true, it doesn't make much sense for the purpose of running a bathroom extractor fan. ... The fan needs to run when the humidity is high in the bathroom, not when the ambient humidity is high.

Then it struck me, a possible reason why Jsmth has found the controls far from the bathroom - the control is (perhaps :unsure: ) paired with a humidity meter in the fan unit in the bathroom, such that the fan will come on when the bathroom is significantly more humid that the ambient air, and such a system would need a device far from the bathrion to measure ambient humidity.

Re: Home and garden projects
 

I have a raspberry pi with a zwave and ziggbee dongle attached. Use it for a few sensors and thermostat.

At some point I'd like to change our bathroom fans for a modern one. Sounds like an aircraft taking off.

Re: Home and garden projects
 

But - if you look at the actual switch jsmith showed in his post (below for reference), it looks like it has an actual humidity sensor build into it - those 'slots' near the top are presumably there to allow air passage to the sensors. Now, maybe, just maybe, the device 'also' talks to an optional sensor located at the fan, but for that, it would need additional cabling (typically, unless they do signaling over the 110V ac wire). So I think it's still a mystery! :)

Re: Home and garden projects
 

I have also been thinking about this and have no idea. Never heard of such sensors and no idea why it would be in a closet.

Re: Home and garden projects
 

The most fun you can have with a gasoline engine that doesn't involve any form of transportation. :nod:

It feels like it had twice the power of my old saw (an earlier version of a saw with similar specs), and also appears to run twice as long on a tank of 2-stroke.

Re: Home and garden projects
 

Re: Home and garden projects
 

Funnily enough, it isn't the easiest to start, but yes, it is a commercial grade saw, and having had a similar saw for the past 12 years or so, I wouldn't settle for a "home-owner grade" saw as they are pretty puny.

I think the most powerful saw you can get from Lowe's or Home Depot is 3.6hp, mine is 5.7hp, so their really isn't any comparison. ... But it is lightning fast, cutting through an 18" oak log like it was pine. I just can't imagine trying to use something from Lowe's to cut up a large oak. I had just enough time this afternoon to cut two pines into 11 saw logs, and to cut the oak into another 5 saw logs. With a smaller saw I'd probably be looking at another half day of sawing.

Re: Home and garden projects
 

If you want some real saw satisfaction you should get a half decent chainsaw mill. I used one in the boatyard for shaping masts and that is definitely the most satisfying fun you can have with a dinky gas machine. New log cabin for storing all the kit you need to build it? :o

Re: Home and garden projects
 

Bosch EasyCut 12 Cordless Nano Blade Saw


https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bosch-EasyCut-Cordless-Lithium-Ion-Battery/dp/B071NW5S5Q

Re: Home and garden projects
 

I was at Home Depot again yesterday (I'm there at least once a day now :) ) and saw the sensor in question, in among all the switches. It's sold as a plug and play replacement for any fan switch; the idea is, you can take out your existing 'manual switch' (typically located right next to the light switch) and replace it with this thing. You can even turn it on manually by pressing at the base, just like you can with the similar 'motion detector' / 'occupancy' switches.

The back of the package looks like this:
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...16e1113c6b.jpg

I wonder if ... they didn't have a location in the bathroom for this second switch, so mounted it in the closet ...?!?!? But he said he's seen this arrangement in THREE separate apartments!