Inkbird Environment Control Automation - VPD Made Easy!

[Guest]

On 13/10/2020 at 2:19 PM, NezA said:

Right as promised over in my grow diary here's a post about my Inkbird environment controllers. I have the IHC-200 WiFi humidity controller and the ITC-308 WiFi thermostat, I managed to get these for a steal at 50% off but full retail price these go for ~£100 which makes them significantly more affordable than many other environment controllers on the market.

 

I'm using these devices to control my VPD and I have to say I'm extremely impressed. Both my temps and humidity have been extremely stable. Thanks to these devices not only are my temp and humidity perfectly stable, but both are being kept in the perfect range in relation to eachother, for optimal VPD.

So a little bit about how these work. Each controller has a probe sensor and 2 power outlets, one for a device to increase humidity or temp and one for a device to decrease humidity or temp respectively, depending on what you have each controller set to they'll automatically switch between the increase/decrease devices to keep the temperature and humidity within the desired range.

 

For example, for the humidity controller you could have a humidifier and additional extraction or a dehumidifier pugged in (or both with an extension.) When the humidity is too low it will run the humidifier until humidity hits the desired range then it will stop running the humidifier. If humidity starts to creep up it will run the additional extraction / dehumidifier until humidity is back where you want it. The same applies to the thermostat. Each device is only run when it is needed. 

 

There are basic versions of these controllers that don't have WiFi and for the budget conscious or non technical people they're potentially a good option, although don't think they'd offer the same level of precision when it comes to controlling your environment. But the WiFi version has an app that can be installed on a smartphone that's absolutely fantastic. The app itself allows you to remotely monitor and control both controllers independently from anywhere you have an internet connection. Which is a great feature in and of itself. However more importantly it has an automation feature that allows you to create rules for each device that can be triggered from the status of the other device or some other external factor.

What follows is a short guide as to how I have these devices setup and how I created rules that will trigger and adjust each device as my environment shifts the devices will adapt to compensate, keeping my VPD in the ideal range constantly.

 

Sensor placement. 
I placed my sensors at canopy level and far enough away from my heater and humidifier so that I'm getting an average reading rather than over indexing on any one reading. Obviously you know your grow space so make sure you're placing your probes in an appropriate location and that you're getting a good reading.

The trickiest part of the setup was getting the devices to register on my WiFi but after a couple of attempts we were in business. To be fair the app does a brilliant job of guiding you through the process and it's pretty straightforward.

 

Once they are connected and registered on your network you'll see each device listed in the app.

 

From here you can manually set the desired value for each device. I personally use temperature to drive my humidity and set the temperature value to 24.5c and my temperature range pretty much fluctuates between 24-25c consistently. On the odd occasion I have seen it as high as 27 and as low as 22. But I haven't seen those extremes for weeks now, not since I was initially dialing in the setup. Now everything is dialed in though it's extremely stable indeed. 

 

Creating Automation Rules

 

Ok so to create a rule firstly we select the smart option at the bottom of the screen.  

 

Next select the automation tab.

 

 

On my screen you can see all my veg rules in green. Obviously the first time you see this screen it will be empty and rules will be added in the order you create them. To create a rule select the blue "+" icon in the top left. You'll then be presented with a screen that allows you to select what type of trigger condition you want to set. Because I want the devices to balance each other I chose the "when device changes status" option.

 

 

 

My temperature like many of you, I'm guessing, tends to be far more stable than my humidity. So I opted to have my temperature value drive my humidity value. So on the next screen we select our thermostat. (ITC-308-WIFI)

 

Here we're are presented with a list of options. I have used the "current temperature" parameter.

 

 

Each rule I have created is set at 1c increments. I also use the "<" (less than) condition I originally set this to "=" but as soon as the temp shifted by 0.1c the rule would cease to apply so using "less than" at 1c increments covers the entire range of decimals. Select the upper limit of the temp range you want to cover. 

 

 

On the next screen we need to select what we want to happen when those conditions are met. In this instance we want to run our humidity controller so select "run device" 

 

 

Now select the humidity controller (IHC-200-WIFI)

 

 

Next we want to select what we want the humidity setting to be, so select the "Setting Humidity" option. Use the slider to get in the right range if you want to be really precise you can use the + and - icons to make fine adjustments.

 

 

Here you'll want to refer to a VPD chart to select a humidity value that's appropriate for the temperature threshold you have selected for this particular rule. The rule we are creating is for flower so I have used the appropriate settings assuming a -1c leaf temp offset, these values will give us a RH of 51% between 24-25c

On the last screen you get a summary to review before saving and activating the rule.

 

 

So for this example we are using <25c as our threshold temp. So to recap what we have said to the app is "if the current temp on our thermostat is <25c then set our humidity to 51%" now where this gets really interesting is that you can stack the rules up so if I set a <26c rule for 53% humidity we have now told the app 2 things:

"if the current temp on our thermostat is <26c then set our humidity to 53%, unless the current temperature on our thermostat is <25c then set our humidity to 51%"

You can then add additional rules for <24c etc etc and you continue to stack these rules one on top of the other until you cover your entire temp range and a couple of c either side just in case.

 

There's a whole heap of other options I'm yet to explore with this but just this functionality alone for the price is pretty fantastic. Yes there's quite a bit of setup involved but once it's done and your rules are saved you never have to look at it again other than activating or deactivating the rules for the various growth stages. 

 

At the moment I only have a complete set of rules for veg setup. By the time I flip I will have created a full set of new rules for optimal flower VPD. You can colour code the rules so you can easily see at a glance which rules are for which stage my and you can activate and deactivate any given rule using a toggle. So when I need to, I can just switch between different rule sets easily and there's no need to recreate rules from scratch all the time.

 

 

If people find this post useful I might explore some of the other features in the app and make additional posts over time.

 

Keep it green

 

-NezA

What a legend for this thread mate just persuaded me to scrap me original plan and order and get both these for price of the fan controller I was going to buy 

[NezA]

No problems @welshgorrilla mate. Make sure you have a read through the whole thread if you can there's some good info and some tips and some pitfalls. Worth having a butchers mate.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, NezA said:

No problems @welshgorrilla mate. Make sure you have a read through the whole thread if you can there's some good info and some tips and some pitfalls. Worth having a butchers mate.

Great info there bro spot on 

[latigid aikon]

@NezA Quick question; does the automation still work if your internet connection goes down? I haven't actually automated anything yet myself and I'm still trying to get my head round how it works.

[NezA]

@latigid aikon

 

If the WiFi connection the controllers are linked to dies then the rules will stop automatically switching the controllers will default to trying to hold the last know values. You do get an error notification that a rule has failed to run if they lose WiFi so you'll know if it happens. The device that manages your rules and the controllers themselves don't need to be on the same network they just need an internet connection at both ends to monitor / update.

 

Hope this helps

[Slippy One]

I wonder if anyone uses the automation on the 'Controller 67' from AC Infinity for perfect VPD? I have this controller and use it manually for the ideal range, but it has amazing automation for temps and humidity and can be bought for about £55. Needs an EC fan to work though.. As for drying, just turn all the equipment off, turn all central heating off and ride the extract speeds until you have 60%. I'm assuming you have a 0-100% fan controller?> congrats on a 2nd successful job  

[Slippy One]

Just to add, the Controller 67 app is beyond amazing. Everything can be automated, watch real-time X/Y graphs over hours-days-weeks-months for current and past temps, humidity. Then bar graphs for 'temperature distribution' and 'humidity distribution' with a big EXPORT DATA button below. You can adjust the time, speeds, automations, alarms, notifications. You can name each controller, for example if you had multiple grow/nursery/breeding rooms, even display brightness is in there. It's bluetooth only, so you have to be within range. Anyone currently using 2 or more Inkbirds plugged into a humidifier, de-humidifier and heaters might like what a decent fan controller can achieve with a quarter of the costs.

 

[latigid aikon]

1 hour ago, NezA said:

@latigid aikon

 

If the WiFi connection the controllers are linked to dies then the rules will stop automatically switching the controllers will default to trying to hold the last know values. You do get an error notification that a rule has failed to run if they lose WiFi so you'll know if it happens. The device that manages your rules and the controllers themselves don't need to be on the same network they just need an internet connection at both ends to monitor / update.

 

Hope this helps

Thanks, that saves me loads of time.

 

I wondered if they might require a connection to the Inkbird server for the automation to work because I noticed the logs end up with gaps when the wifi goes down which must mean they are also going onto Inkbirds server.

 

I've been looking into controlling them directly and some others have already done some groundwork so I might end up using maybe a raspberry pi or something as a server.

 

Just now, Slippy One said:

I wonder if anyone uses the automation on the 'Controller 67' from AC Infinity for perfect VPD?

Does it just control fans or can it control humidifiers, dehumidifiers and heaters?

[Slippy One]

Just now, latigid aikon said:

 

Does it just control fans or can it control humidifiers, dehumidifiers and heaters?

Not the heaters, but can be programmed to keep a temperature if that makes sense..e.g if your thermostat on the radiator broke and it got hotter, Controller 67 would do its best to blast that heat out by speeding up to the top speed you programmed. You can even adjust the transition temps, it's ridiculously geeky, but I prefer my trusty old non wifi 306T for my double tube heater duty.

 

With temps being the easy bit, the humidy is where the C67 really shines. I think I've seen one for £58 including postage. Mine was £55 from small grow shop in Cornwall. 

 

edit to add: If the temp drops below a certain point, it can turn off the fan completely. I'm lucky to have found the sweet spot using precise speed controller, or more to the point, slower extraction to increase the humidity and increase speeds to reduce humidity. If anyone wouold like to see screenshots of the app, I'm happy to upload some. 

 

Edited April 14, 2021 by Slippy One

[NezA]

If you're interested in going down the Pi route @latigid aikon check this thread out:

 

 

Also this guy has an awesome series of videos on how to create a fully automated grow room. It's incredible: 

 

 

I'm technically minded enough to go down this route and may eventually do it but I am also lazy. The reason I started this thread was because automating VPD via the Inkbird app is just do damn accessible anyone can do it. 

 

But if you want to go all in there are far better setups that can be achieved the sky is the limit.

 

Hope you find this stuff useful.

[BlueberryCookie]

I've got the basic heating thermostat, I plugged it in with no heat source plugged into it & I put the sensor on a table next to 3 thermometers that all were within 1 degree of each other so I could see if the thermostat needed adjusting. But the temperature on the thermostat keeps changing. It kept going 4 degrees above the thermometers & then 4 degrees below. I gave up with it in the end. Probably a simple way to sort it but I'm not clued up on things like that.

[Slippy One]

2 hours ago, BlueberryCookie said:

I've got the basic heating thermostat, I plugged it in with no heat source plugged into it & I put the sensor on a table next to 3 thermometers that all were within 1 degree of each other so I could see if the thermostat needed adjusting. But the temperature on the thermostat keeps changing. It kept going 4 degrees above the thermometers & then 4 degrees below. I gave up with it in the end. Probably a simple way to sort it but I'm not clued up on things like that.

The really cool thing on the Controller 67 is that it has a calibrate feature, which would eliminate your issue.  

[latigid aikon]

5 hours ago, NezA said:

I'm technically minded enough to go down this route and may eventually do it but I am also lazy.

Same here TBH

 

I'm happy with the Inkbirds for now but I'd just like to try to eliminate the dependency on connecting to their servers if I can.

[latigid aikon]

2 hours ago, BlueberryCookie said:

It kept going 4 degrees above the thermometers & then 4 degrees below.

If it's unstable compared to other thermometers it must be faulty, mine match other thermometers closely as you'd expect.

 

8 minutes ago, Slippy One said:

The really cool thing on the Controller 67 is that it has a calibrate feature, which would eliminate your issue.  

You can calibrate the Inkbirds too but that's not much use if they keep changing.

[BlueberryCookie]

11 minutes ago, Slippy One said:

The really cool thing on the Controller 67 is that it has a calibrate feature, which would eliminate your issue.  

My issue is the thermostat wouldn't settle on a number, it just kept going up & down in temperature. So I'm not sure if it needs adjusting.