IoT Based Temperature and Humidity Monitoring using ThingSpeak and ESP8266

Temperature and Humidity Monitoring using ThingSpeak and ESP8266

ESP8266 Wi-Fi transceiver is one of the most popular Wi-Fi module for IoT-based applications. In this DIY project, we will use it to connect with the ThingSpeak IoT Cloud Platform.

In this project, we are going to send Temperature and Humidity sensor data to Thingspeak using DHT11. By this method, we can monitor our DHT11 sensor’s temperature and humidity data over the internet using the ThingSpeak IoT server, and we can view the logged data and graph over time on the ThingSpeak dashboard. NodeMCU reads the current temperature and humidity from DHT11 and sends it to the ThingSpeak server for live monitoring from anywhere in the world. We previously used ThingSpeak with Raspberry Pi and ESP32 to upload the data on cloud.

ThingSpeak is a data platform for monitoring your data online, targeted to be used for IoT applications. In the Thingspeak channel, you can set the data as private or public according to your choice. ThingSpeak takes a minimum of 15 seconds to update your readings. It's a great and very easy-to-use platform for building IoT projects.

 

Components Required 

  • NodeMCU
  • DHT11 Temperature and Humidity Sensor
  • Jumper Wires

 

Circuit Diagram

Interfacing ESP8266 with DHT11 Sensor Circuit Diagram

The circuit diagram above shows the ESP8266 and DHT11 connections. Follow the connections suggested in the below table: 

S.NO.

NodeMCU

DHT11

1

Vin

VCC

2

Data

D2

3

GND

GND

 

Step 1: ThingSpeak Setup for Temperature and Humidity Monitoring

For creating your channel on ThingSpeak, you first need to sign up on ThingSpeak. In case if you already have an account on ThingSpeak, just sign in using your id and password.

For creating your account, go to www.thinspeak.com

ThingSpeak

 

Click on sign-up if you don’t have an account and if you already have an account, click on sign in.

After clicking on sign-up, fill in your details.

ThingSpeak Sign Up

After this verify your E-mail id and click on continue.

 

Step 2: Create a Channel for Your Data

Once you Sign in after your account verification, create a new channel by clicking the “New Channel” button

Create Channel on ThingSpeak

After clicking on “New Channel”, enter the Name and Description of the data you want to upload on this channel. For example, I am sending DHT11 sensor data (temperature and humidity), so I named it as “DHT11”.

Enter the name of your data ‘Temperature’ in Field1 and ‘Humidity’ in Field2. If you want to use more than one Field, you can check the box next to Field option and enter the name and description of your data.

After this, click on save channel button to save your details.

 

Step 3: API Key

To send data to ThingSpeak, we need a unique API key, which we will use later in our code to upload the Temperature and Humidity to ThingSpeak Website.

Click on the “API Keys” button to get your unique API key for uploading DHT11 sensor data.

ThingSpeak API Key

Now copy your “Write API Key”. We will use this API key in our code.

 

Programing NodeMCU with Arduino IDE

To program NodeMCU with Arduino IDE, go to File–>Perferences–>Settings.

Programing NodeMCU with Arduino IDE

 

Enter http:// arduino.esp8266.com/stable/package_esp8266com_index.json into the ‘Additional Board Manager URL’ field and click ‘Ok’.

 Add URL to Arduino IDE for IoT based Temperature and Humidity Monitor

 

Now go to Tools > Board > Boards Manager.

Arduino IDE Board Manager

 

In the Boards Manager window, Type esp in the search box, esp8266 will be listed there below. Now select the latest version of the board and click on install.

Arduino IDE ESP8266 Latest Version

After installation is complete, go to Tools >Board >and select NodeMCU 1.0(ESP-12E Module). Now you can program NodeMCU with Arduino IDE.

 

Programming ESP8266 for uploading data to ThingSpeak

Complete code is given at the end of this tutorial. Upload it in ESP8266 NodeMCU. If you successfully upload your program, the Serial monitor will look like this:

Temperature and Humidity Monitoring Serial Monitor

 

After this, navigate to your Thingspeak page and open your channel in ThingSpeak and the output will be shown as below.

Temperature and Humidity Monitoring using ThingSpeak and ESP8266

I hope you liked the article, if you have any questions related to this article, please leave them in the comment section below.

Code

#include <DHT.h>  
#include <ESP8266WiFi.h>
String apiKey = "Your API KEY";     //  Enter your Write API key here
const char *ssid =  "WiFi Name";     // Enter your WiFi Name
const char *pass =  "WiFi Password"; // Enter your WiFi Password
const char* server = "api.thingspeak.com";
#define DHTPIN 4          // GPIO Pin where the dht11 is connected
 DHT dht(DHTPIN, DHT11);
WiFiClient client;
void setup() 
{
       Serial.begin(115200); 
       delay(10);
       dht.begin();
       Serial.println("Connecting to ");
       Serial.println(ssid);
       WiFi.begin(ssid, pass);
       while (WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED) 
     {
            delay(550);
            Serial.print(".");
     }
      Serial.println("");
      Serial.println("WiFi connected");
 }
void loop() 
{
      float h = dht.readHumidity();
      float t = dht.readTemperature();
      
              if (isnan(h) || isnan(t)) 
                 {
                     Serial.println("Failed to read from DHT sensor!");
                      return;
                 }
                         if (client.connect(server,80))   
                      {  
                             String postStr = apiKey;
                             postStr +="&field1=";
                             postStr += String(t);
                             postStr +="&field2=";
                             postStr += String(h);
                             postStr += "\r\n\r\n";
 
                             client.print("POST /update HTTP/1.1\n");
                             client.print("Host: api.thingspeak.com\n");
                             client.print("Connection: close\n");
                             client.print("X-THINGSPEAKAPIKEY: "+apiKey+"\n");
                             client.print("Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded\n");
                             client.print("Content-Length: ");
                             client.print(postStr.length());
                             client.print("\n\n");
                             client.print(postStr);
                             Serial.print("Temperature: ");
                             Serial.print(t);
                             Serial.print(" degrees Celcius, Humidity: ");
                             Serial.print(h);
                             Serial.println("%. Send to Thingspeak.");
                        }
          client.stop();
           Serial.println("Waiting...");
    delay(10000);
}

3 Comments

Arduino: 1.8.13 (Windows 8.1), Board: "NodeMCU 0.9 (ESP-12 Module), 80 MHz, 115200, 4M (3M SPIFFS)"

In file included from C:\Users\ROMEO\Documents\Arduino\libraries\Blynk\examples\Boards_WiFi\ESP8266_Standalone\ESP8266_Standalone.ino:37:0:

C:\Users\ROMEO\Documents\Arduino\libraries\Blynk\src/BlynkSimpleEsp8266.h:18:21: fatal error: version.h: No such file or directory

#include <version.h>

^

compilation terminated.

This report would have more information with
"Show verbose output during compilation option enabled in File -> Preferences.
how can i solved thid problen
su

Anyone know the best way to add multiple DHT22 sensors? Hardware wise I'd assume I'd use the next GPIO pin and splice into Vin and GND but software wise I'm.... Kinda clueless lol.

I'm using the dht22 as it's more accurate but would like to utilize as many per board as I can, and need at *least* 2, one for a hotspot another for cold spot. Thanks in advance.