A software engineer with an interest in DIY, heating, electronics and smart home tech. I write software and I try to make hardware too!
In addition to receiving my latest Dual Temperature Sensor boards from PCBWay, I also ordered a few of my Modbus ESP32 adapter boards. I was short a 210Ω resistor, but I soldered it all up anyway. Never hurts to practice. The first objective was getting the ESP32-C6 talking over USB so I could flash it. […]
After my success with my MBus adapter PCB, I finally got the push I needed to finish the next version of Dual Temperature Sensor. I sent it off to PCBWay for manufacture! This version had two important changes: In this previous post, I added the Power Source cluster to my firmware, so the device could […]
This post follows on from part 1, where I successfully connected an ESP32 to the Samsung SmartThings API In this post, I add explore how I could use the API to delay the start of my washing machine automatically. Once I understand how that works, I can implement something using Matter. How to delay with […]
With my Revision F boards all soldered up and debugged, I was ready to make my first MBus communication attempt! In this post, I’ll run through the process. Issues with Revision F Before diving into the test, I thought it might be helpful if I gave a quick through some of the mistakes I made […]
This is a short update on the MBus ESP32 adapter I’m building. I wrote a long post about it over here, which I suggest you read first to give you some context. When I designed the original circuit, I made two mistakes in the schematic. Each mistake impacted a different part of my circuit. In […]
The testing of my Energy Manager continues at home and to be honest, it hasn’t been going too well. Both myself and my wife simply *forget* that we need be checking the energy manager. The number one offender was the washing machine as we’d load it and hit start without even thinking. Changing this habit […]
My ASHP heat pump is due to be installed in less than a month (Aug 2026)! I’m getting a Kronoterm Adapt to replace my big, stupid gas boiler. Whilst the Kronoterm Adapt provides heating, it can also provide cooling. It does this by moving heat in the opposite direction, supplying cold water rather than hot […]
This is my Kamstrup Heat Meter. It currently measures how much heat my boiler is producing. It’s been a very useful addition to my heating setup and has featured in some of my videos. Installed back in October 2023, this little device has been diligently working away. With the pending installation of my Air Source […]
I encountered a problem commissioning a Matter over Thread device using the esp-matter SDK on an ESP32-P4. Despite initial success, the P4 failed to establish a connection due to a missing route to the Thread device. After extensive debugging, they discovered the P4 wasn't listening for Router Advertisement packets, which was resolved by joining the multicast group, allowing successful…
In this post, I look at how I added group commands to my ESP32 Matter Controller. Matter Grouping allows different devices to be logically grouped together so they can all be controlled together. For example, you have multiple smart bulbs in your kitchen, and you want them to all turn on or off at the […]