Which temperature-probe to use with OpenHABian on Raspberry Pi

Hardware Home Automation
1

Hello everybody,

As a new user of OpenHAB I have the following configuration:
Raspberry Pi 4 Model B - 2GB
openHABian with openHAB 3

I’ve got some home automation running, like Xiaomi Wifi-devices and Philips Hue lights. This all works fine and does exactly what is to be expecting.

Because I want to expand my automation to my little brewery I’m looking for hardware where I can measure temperature, which has to be with a probe. I was expecting a lot of Zigbee-devices (because the normal temperature- / moisture-sensors are often Zigbee), but I’ve only found the TH10 & TH16 Sonoff-devices with a probe (DS18B20). There also seems to be an updated version: TH Origin with an upgraded cable-connection to the probe - DS18B20. These where all listed on the Sonoff-website.

If I understand it correctly, these devices are WIFI-based and normally can’t easily communicate with OpenHAB. With the help of flashing with the Tasmota-firmware it should be possible to communicate with OpenHAB using the MQTT-interface.

So far, so good. However, I’ve looked into this flashing of the firmware and I’m not sure if this is something I - as a beginner - can do. I’ve seen that some products can be flashed OTA, but it looks like the TH10/16 or Orgin is not supported. Furthermore, can I be sure that not only the switch-function works, but also the sensory part.

I wonder if there is an option which involves less soldering / hardware and works more out of the box. It’s okay if this is a bit more expensive. Or am I looking at the wrong products?

Thanks in advance.

Edit: Apparently I can only add two links in a post because I’m a new user, so I’ve deleted some links and described where I found the information.

2

The flashing of a sonoff, assuming a normal esp8266 one, is actually super simple.
Google “tasmotizer”, and you’ll need a little programmer doodat (it’s like 5 euros on AliExpress).
A bunch of leads to connect both and you’re off to the races.
Honestly I’d suggest you do this simply because you’ll learn a lot and afterwards you can use all other sensors and stuff that there’s out there.

3

I use a Shelly 1pm + temperuture addon + 3 temperature sensors. It is really easy to setup (plug and play) and fully compatible with openhab. The set price is about 35€.
You can measure 3 different temperatures, monitor the consumed power and also switch a device. I like it a lot.

4

Oh yeah the shelly’s already come with mqtt out of the box right?
That might be a better option.

5

I don’t use mqtt with the shelly, so idk.
But the openhab shelly binding works really well. It will discover the shelly and all channels are available.
I use all 3 temp channels.

shelly
shelly751×1017 59.3 KB

1 Like
6

Thank you for your response. I do realize that if I learn how to flash these devices, a world of possibilities wil open ;-). But because I’m a real beginner with Linux, Raspberry Pi’s ánd OpenHAB-scripting I thought it was a good idea to have at least some plug-and-play hardware.

7

Haha so… you don’t need Linux at all for that :stuck_out_tongue: my computer is windows.
OpenHAB is on Linux yes, but flashing a sonoff device does not require Linux. Check for “tasmotizer” on YouTube and you’ll get it :wink:
Advice: sacrifice 4 euros and buy a sonoff basic. The old one. Not the r2. And follow the instructions to flash that one. All others are the same.

8

This looks really nice. It even uses the same temperature-probe as the Sonoff. I’ve ordered one from a local vendor and will try it out.

9

Haha, yes I found the “Tasmotizer” and realize it’s Windows. But I meant getting OpenHABian working on the Pi, connect with SSH to do stuff on it. I felt like a hero already to get that working :smile:

But I’ll try to flash one and learn more :sweat_smile: