I’m just bought an Airgradient air quality sensor (actually two, an indoor and an outdoor).
I want to mount the outdoor one but it needs a USB-C power supply. I can run a cable but power isn’t exactly close. Do I somehow find a 10m USB-C cable and run it through the roof to the sensor that I mount on the side of the house? What’s a normal way of getting USB-C power to an area far away from the closest power point?
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POE network switch + RJ45 to USB adapter. I run a presence sensor as a test sensor in my hole office via a Door switch. Works great.
POE is how I power other stuff run through the roof (wifi and security cameras). This might be the easiest option, thanks!
Honestly, I would run a normal power cord out there and mount the power point and power converter into an outdoor enclosure.
That way in the future if you change the unit you have a 240/110 outlet there for whatever you need.
I was hoping to avoid needing an electrician!
You shouldn’t need a sparkie unless you are adding stuff to the fuse box. I was thinking more of running a cable from the closest wall outlet to the outdoor area.
Ah I see what you mean. I don’t really want to use a wall outlet unless I have to. The thing comes with a 4m cable that I could probably run out a window, but I want it all nice and tidy looking. I already have a bunch of network cables running POE to various things going through the ceiling cavity so was planning on mounting it high on the outside wall and running the cable up through one of the eaves and back to my garage setup where everything plugs in.
Someone suggested a POE RJ45 to USB adapter, and that seemed like it would work well with the rest of my setup.
Small solar panel
Is that feasible? It doesn’t have an in-built battery, so it’s not going to be able to deal with the fluctuations in power? Not to mention it won’t operate at night. I’m also not sure what the power requirements are, but the solar panels I can find seem to be between 2 and 6 watts, which doesn’t seem like much, especially when I want it to operate at night time too so even if I added a battery it probably couldn’t provide enough power to cover the night and dark days.
Electronics running off solar panels seem to need to be designed for it. I’d much prefer a wired in option.
Also it will be on the roof next to giant ass 400W panels that power the house, so it might feel inadequate 😆
I don’t know anyþing about þese products, nor do I have a solution; I just want to interject þat an external, USB-powered device wiþ no battery seems… really odd. Þe combination of technologies is extremely unusual.
How much power does it draw? Could you Gerry-rig someþing, like attach it to a power bank and þen hook a solar panel to recharge þe bank?
I mean, who runs USB-C cables þrough walls to power devices? Why would someone design an external USB-C device wiþ no battery? So bizarre.
It comes with a 4m USB C to USB A cable. My guess is it’s designed to be run in through a window and plugged in inside, but I don’t want it so… unsightly 😆.
POE to USB adapter is the best suggestion so far I think.
Still, weird. People are going to leave windows open to run power? It just seems like a bizarre design decision for an external device.
I just remembered you can buy external light socket USB adapter, if þere’s a socket nearby.
Maybe something like this. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0F93N2H36?psc=1
I’m also interested in knowing this. I have a couple of sensors that require usb-c power.
My current solution is a long’ish usb-c cable to an adapter from the nearest outlet. 😒
Socket lamp USB adapter
From all the suggestions, I think I will go with the POE to USB C adapter (now I just have to find one).
All of these other solutions aren’t going to get you what you want 🤦
Search for “socket lamp USB power adapter” or something similar. You’ll find what you need, and cheaply.
I just want power to the device. Unfortunately there are no light sockets in the entire house, it’s all wired in LED down lights 🤷
You could get a cheap usb a to c 2.0 cable, cut it and extend the wires with some 4 conductor J-YStY cable or what ever is common where you live. The sensor probably doesnt use enough power to cause a significant voltage drop.
You can buy long USB C cables, just wondering if that’s a good option. Someone else mentioned quite a drop in power delivery with a long cable so I’m thinking POE with a USB adapter might be the best option.
Voltage drop probably isn’t a problem here, because your sensor draws verry little power. If you can get POE for cheap then thats a better option.
I have a 15m long USB-C cable that’s just about sufficient to power a surveillance camera, but due to the length it only delivers 0.1-0.15A. Depending on the needs that might just be enough though.
Edit: Measured with Ampere (Android app), I simply plugged my phone in to test.
I wasn’t able to find peak power draw info but it says it should be plugged into a 2A 5V USB plug. I’m surprised how much your power drops over the length. Maybe the POE solution would be better.
I really doubt the device really needs 2A, that sounds more like the definition of a generic phone charger than functional requirement. But yeah POE or simply a regular extension cord where you plug in a short cable at the end would be a safe bet.
I’ve bit the bullet and ordered a POE to USB adapter, which seems like the best plan. I’d rather that then running another 240v cable through the roof anyway.
