Weather 2 Board and ESP8266

NOT the cheapest board on the planet, I was handed a couple of these little boards by a friend this weekend.. the weather-2 board.

The board uses 2 i2c chips – the BME280 which as you may know is a miraculous little chip offering temperature, humidity and pressure readings all in one chip. I already support that in my ESP8266 code. Nothing new there and the chip works as expected when plugged in using this module.

What this board brings to the party is a chip I was previously unaware of – the si1132 – which in one chip offers readings of visible light level, UV level and IR levels.

The original library for this used floats and I’ve reduced that down to integers – looking at the variations I doubt I’ve affected accuracy at all – and these now come in the form of I2c commands in my ESP8266 code..

{si1132_uv}

{si1132_ir}

{si1132_visible}

Assuming the board is attached (or a board containing that chip that works at the same I2c address) – you can grab readings from this chip no problem.

I could envisage one of these outside – in a cover that protects it from the direct light and direct heat of the sun, offering all 6 readings – handy for lots of things.  Or maybe you just want an alarm when you’ve had too much sunbathing – I’ll leave it to others to figure out best uses.

Makes a useful addition to the home control project. Source of the ESP8266 code available as are ROMS.