Simple Pool Automation

[InWayOverMyHead]

Hello hello,
I just bought a house with a pool in New England and we added a Sta-Rite propane heater to our existing Hayward super pump and sand filter. We also just bought a dolphin active 30.

From what I've read there are a few considerations:

1. I need to turn off the heater ~15 minutes before the pump
2. I need to run the pump for ~8 hr/day.
3. I need the pump running while the vacuum is running

What I'm hoping to accomplish is:

1. Run the pump daily on a schedule without going out to the pool shed
2. Schedule the dolphin to run periodically while the pump is already running
3. Run the dolphin and pump ad-hoc from my phone
4. Turn on the heater/pump from my phone

Unnecessary, but nice to have features:

1. Heater temperature control from phone
2. Voice control and/or ability to integrate with home assistant

About me:

Software: I'm experienced with the home automation side of things and generally if I have on/off for each of the devices I can configure something (custom code or IFTTT) to setup the routines or triggers I'm looking for.

Hardware: I've tinkered with raspberry pi and stuff like that, but something about the risk of burning out control boards on thousands of dollars of equipment scares me

What I've seen: I've seen some cheap ~$50 wifi timers it seems like that could work for the pump and I could find something similar for the heater and setup a routine to handle the timing delay, but I'm not sure.

I can probably justify spending ~$500, but most of the pool automation systems seem to be between 1k - 4k and have a bunch of features I don't care about (and never will) like light control, water feature control, hot tub control, valve actuators, etc. Philips hue owns my soul and I don't have any of the other features, just a pool, so it seems like overkill.

Thanks in advance for any information/guidance

 

[kimkats]

I don't have the answer so here is a bump to see if anyone else has any ideas.

 

[RayKing]

You might look at this: Amazon.com I've been using it with Alexa and an Echo Dot to control my Hayward Power Flo LX 1 HP Pump. It has three independent outlets with a total of 15 Amps. I was not sure that it could handle the inductive load even though they state 2 HP max! I hear a relay when it switches so I don't know how long the relay will last but since I'm only controlling my pump, I have two "spares". For the money I've been pleased so far.

 

[InWayOverMyHead]

You might look at this: Amazon.com I've been using it with Alexa and an Echo Dot to control my Hayward Power Flo LX 1 HP Pump. It has three independent outlets with a total of 15 Amps. I was not sure that it could handle the inductive load even though they state 2 HP max! I hear a relay when it switches so I don't know how long the relay will last but since I'm only controlling my pump, I have two "spares". For the money I've been pleased so far.

Thanks RayKing -- my pump and heater are hardwired so there's no outlet to insert a controller into (unfortunately) -- I'm going down the rabbit hole of a raspberry pie or a custom PCB

 

[jgofnj]

Have you looked at Wi-Fi timers? I have seen many people post and talk about them on this site.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

There are many DIY options that do what you want. Take a look at the low budget automation link in my signature. Mine is more of an automation for dummies system. I use a Sonoff Wi-Fi temperature switch for control of my heater. With your skills, you might want to look into the node.js pool controller. Many forum members use this system so there is plenty of help here.

GitHub - tagyoureit/nodejs-poolController: An application to control pool equipment from various manufacturers.

An application to control pool equipment from various manufacturers. - tagyoureit/nodejs-poolController

github.com

 

[MyAZPool]

@InWayOverMyHead
I agree with Mike and based on your considerations and what you want to accomplish, that you listed above, then I would certainly recommend that you take a look at nodejs-poolController/REM.

You will find lots of help and be able to ask questions at the link below as well.
https://github.com/tagyoureit/nodejs-poolController/discussions

In addition, nodejs-poolController should support your equipment and njspC can be integrated into Home Assistant.

According to the GitHub njspC HA page, "This allows everything smart home related to be controlled from a central platform and provide additional local automation for a swimming pool. After setup, it is possible to create notifications, view historical data/graphs, or even connect to voice services like Google or Alexa within Home Assistant."
https://github.com/tagyoureit/nodejs-poolController/wiki/Home-Assistant-Setup-Instructions

r.

 

[midlifecrisis]

@MyAZPool disregard. I didn't see all the links you posted. Not sure why. Sorry.

 

[InWayOverMyHead]

I got this working with two cheap wifi timers: Amazon.com
I'm already running home assistant so I integrated both with home assistant and have them setup so if I turn the pump off and the heater has been on within the last 25 minutes it'll turn the pump back on, turn off the heater, and turn the pump off automatically in 25 minutes.

This season I'm going to add a wifi pool temperature probe to the mix to serve as a thermostat - the pool heater has one and will maintain temps, but that's only useful while the pump is running and I can't see/read it from my phone. With a wifi pool thermometer I'll likely set the heater temp to ~90F and use the thermometer to turn the heater on and off to achieve my desired temps.
I just pre-ordered this guy: Amazon.com
Last season I had it's bluetooth cousin which showed the temps on a monitor in the kitchen, but I need more range than I can get with BLE.