Home Thermostat

I have been working on my home thermostat, here are some screenshots. I added a TFT display, and this allowed me to be a little more creative. Of course, everything is controlled using Blynk. The Dead Zone (DZ) allow me to increment or decrements the target temperature by 1/2 degree.

After finding out how long the A/C has been running, you can estimate the cost. Just insert a few lines of code, and bingo!

 // Estimate cost
   m2h = (run_time / 60); // Convert minutes to hours
   KWH = ((4400 * m2h) / 1000); // Total KWH
   KWH_cost = (KWH * 0.22);  // Estimate cost  using a rate of 22 cents per kWH
   totalC += KWH_cost; // Track daily cost, reset it at mid night. 
   
      // Print results
   Blynk.virtualWrite(V3, "A/C cost for ", + String(total_time), + " minutes was ", + String(KWH_cost,2), + " cents \n"); 
   Blynk.virtualWrite(V3, "Total daily cost   ", + String(totalC,2), " \n"); 
  
8 Likes

@italex33 Wow! You interested in sharing the rest of the code?

Hi Dave,

You know, sometimes when your code is not up to the “standard” of some people consider themselves the “masters” of C around this forum, they start heavy criticizing you rather than encouraging you. So I have no plan to post the code. However, PM me and I will send it to you.

Alex

5 Likes

That is an awesome thermostat! What temp/humidity sensor did you use?

Daveblynk, you are right. The beaviour you described it’s a way di discourage people to share their code and should be deprecated by blynk team

To be honest, it all my years on this forum, I have not seen anyone really criticize someones C programming methods. We all have our “style” of programming, and in a lot of cases there is more than one way to accomplish a certain task.

What I have seen criticized is when people don’t read some of the basic rules for programming with BLYNK (e.g. dont use delay(), and keeping the void loop() clean), and then complain/wonder why they are having problems with BLYNK. I have seen people be criticized for not posting their code correctly, even after being showed how to numerous times. I have seen people be criticized for not providing enough information to get the help they need, and then complaining when they dont get the answer they want. I have seen people be criticized for asking others to write the code for them, or not looking around the forum for something that has been discussed multiple times.

I have seen people give advice/examples on how to improve ones C programming; be it a more efficient way, or a way that may use less memory space. I have seen people (on numerous occasions) give advice on how to solve/fix an issue that someone was stuck on that was not related to BLYNK. I have seen people give advice/solutions on wiring issue (again not related to BLYNK). I have seen people write code for people who were not able to figure it out on their own. I have seen people give design ideas/advice on projects.

Without some of these regular users and contributors (whom I feel these comments/jabs were geared towards), who may criticize some things from time-to-time, this forum would not be he wealth of information it is today. These contributors have helped an uncountable amount of people with their projects, free of charge, and on a regular basis. Most posts are responded to within hours, if not minutes from when they are posted, and I would say a VAST MAJORITY of them are solved, usually by the same few people.

They should be APPRECIATED by the BLYNK team. I know I sure do.

8 Likes

Hey why can’t I give this one 3 likes?:joy:

1 Like

Only one member has been ban from blynk forum @PeteKnight knows :wink:
The guy who knows more than 32 languages :rofl:

2 Likes

Nice job. I also completed a home thermostat but do not have the TFT display. I have been thinking of adding a display, it would a nice addition to the smart phone. Mine is up on Random_Nerds. Anyway nice job.