How to Create YOUR OWN Garden Watering System in Home Assistant!

The speaker introduces a tutorial on creating an automated garden watering system using Home Assistant. The system, which the speaker has been perfecting for over two years, includes various components such as helpers, scripts, automations, and custom sensors. The goal is to build a professional garden watering system that operates efficiently, even during the speaker's absence, such as while on holiday. The speaker mentions using a special pump connected to a smart plug for water distribution, which can be controlled remotely via Home Assistant.

The tutorial continues with setting up the automated garden watering system using Open Weather Map for weather data. The speaker explains the process of creating an account and obtaining an API key from Open Weather Map, which is then used in Home Assistant to access weather information. The speaker also details the steps to install and configure Open Weather Map in Home Assistant, emphasizing the importance of waiting for the API key to become active, which may take up to two hours.

The speaker proceeds to explain the configuration of helpers and sensors necessary for the automated watering system. Helpers are used to store data such as the last watering day, maximum temperature, total rain fallen, and watering duration. Sensors from Open Weather Map are utilized to monitor current rain, temperature, and forecasted precipitation. Additionally, custom sensors are created to track the number of days since the last watering, the total expected precipitation, and whether the current temperature is higher than previously recorded.

The speaker details the process of creating custom sensors in Home Assistant using YAML files. This involves using tools like Studio Code Server or the file editor, which can be installed through Home Assistant's add-ons store. The speaker provides guidance on editing the 'configuration.yaml' and 'templates.yaml' files, emphasizing the need to move any existing template sensors to 'templates.yaml'. The custom sensors are then defined with unique IDs, icons, and state values that perform specific calculations or checks related to the watering system.

The tutorial moves on to the creation of automations that will control the garden watering system. The speaker outlines three automations: one that adds current rain to the total rain fallen, another that checks if the garden needs watering based on various conditions including temperature and rainfall, and a third that updates the maximum temperature when the temperature changes. Each automation is meticulously explained, including the triggers, conditions, and actions involved.

The speaker discusses the scripting of two key processes for the garden watering system: watering the garden and resetting helper values. The 'sprinkler water the garden' script sends a notification to the speaker's phone, activates the smart plug to start watering, introduces a delay based on the watering duration set by the automations, and then turns off the smart plug. It concludes by resetting the helper values and sending another notification that watering has stopped. The 'sprinkler reset helper values' script is used to reset all helper values to prepare for a new monitoring cycle.

In the final part of the tutorial, the speaker talks about the importance of monitoring the system using a custom dashboard. This dashboard provides an overview of the values from helpers, sensors, automations, and scripts, which is crucial for debugging and ensuring the system operates as intended. The speaker recommends creating such a dashboard for easy monitoring and maintenance of the automated garden watering system.