William Robinson
Active Member
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2019
- Messages
- 224
- Reaction score
- 239
- Location
- Greensboro
- What state or country do you live in
- North Carolina
Several months back I decided I want to control some things on a new system I was setting up. First It was my first experience with a refugium and the light I had I did not want running 24/7. Simple timer right? Second, I decided I was going to put a reef LED 90 over this tank and there has been multiple issues with the power supplies over heating. Third... and most important to me I was getting tired of turning off my skimmer, turning off my main pump and then feeding just to have to do it in reverse a few minutes later. 4th, UV sterilizer control....
Enter GoSund wifi plugs and Amazon Alexa, below I'll say what I did for each of my "Wants" and how they are controlled. BONUS they also alert you via the app on your phone when they have lost signal meaning your house just lost power!
Requirements: Amazon Alexa unit($20), GoSund Wifi plugs ($25 for 4) and applicable app on your phone. ~$45
Refugium light: I set up my refugium light with a simple timer. Set the on time I desired and off time as well in the phone app. Easy
ReefLED 90 : Power supplies draw power 24/7 meaning the temperature will remain warm as wasted energy. I programmed this outlet via the app on the phone to supplier to the light 5 minutes prior to the lights normally scheduled on time and 5 minutes after. This does 2 things. 1 it resets my wifi connection to the light daily which is nice because they love to glitch and 2 it keeps from wasting energy as heat thus wearing on the power supply.
Skimmer and Pump: This one was a little more tricky but is completed through the amazon alexa app on your phone. If you have alexa you most likely have this app. For this I created a "Routine". When I am beside my tank i can say "Alexa, feeding time" and power is turned off to both the pump and skimmer simultaneously. To turn them back on I havent figured out how to offset so the pump will run for "x" amount of time before turning on the skimmer so that the skimmer doesnt over flow but I am working on it. For now, I say "Alexa, pump on" and once I hear the water flowing down the over flow "Alexa, skimmer on"
UV sterilizer: I dont run my UV daily and do not run it all day on the days I do. I run mine 4 hours every other day. To do this I am able to set the days of the week I want it to run with the GoSund app and the duration/times I want it to turn on or off.
All of these outlet hold the data and set times during power lose.
Enter GoSund wifi plugs and Amazon Alexa, below I'll say what I did for each of my "Wants" and how they are controlled. BONUS they also alert you via the app on your phone when they have lost signal meaning your house just lost power!
Requirements: Amazon Alexa unit($20), GoSund Wifi plugs ($25 for 4) and applicable app on your phone. ~$45
Refugium light: I set up my refugium light with a simple timer. Set the on time I desired and off time as well in the phone app. Easy
ReefLED 90 : Power supplies draw power 24/7 meaning the temperature will remain warm as wasted energy. I programmed this outlet via the app on the phone to supplier to the light 5 minutes prior to the lights normally scheduled on time and 5 minutes after. This does 2 things. 1 it resets my wifi connection to the light daily which is nice because they love to glitch and 2 it keeps from wasting energy as heat thus wearing on the power supply.
Skimmer and Pump: This one was a little more tricky but is completed through the amazon alexa app on your phone. If you have alexa you most likely have this app. For this I created a "Routine". When I am beside my tank i can say "Alexa, feeding time" and power is turned off to both the pump and skimmer simultaneously. To turn them back on I havent figured out how to offset so the pump will run for "x" amount of time before turning on the skimmer so that the skimmer doesnt over flow but I am working on it. For now, I say "Alexa, pump on" and once I hear the water flowing down the over flow "Alexa, skimmer on"
UV sterilizer: I dont run my UV daily and do not run it all day on the days I do. I run mine 4 hours every other day. To do this I am able to set the days of the week I want it to run with the GoSund app and the duration/times I want it to turn on or off.
All of these outlet hold the data and set times during power lose.
