Hi Kevin - have you seen this thread? I’m in Aus so know all about the Aus tax!
I’d concur with the ditch the NZ frequency.
I’m in NZ and did the same ages ago. I was running a Vera with Aeotec Z-Wave Euro frequency equipment (switches, thermometers etc). My Vera has died so the plan is to migrate across to Openhab when I get a chance.
I justified the Euro standard on a) cheaper equipment b) wider selection of equipment and c) if I decide to ditch it there is a far bigger market to sell into second hand then the 3 Z-Wave users in NZ 
Euro works on the right electrical frequency and all I do is use plug convertors if required.
As for Amazon not showing if it’ll ship to NZ. It does when browsing if you are logged in and have your address set to NZ (clearly says for me that doesn’t ship to NZ before I take it to the cart).
Thanks for the replies everyone, after considering it for a while and looking at the costs, I think I may cobble something together with an additional slave Pi.
Cost of Pi + Case + Power Supply $100,
cost of 4 port relay $12.50,
cost of 2 port relay $8.50
add another $38.50 for boxes and bits
and it works out at around $160. NZD
Way cheaper than 6 relays with Z-Wave when I don’t have anything to start with, and the Pi can do other things moving forward.
Alternatively I may get some more of these
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/433MHz-Practical-AK-RK01S-220-A-AC-220V-1CH-Wireless-Remote-Control-Switch-controle-remoto-P4PM/32536382182.html?spm=2114.01010208.0.1050.jFyrpG
sure they have limitations, but they are also only $3.86 USD plus the cost of a fuseholder and fuse.
I already use these with an RFXCOM interface and they work well.
Just be careful as it will be illegal to use these in NZ and if NZ customs get hold of them they could be confiscated. It’s probably low risk, but…
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Hi Kevin, have you looked at mysensors.org ? If you are willing to go the diy route then mysensors is ideal and cheap as chups!
You can buy for $20 a board with 4relays ,and all you need to add is a $2 radio to it https://www.itead.cc/rboard.html
If you are interested I can advise further.
Greg
Greg,
DIY is what I do best I’ve been around Electronics / Radio / Computers all my life!
Please continue
Kevin
@kevin Then you will find a lot of fun and enjoyment in using mySensors.
Go have a read. on the mysensors site.
I use this as my gateway:
https://www.itead.cc/iboard.html
These for controlling a gas heater ( which has 4 toggle switches )
https://www.itead.cc/rboard.html
Some of these as actuators ( garage door controller)
https://www.itead.cc/mini-rboard.html
about 6 or 7 of these as battery based temp/humidity sensors
For each sensor and the gateway you will need a radio…Buy em in lots of 10
You do not need to use the boaurds i linked above, i just like these as they are plug and play.
Naturally this all works great Openhab!
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Fantastic stuff.
Do you have any recommendations for a very low power consuming, wifi or Ethernet relay that will give me a 220V ideally or if not 5V normally closed contact that I can switch from a web browser or MQTT? Having got most of my system installed and working well I’d like a way of power cycling the Pi remotely if it locks up. Normally closed means it recovers after a power cut and uses minimal power.
Check out the Wemos D1 Mini, available from AliExpress. Tiny little WiFi device which can be flashed to run Homie which is an mqtt framework for esp devices. Wemos have a number of shields for these, including a relay shield. I am a Kiwi also so keen to hear how you get on.
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Thanks Ben, will let you know how I go
@ben_jones12 I’ve just ordered a Wemos D1 Mini V2 and a relay shield for the top of it to switch the 5V into my Pi remotely. I also intend using it for 1-Wire sensors, A to D for my Wind Sensor and for extra GPIO Pins as my Pi is pretty full.
Once its installed and working I’ll update this thread.
Thanks everyone who contributed, you’ve likely saved me a heap of money.
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Not on Ali, but some similar stuff - Wi-fi MQTT module with ESP chip in it. Plug-and-Pray, without any soldering, in the box. Just 5$
https://www.itead.cc/smart-home/sonoff-wifi-wireless-switch.html
Thinking of testing one of these.
Yep I have a few of these which are very similar (but have two relays). These can both be re-programmed with your own firmware, i.e. Homie, and thus allow very easy integration with openHAB.
I have yet to put mine into use but have tested the relays and they work well.
To update this thread a little, I got a Wemos D1 Mini which I’ve been playing with.
I originally experimented with Homie which is configured from the Arduino environment. The developer Marvin Roger is very helpful, and on the main Homie thread on this forum he’s provided a way of working around the current 5 node limit which will be removed in the next version. As a package Homie works well, and allows the sketch running on the ESP to be used for simple rules such as “if this input, send that output” as well as interface with Openhab via MQTT.
Right now by way of a contrast I’m trying ESP Easy, which after the original Flash, is configured with a simple web interface, it exposes its basic I/O over MQTT which can be used with Openhab, this seems to be a simpler solution for those that just want to expose a bunch of devices to Openhab over MQTT as it doesn’t require any Arduino Sketch knowledge.
This ESP will be used to control 6 relays, and provide inputs for at least one 1-Wire temperature sensor and an analogue wind sensor, the only issue I’ve found so far with ESP Easy is the topic length in the command topic only seems to work at one deep. For example
Topic “MySensor/” works
Topic “MySensor/Basement/” doesn’t.
The full topic to access the GPIO Pins is:
“MySensor/gpio/14” with a message of either “1” or “0” depending on whether 0V or 3.3V is wanted on the GPIO Pin.
The ESP Easy wiki mentions instability when controlling items but doesn’t mention whether this extends to simple relays so I’ll update the thread when my AliExpress $2 relay boards arrive and I can test it properly. For now I have 2 single relays, an LED, a relay shield and a 1-wire probe hanging off it that I’m keeping an eye on. I’m also pinging it every 10 seconds to check for wifi dropouts. Will update this if any of them fail.
I am also using ESP Easy on two Eco Plugs that I picked up for $8 at Home Depot after Christmas. It has been working well. The only “issue” I have run into so far is when my MQTT server was down for a couple days in an attempt to migrate my server from ESXi to Proxmox. The physical button would become unresponsive for several seconds when, I’m assuming, the device was attempting to connect back up with the server. I really like the web interface and OTA updates though so it’s easy to change if you repurpose a device. I’d like to find something similar for Arduino.
I am torn when it comes to DIY control of high voltage. I don’t doubt my own ability, but I’m a bit apprehensive about the quality of the cheap components. More importantly, I’m not sure it’s worth the risk in event that the worst happens. If my house burnt down, even for an unrelated reason, and insurance denied a claim because of some DIY controller, then I’ve defeated myself in my quest for saving money.
Those Sonoff switches would be great. A nice packaging for barely more (or less even) than you could do it yourself. They don’t have any kind of UL listing or equivalent that I’m aware of though.
I’m curious how those of you that have done DIY high voltage equipment feel about this.
I stick to off the shelf certified sockets wherever possible, and then add inline fuses if appropriate. I’d rather blow a 650mA fuse than rely on a 15/20A breaker back at the mains board.
Really? Are you using nails instead of fuses 
.
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hahahaha, 650mA
original edited for those following later
To update this thread, for those following on, I ended up:
I purchased 2 x Wemos D1Mini’s, I flashed both with ESPEasy, one had a boot loop problem and was refunded, the other is connected to a 4 port relay board, the mains feeds to the lighs is diverted through the relays, and I also added a couple of 1-Wire Sensors as my 1-Wire dongle used elsewhere was throwing the occasional read error. The ESP is also connected to 4 light switches with pull ups to 3.3V, and the light switches pull the lines back down to 0V when operated. The relays switch the mains feeds to the lights which are diverted away from the switches which are low voltage only.
I use ESPEasy to report the relay status via MQTT back to OH and the ESP runs a set of simple rules that flips the state of the relay whenever a switch is operated.
This setup means OH knows the state of the relays and restores it if the ESP restarts, I can now operate the lights from either the switches or OH, and in OH the Switch items always reflect the light state.
I had to buffer D8(GPIO15) with a 10K Resistor and a BC547 as the relays hold it high which stops the ESP from rebooting. Also D3(GPIO0) and D4(GPIO2) have 10K pullups so they have to be used to feed the active low relays to prevent reboot problems which happen if they are pulled to 0V when rebooted.
Total cost for Wemos D1Mini & 4 Port Optically Isolated Relay board is $8 USD, and its powered from an iPhone charger with an extra Tantulum Capacitor across the 5V rail. I’m fortunate as I have the time and knowledge to do all this stuff, so my solution won’t suit all.
RATHER OBVIOUSLY ONLY WORK WITH MAINS IF YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND ARE ALLOWED TO DO SO IN YOUR LOCATION.