ZigBee based Chicken Coop Door

[JohnR (John Rucker)]

@JohnN

Just some ideas in-case you are still working on the system, will it be able to support -10 to -15 degrees in the winter? We hit that a couple of time in the winter and also will the controller be rainproof. I saw the case its in and it seems sealed. I don’t have a place like yours were it will be under the coop as mine will have to be mounted on the side. I will probably have to provide a custom enclosure to keep the element out as much as possible for both the controller and actuator.

Mounting the CoopBoss outside of your coop away from direct water contact is the goal. The PCB will be inside a weather tight aluminum enclosure with all wires sealed in weather tight grommets. The circuit should be good to 30 below I will verify that when I have everything finalized. Just as an FYI the circuit board and enclosure is based on a solution we make for solar array trackers. We have several of those units running outside in the very cold winters of Alaska and hot summers of New Mexico. With that being said I have added a few new components and when I document everything that is when I will finalize the specs. I bet the actuator will be the biggest concern in regards to temperature.

@JohnN

Also maybe for your V2 or V3 board do you have any plans to support a humidity sensor for the inside of the coop? That is one the biggest reasons for frostbite on a chicks comb in the winter. I usually end up leaving my windows open about 1/4 in the winter and that seems to remove the exhaust from there breathes with proper venting. Also I would not suggest a heater in the coop, your chicks can die if your heater went out and there is a big swing of cold temperatures, its just best to let them adjust to the temps, they will huddle together for warm. I have heard of people loosing entire flocks when there heaters when out on them.

This is fantastic input!! I think your right on with the heat lamp we used one last year for a few days as it was so cold our heated waterier was freezing up in the coop. The chickens never came out while we had it on and they seem to do just fine no mater what the temperature is. Thanks for the good advice I think we may just get a bigger heater for the water.

Adding a hygrometer may not be that big of a deal as I have left room on the board for expansion. Curious, if you knew the humidity in the coop what would you do with that information? Open a window, turn on a small exhaust fan?? It may not make it into this version but I think it is a great idea for the next.