r/homeautomation • u/One_Seat_9959 • 18h ago
QUESTION Help: automated potato storage
Hi there, I live in New England and grow a fair bit of potatoes to store and eat. I have a root cellar built into a part of the basement that sucks in cold air over the winter to help extend the storage of potatoes and other root crops I’ve grown that year.
Currently the setup is two inkbird temp controllers. One has a thermometer that runs to the outside and takes a constant reading, when the temp drops enough it sends power to the second temp controller that monitors the root cellar temp. If it needs additional cooling beyond the set temp, the second controller will engage a 4 inch fan that pulls in cold outside air until the root cellar hits the set temperature.
This works well enough except for the fact that I have to fiddle with it a fair amount in the spring and fall adjusting the outside temp trigger point to keep up with the falling root cellar temp so that I’m not pulling in 45 F air when the root cellar has dropped to 41 etc. In other words when it’s October and the root cellar is 60 degrees I might set the trigger temp to 55, then the root cellar cools and I adjust it downward as the weeks roll on and I’m able to cool it down further. The temp controller that monitors the actual room and runs the fan to bring in cold air is set to 36 degrees, if it gets colder than that inside it will shut the whole system down.
The question is instead of fiddling with it as temps drop in the fall and rise in the spring, is there an automation program I can run that will try to keep the storage room at 36 but won’t engage the cooling fan when the outside temp is higher than the storage room. The problem is I want to be pulling in 45 degree air when the room is 50 but not when it’s 40. Ie; the root cellars holding at 39 in January but we have a sudden warm spell, and the outside air is warmer than the cellar. Yes it still hasn’t hit the target temp of 36 but running the fan would be counter productive to cooling the room.
Thanks for any and all advice!
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u/rcrsvrddtr 15h ago
https://github.com/KlausMu/esp32-fan-controller something like this perhaps.
I have used the Inkbird Controllers for a chest freezer seltzer tank control but the difference is that the root cellar and outdoor air temp are changing.
ESP32 into low voltage relays is likely going to be the the most custom way to go. Shelly and/or YoLink also sell off the shelf sensors that may you may be able to integrate (sensor / air temp state) into relays (fan control) quite easily; YoLink sells quite a few kits that probably would be fairly off the shelf with some simple logic.
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u/Halo_Chief117 12m ago
I have nothing to add that hasn’t been said but this is a unique case for automation.
2
u/Alternative_Corgi_62 15h ago
This can be done with every microcontroller capable of reading temperatures from both sensors, and driving a relay for the fan.If you list the brands / models of what you have, someone may have ready solution.