Your Wife is Hot!

Not hot like she looked at your browser history, hot as in temperature hot! This can be avoided with an A/C Condensate Monitoring System.

IntermediateFull instructions provided4 hours1,546

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Particle Photon

Safe_T_Switch

Relay (generic)

Software apps and online services

IFTTT Maker service

ThingSpeak API

Story

Overview

A clogged air conditioner drain can cause considerable damage to your home if left undetected. To prevent any damage most residential air conditioners have a condensate safety switch of some sort to disable the system in the event of a flood. A normally functioning air conditioner can produce 10 gallons of water a day. This water drains at a relatively low velocity, allowing dirt and bacterial growth to settle in the PVC drain lines, effectively clogging them overtime. The purpose of a safety switch is to prevent the air conditioner from running and producing additional condensate when it has no where to go. (Trouble viewing the page, try using a different browser.)

A/C auxiliary Drain Pan full of water.

One of the primary drawbacks to the flood prevention method discussed above is when the drain clogs, the air conditioner is disabled. Imagine coming home from a long day at work, looking forward to relaxing, only to discover it's 90 degrees in your house. Not a very pleasant thought. Even more troubling is the fact now you have to find an air conditioner company on short notice and pay after hours service fees. Now imagine, if you will, that when your air conditioner shutoff it sent you a notification alerting you of the issue with enough time to address it before late afternoon. This is what we set out to do, not reinvent the wheel, but improve upon an existing system.

The Setup used.

How to go about it

Using the devices shown above, we wired a safety switch into a Photon which is being monitored by IFTTT.com. A normally closed float switch is wired between digital out D7 and digital in D1. When the digital input changes from a 1 to a 0 IFTTT.com sends a trigger to a second photon that is connected to a 4 relay shield. The shield's normally closed contacts are wired in series with the 24 volt power wire to the thermostat. When IFTTT.com realizes the D1 on the first Photon is a 0 it triggers the second photon to open the relay, causing the air conditioner to shut off. Lastly IFTTT.com sends a push notification alerting the user the air conditioner is not draining properly.

A threaded float switch

The safety switch used is a simple threaded normally closed switch, readily available for about $15.

Float Switch Installed

How it works

Below is a screenshot of the push notification sent when the digital input changes from a 1 to a 0. You are alerted within a few minutes of the alarm, allowing you plenty of time to have the issue corrected. Now your wife won't be hot, unless of course she looked at your internet browser history.

The Push Notification

Below is a screenshot of the data recorded with Thingspeak.com. Using a built-in web hook located on Particle.io the event data is recorded in a simple graph. A 1 indicates the air conditioner is draining properly whereas a 0 indicates the drain is clogged.

ThingSpeak Graph

Demo

We have recorded a short video of the condensate monitoring system in action.

Overview of Components.

Code

Condensate Monitoring Code

int digitalvalue;

void setup() {
    
    pinMode(D7,OUTPUT);
    pinMode(D1,INPUT);
    pinMode(A5,OUTPUT);
    
    
    Particle.variable("digitalvalue", &digitalvalue, INT);
    
    Particle.function("digitalvalue",digitalvalueToggle);

}

void loop() {
    
    digitalvalue = digitalRead(D1);
    
    delay(10000);
    
    if (digitalvalue==0) {
        Particle.publish("Drain","A/C is not Draining Properly!");
         digitalWrite(A5,0);
    }
    else if (digitalvalue==1) {
        Particle.publish("Drain","A/C is Draining Properly");
        digitalWrite(A5,1);
    } 
    
    

 
}

int digitalvalueToggle(String command){
    if (command=="on") {
        digitalWrite(D7,HIGH);
        return 1;
    }   
    else if (command=="off") {
        digitalWrite(D7,LOW);
        
        return 0;
    }
    else {
        return -1;
    }



int value= D1;
String data=String(value);


// Trigger the webhook
Particle.publish("Drain", data, PRIVATE);
// Wait 30 seconds
delay(30000);

      
}

Credits

Trey Revels

1 project • 0 followers

Doug Summers

1 project • 0 followers

Your Wife is Hot!