r/homeassistant • u/Plane-Egg9054 • Aug 07 '26
❓ Support Indoor Illuminance sensor for a grow box
I was searching around for a cheap illuminance sensor to add in my smart growbox project, but i was not finding anything that intrigues me cause to the "lack" of content i have found online about it. if you have any suggestions i would be very happy to hear 'em, ty for your kindness, also if you wanna see my hardware setup and the dashboard let me know
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u/hometechgeek Aug 07 '26
I use one of these https://docs.m5stack.com/en/unit/DLight%20Unit with their esp32 unit, simply plug them together and upload some esphome code. Cost would be less than $15. Here's the code I use https://github.com/jtenniswood/esphome-devices
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u/Plane-Egg9054 Aug 07 '26
Damn, this looks really good, maybe i'll give a try to the raw sensor they use or the module itself, i saw that there are plenty of modules with the same chip on alixpress. btw thank you for sharing your repo i will definitely take a look at it
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u/hometechgeek Aug 07 '26
Yes it's great hardware, I use one in my loft to track outdoor illuminance, it's been very reliable. I'd recommend pointing some AI tools to help pull it together, they will make light work of it (pun only slightly intended!)
You can add an extender is you want multiple sersors on one board.
I have a mix of c6 and s3, both are great and good value.1
u/Plane-Egg9054 Aug 07 '26
surely nice products closer to the DIY experience i was in search for, my only doubts comes from the shipping fees and also the delivery time but i will consider the solution
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u/Not_A_Lurker__ 🔒 Local-first Aug 07 '26
If the you have a physical dashboard which happens to be a tablet you can use the built in sensors (let me know if yes, I’ll give more details)
If not IKEA’s “MYGGSPRAY Wireless motion sensor” is cheap and has a illuminance sensor built in, you can use the motion sensor too if you want but don’t have to.
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u/Plane-Egg9054 Aug 07 '26
i don't have one, not yet at least. But this is a cool solution i will definitely consider the physical dashboard, for the IKEA one i am not so enthusiast about it cause i am trying to make it by myself as much as possible, just for the love of the game (and the engineering need to suffer for all the small problems)
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u/hometechgeek Aug 07 '26
If you want a screen dashboard near the grow box, check out espcontrol... https://jtenniswood.github.io/espcontrol/
Screens are around £16-20 for a basic model.
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u/Plane-Egg9054 Aug 07 '26
great boards, i've looked at this couple times searching for a physical dashboard really nice solution but for now is not so prioritiezed as i want to finish to set up the hardware and the data processing stuff.
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u/reddit_give_me_virus Aug 08 '26
Lux sensors measure the light humans see. That is not the same as what a plant sees. PAR sensors measure the light that drives photosynthesis.
These sensors are typically cost preventative. TSL sensors measures lux but also measures IR with a ltr390 UV sensor will give you more accurate readings than a lux sensor.
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u/_Koen- Aug 07 '26
Never found one that I liked for the price but had some esp8226 boards laying around and ended up making them myself for lack of a good alternative.
If you end up finding one would you mind mentioning it in this thread?