One of the basic tasks in many home automation systems is controlling power to appliances. They could be lights, or a heater, or an exhaust fan, or just about anything else that runs on mains power. The problem of course is that it’s dangerous to mess with mains-level power directly and you may even be in breach of your local building code if you don’t have the necessary qualifications. This project uses a general-purpose appliance remote control that can be obtained from a local hardware store and easily modified to link it to an Arduino for software control of devices around your house without having to touch any mains-level wiring.
Appliance Remote Control
Git repo: github.com/practicalarduino/ApplianceRemoteControl
Tarball: practicalarduino.com/source/ApplianceRemoteControl.tar.gz
ZIP archive: practicalarduino.com/source/ApplianceRemoteControl.zip
Appliance Remote Control Compact
Git repo: github.com/practicalarduino/ApplianceRemoteControlCompact
Tarball: practicalarduino.com/source/ApplianceRemoteControlCompact.tar.gz
ZIP archive: practicalarduino.com/source/ApplianceRemoteControlCompact.zip
1 Arduino Duemilanove, Arduino Pro, Seeeduino, or equivalent
1 RF appliance remote control
1 Prototyping shield
4 5V reed relays
4 1N4001 power diodes or similar
4 PCB-mount 2-pin male connectors
4 Line-mount 2-pin female connectors
10cm ribbon cable
For more detail: Appliance Remote Control using Arduino
