IOT or Internet of Things is a hot topic! According to the experts everything will be connected to the internet and all our devices and their data will soon be just an IP address away from us. So where do you start if you want to explore the world of IOT? How about a simple Temperature, Humidity, and Light sensor for your basement.
Summer is here and being in the Northeast that means HUMIDITY with a capital HUMID. Many of us have some sort of de-humidification system in our basements. My workshop is in my basement and I have a small dehumidifier that keeps it nice a dry during these months. Despite the basement being humid it is also cooler than the above ground summer temps. I decided that I wanted to know how cool and how humid it can be and thus it became the inspiration for my first IOT project.
DHT11 sensors measure temperature and relative humidity and are cheap. Perfect for a first project. The DHT11 is not what I would call “scientifically” accurate but it is good enough to monitor my basement. While I was at it, I figured I might as well add a light sensor to know if I left the lights on. Another simple and cheap solution, all I need to use is a photoresistor.
Where to put the data became the next question. I could build a web server, but I wanted this to be simple so I decided to leverage a service called Thingspeak that has an API and will let me post and review the data from my IOT monitor.
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Each Friday is PiDay here at Adafruit! Be sure to check out our posts, tutorials and new Raspberry Pi related products. Adafruit has the largest and best selection of Raspberry Pi accessories and all the code & tutorials to get you up and running in no time!