This Week I decided to make a quick side project and try some home automation solutions with my chinchillas. One common issue faced by pet owners is ensuring that their pets have access to fresh water at all times. To ensure my chinchillas’ water bottles is always filled, I thought it would make sense to add a helper to Home Assistant that can display the last time I filled or checked their water bottle and send notifications if I haven’t done it recently enough.
To add this helper to Home Assistant, you can use a datetime input helper instead of a sensor to monitor the fill level of the water bottle. With this setup, you can create an automation that runs daily and prompts you to visually inspect the water bottle and update the fill level. If you forget to update the fill level, Home Assistant can send a notification to your iPhone or Apple Watch reminding you to do so.
Using a datetime input helper in this manner allows you to keep track of when you last checked the water bottle and ensures that you are checking it on a regular basis. This can be especially useful as I’m busy and sometimes forget to check their water bottles, as the automation and notification system serves as a reminder to do so.\
In addition, I’m currently exploring adding a non-contact capacitive liquid level sensor can also be integrated with Home Assistant using an ESP32 and ESPHome. ESPHome is a firmware that allows you to program and control ESP32-based devices directly from within Home Assistant. With this setup, you can use home assistant to display and monitor the water bottle fill
In conclusion, adding a datetime input helper to Home Assistant to monitor your chinchilla’s water bottle fill level is a simple and effective way to ensure that your pet always has access to fresh water. With the ability to send notifications directly to your iPhone or Apple Watch, you can be confident that you will never forget to check the water bottle and keep your chinchilla healthy and hydrated.