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By wcrosman
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Posts:  445
Joined:  Thu Apr 14, 2022 2:03 am
#425260
I am talking about using smart home devices to aid in dormancy. I live in Colorado along the Northern Front Range. Temps can drop at times to almost 20 below zero in the winter so I cannot leave my traps outside. My garage is only about 10 degrees warmer than the outside temperature and I don't want my traps in the frig.

So I have come up with a smart home solution. I have purchased a smart thermostat and grow lights from AliExpress. I have set up an old coleman cooler using these devices and a heat mat. The thermostat is set to come on at 34 degrees F and go off at 35.1. The lights come on for 7 hrs a day. I also have set up a scene so that even if the heat is on and the temp goes below 34 the grow lights also come on as they add a bit of heat also.

Uploading a bunch of photos showing the devices and setup.

I also have a secondary temp and humidity meter in the cooler as well. Just so I know the humidity. I open the cooler during the day to lower the humidity. Close it at night to keep the temperature good.

Obtw the thermostat also shows the amount of energy used when heating.
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By Shadowtski
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#425264
Very nice.
Does your light controller have a Sunrise/Sunset option?
That would give you a nice photoperiod shift keeping your lighting in sync with the real world.
Seasonal variations of sunrise and sunset times are a strong cue to go into dormancy and come out of dormancy.
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By wcrosman
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#425271
No it doesn’t but its easy to adjust the start and stop times. It had already started into dormancy before I moved it from its outside location in the last 1/2 of Nov when temps started approaching freezing at night.

All I have to do is bring the app up and change the schedule.

The light controller is the smart plug in the original photos.
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By Panman
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#425272
You can look at the website IFTTT.com (IF This Then That). It has scripts that can automatically turn on and off smart devices based on sunrise/sunset. Smart Life devices are supported.
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By wcrosman
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#425285
Panman wrote: Mon Dec 05, 2022 8:40 pm You can look at the website IFTTT.com (IF This Then That). It has scripts that can automatically turn on and off smart devices based on sunrise/sunset. Smart Life devices are supported.
Unfortunately I only see turn ON at sunset and OFF at sunrise.
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By Huntsmanshorn
Posts:  947
Joined:  Wed Sep 03, 2014 6:32 am
#425311
That is for sure, really cool but, well, you don't need any light at those temps. Like, at all. Of course, it doesn't hurt anything either so, you know, just saying.
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By Shadowtski
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#425313
wcrosman, you inspired me to order a (couple of em) Kasa HS103P4 Smart Outlet.
I looked at the info, it looks like Sunrise and Sunset are very easy to program in for this model.

Maybe I'll play with it, write up specific instructions for a Sunrise-ON, Sunset-OFF light controller then do a December giveaway with one, think anyone would be interested?

And I am still working on my Node-Red Raspberry Pi Automation project for a fully automated CP Terrarium. Temperature, Lighting, Humidity, Water Level and auto watering, control , monitoring, and logging. The coding is done, I think, and debugging is under way. This version has better sensors. This one will be built to look "Ready for Prime Time". It will actually be not too offensive to look at when it is done. I may possibly use it for CP education at some local venues.
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By wcrosman
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#425321
Panman wrote: Tue Dec 06, 2022 1:14 am You can edit the instructions to swap them.
I see no way to download the source code from the site to be able to accomplish that. I am not willing to pay a monthly subscription in order to do so.
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By Panman
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#425327
Set up an account and then use the Create button in the top right corner. For the trigger, search for sunrise and for the event use the Smart Life actions. You can create up to 5 events on a free account.
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By wcrosman
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#425330
Panman wrote: Tue Dec 06, 2022 1:35 pm Set up an account and then use the Create button in the top right corner. For the trigger, search for sunrise and for the event use the Smart Life actions. You can create up to 5 events on a free account.
I just discovered that the smart life app has built in sunrise and sunset triggers for their scenes. This makes it simple to do what you suggest.

Thank you loads for the idea.
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By wcrosman
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#425334
Huntsmanshorn wrote: Tue Dec 06, 2022 2:03 am That is for sure, really cool but, well, you don't need any light at those temps. Like, at all. Of course, it doesn't hurt anything either so, you know, just saying.
The temp yesterday rose to almost 60f. I have read that even if one keeps their traps in the frig for dormancy that while its not absolutely required traps do better when coming out of dormancy if they have had a least some light during dormancy.

That said, this is my first vft and my first dormancy so what I have read could be wrong.
By Huntsmanshorn
Posts:  947
Joined:  Wed Sep 03, 2014 6:32 am
#425358
Okay, like I said, it won't hurt anything (it might even help against mold) so if all this makes you feel better about dormancy than absolutely you should go for it.
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By Shadowtski
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Joined:  Tue Mar 22, 2016 8:19 am
#425470
Shadowtski wrote: Tue Dec 06, 2022 3:09 am wcrosman, you inspired me to order a (couple of em) Kasa HS103P4 Smart Outlet.
I looked at the info, it looks like Sunrise and Sunset are very easy to program in for this model.

The KASA smart outlets arrived.
They are very easy to set up for Sunrise-ON, Sunset-OFF operation using the KASA SMART app.
They default to your actual location for Sunrise/Sunset time calculations, assuming LOCATION is turned ON in your phone settings.
You can easily override your actual location with manually entered Latitude Longitude co-ordinates.
The only glitch is that you are allowed only one location per KASA account/login.
If you want separate photoperiods for Tropical, Subtropical, and Temperate locations, you will need 3 KASA accounts and I think you'll need a separate email address for each account.
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