Temperature Check script using Raspberry Pi with AM2302
This script will check the current temperature every 15 minutes. If the temperature is above a set maximum it will email an alert. Once a week it will send an email with the average daytime and nighttime temperature.
This is a project I put together to make a cheap temperature check for a server rack. I know there are products available that do this, like the awesome Supergoose, but honestly those are overkill for this.
- Raspberry Pi 3b
- SD Card
- Power Supply
- Case
- AM2302 Digital Temperature and Humidity Sensore Module
Honestly you could use a Raspberry Pi v1 for this, I just happened to have a box of 3b units available and wanted to use them for something.The case can be whatever suits your need best. The AM2302 I used is linked to, but you could use any AM2302 that is equivelant to the one offered by Adafruit.
None of the links above have affiliate links, I just provided them for reference.
- Download the latest version of Raspbian .
- Download a copy of Etcher and install it on your computer.
- Start the Etcher application, select the Raspbian download, the SD card and click Flash.
- When the Flash has completed eject the SD card and install it in the Raspberry Pi.
- If you are using the came case as me you want to connect the fan to the power and ground. Connect the positive (+) red wire to pin 04, and the ground (-) to ping 06. See the Photos above for reference.
- Your AM2302 will have three wires or pins: positive (+), data, and ground (-). Connect the positive to the 3.3V pin 01. Connect the data to the pin 07. Connect the ground to ping 09.
- Finish assembling the case.
- Boot the Raspberry Pi and install the OS. You do not need to setup the GUI for this unless you want to do so.
- Create a user, set the password for the user, and give the user sudo access
Note - The data pin will be referred to as GPIO 04 even though it is pin 07. See the photos above for reference.
In the following steps replace yourusername with the username you created in step 9 above.
cd /home/yourusername
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
sudo apt install build-essential python-dev
git clone https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_Python_DHT.git
cd Adafruit_Python_DHT
sudo python setup.py install
Now, test the AM2302 to verify it is working correctly. If your data pin was connected to something other than pin 07 change the 4 below to the appropriate gpio pin.
cd examples
sudo ./AdafruitDHT.py 2302 4
If everything is working correctly you should get a response similar to the following. If you do not get a similar response something is most likely wrong with your hardware connection, or the AM2302.
Temp=21.1* Humidity=29.3%
You can change the output to Farenheit by making a small change to the Python script. Use nano to edit the file AdafruitDHT.py and find the line #temperature = temperature * 9/5.0 + 32. Remove the # symbol at the beginning of the line, press ctrl-x and save the file.
nano -w AdafruitDHT.py
sudo ./AdafruitDHT.py 2302 4
Your output should now show in Farenheit.
Temp=70.2* Humidity=30.8%
In the following steps replace yourusername with the username you created in step 9 above.
mkdir /home/yourusername/scripts
cd /home/yourusername/scripts
git clone [email protected]:djinnsour/tempcheck.git
cd tempcheck
In the two bash scripts, tempcheck.sh and weekly.sh, you need to replace yourusername with your username. You also need to replace the API and mailgun link with the appropriate one from your Mailgun API key and API Base URL. You can find these in your Mailgun Profile. You will also need to replace the email address you intend to receive the alerts, of course.
Note - API Key and API Base URL included in the script are fake. If you do not change these your message will fail to send. If you prefer not to use Mailgun you can replace the code with something like SWAKS and your own SMTP information.
To replace yourusername in the bash scripts do the following.
sed -i 's/yourusername/actualusername/g' tempcheck.sh
sed -i 's/yourusername/actualusername/g' weekly.sh
I have the maximum temperature set to 100 degrees Farenheit. If you want that to be lower then edit the maxtemp variable in the script. Change 100 to whatever you prefer.
In the following steps replace yourusername with the username you created in step 9 above.
You need to schedule these to run as cron jobs. Replace the yourusername with the username you created and paste the following after entering crontab -e.
#Temperature check script. Sends an alert when temperature is over 100 degrees F
*/15 * * * * /home/yourusername/scripts/tempcheck/tempcheck.sh >/dev/null 2>&1
#Weekly temperature report
0 8 * * 1 /home/yourusername/scripts/tempcheck/weekly.sh >/dev/null 2>&1
Your scripts should now run automatically. The temperature check will run every 15 minutes. If the temperature reaches the maxtemp or greater an email alert will be sent to the email address you specified. A weekly email with the average temperature will be sent to the same address.