For the automatic garden irrigation with HomeMatic and the control over the Smartphone I decided to use HomeMatic CCU2. HomeMatic offers a practical solution for almost all situations of home life and makes everyday life easier. It takes over recurring events in the house, like the retraction and extension of the awning, closing and opening the shutters and the garage door or turning on and off the garden irrigation and lighting.
Automatic garden-irrigation with HomeMatic CCU2
The heart of the solution is the HomeMatic CCU2 central unit. The control center takes over numerous control and monitoring functions of home automation. It enables the management, control, configuration and control of all HomeMatic devices. It can be comfortably operate from the computer via a web interface (WebGUI). The configuration, the operation and the status query of the HomeMatic devices are simple and clear.
A variety of actuators for different areas can be connect to the CCU2. For example, I use this for my home control to switch the shutters, lights and garden irrigation. Since the HomeMatic system is an open technology, many manufacturers have joined this eQ-3 platform and offer their components for this purpose.
My central CCU2 is connect to my home LAN with internet access. Furthermore, there is a radio switch in my garage, which communicates with the HomeMatic central unit via a secure radio connection.
HomeMatic radio switch for controlling the garden pump
The radio switch in the garage is a radio switch actuator 4-way HomeMatic system from ELV (HM-LC-Sw4-DR). The 4-channel wireless switch actuator switches up to four consumers with up to 3680 W power consumption via four potential-free relay contacts. The switch actuator is intend for mounting on a DIN rail within a distribution system. At one of these relay contacts, I connected directly the 220V connection of the well pump from Kärcher.
In addition to the garden irrigation, I have connected other systems, such as lighting and decoratve fountains in the garden. The radio range for this switch actuator with the control center is 100m in free field, but 30m are more realistic.
In addition to the radio switch that I use, alternatives are still offer by ELV. For example, a 1-channel radio switch actuator (HM-LC-Sw1-DR) for DIN rail or a surface-mounted radio switch (HM-LC-Sw1-SM). With both products you can switch consumer up to 220V.
Digression: If there is no garden pump in use, so can the faucet in the garden / garage use. A solenoid valve from Hunter Valve PGV-100-G-B or PGV-101-G-B with pressure regulation can be connected directly to the tap. The connections for the water pipeline must be observed, as the valve only has a 1″ internal thread. In addition, a transformer for the DIN rail with 24V AC voltage must be installed for the power supply of the valve. If several valves are to be supplied via a transformer, an inrush current of 370mA and a holding current of 210mA must be taken into account per valve. For example, you can use the transformer HUTSCHIENEN-TRAFO 24 VAC 1A from Comatec or Noratel transformer RDS20-21224-M3P.
To work with high voltage please consult please specialist staff for electrical work. Here I present my experiences that are not universal. I assume no warranty, liability or warranty.
In addition, you can find more information in my blog on installation Hunter solenoid valve PGV.
Control with your smartphone
You connect the radio switch to the HomeMatic Central Unit CCU2. To do this, the corresponding menu is available in the user interface in order to enter the serial number of the wireless switch and to carry out the teach-in. Thus, one can activate the switch in a few steps. The WebGUI of the center allows simple programming logic, such as Start and length of irrigation at a specific time. In addition, you can also insert extensive logic or programming scripts.
I have made no programming adjustments here, but only the switch actuators sorted by trades and rooms. For the control by smartphone I use the app Home24. About this app, I can now also on holiday my garden irrigation on and off again. With smart home you can define specific timing for garden irrigation or define processes based on specific events.
For the automatic garden irrigation I used further products from Hunter, Gardena and HomeMatic. For this I have described different topics in my blog. In addition, I describe under the link Implementation, how I implemented my project.
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