I have been researching these days on the possibilities to use ultra low power sources for the Funky sensor. I started my research with the idea to power a Funky from a CT wrapped around a power line. This is…
Low power receiver options
There is quite some buzz in the RFM12B community recently on low power remote receiver nodes, these are remote, battery-operated nodes that would listen for incoming commands and react to them. The challenge is that keeping the RFM12B powered on all the…
Using Funky’s boost regulator get steady 3.33V from higher voltage
I would typically think of a boost regulator in the case when I’d like to step-up voltage, and such were my intentions when I introduced the LTC3525 boost regulator chip on the Funky sensor. The idea was to be able to…
Solar statistics
Earlier this year I purchased a 220l non-pressurized evacuated tube solar heater and installed it myself on my rooftop. It is a relatively cheap (~440 Euro) solution for domestic hot water. I chose the non-pressurized type because of its simplicity…
Remote sensor’s PCB is a failure :(
Apart from the pathetic etching job on the PCB I described yesterday, I found out this morning that I also managed to etch the kitchen sink and made wife unhappy. It have been warned not to pour ferric tri-chloride in…
Hacking Daikin split type air conditioner into air-to-water type heat pump
When I was building my house, I had to figure out what to use for heating/cooling plus a hot domestic water solution. I came to think that the best for my case is to use a heat pump. The advantages…
Custom defrost algorithm for Daikin heat pump
One of the things that has been quite annoying about my Daikin heat pump converted to air-water system, is the defrosting algorithm, or is it better to say the lack of defrost algorithm. Basically below 5 degrees Celsius it defrosts…