Automation examples using a TEMP-1¶

Difficulty: Level 2

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TEMP-1 alert outside a temperature range Difficulty: Level 1

Your Apollo TEMP-1 sends every probe reading to Homey, and each new reading can start a flow. This page has two flows to build in the Homey mobile app: a freezer alert, and a food probe flow that lights the TEMP-1 green and messages you when dinner is almost ready.

Before you start

Add your TEMP-1 to Homey with the Apollo Automation app. See Getting started.
Install the Homey mobile app on every phone that should get a notification.
For the freezer flow, plug in the temperature probe. For the food flow, plug in the food probe.

How probe readings reach Homey¶

The Apollo Automation app gives each probe its own reading on the TEMP-1 and its own trigger card. Which one reports depends on the Select probe setting: open your TEMP-1's Settings and find it under Probes and offsets for TEMP-1 and TEMP-1B.

Probe	Reading in Homey	Trigger card	How often it reports	Set Select probe to
Temperature probe	Temperature Probe	Temperature probe changed	About once a minute	Temperature
Food probe	Food Probe	Food probe changed	Every few seconds	Food

Both cards hand the new reading to the flow as a Temperature token, always in °C. The probe that isn't selected sends no readings, so its card never runs.

The cards run each time the reading changes, not only when it crosses your limit. That's why each flow below checks the Temperature token in an And... condition, and why the food flow adds a second condition so it alerts you once instead of every few seconds.

Freezer over its maximum temperature¶

This flow sends a push notification whenever the freezer probe reads warmer than your maximum. It is Flow 1 from TEMP-1 alert outside a temperature range, which walks through every tap and shows you how to pick a limit that suits your freezer.

Column	Card	Set it to
When...	Temperature probe changed, from Apollo Automation for your TEMP-1	Nothing to set
And...	Homey's built-in condition for comparing numbers	Temperature token greater than -10
Then...	Send Message to User, from Push Notifications	A message such as Check the freezer! with the Temperature token, sent to Everyone

Once it's saved, any probe reading above -10 °C sends the alert, with a reminder each time the reading changes until the freezer cools down again.

Food probe reaches a target temperature¶

Chicken is safe to eat at 74 °C (165 °F), and it keeps rising a few degrees while it rests. This flow fires at 71 °C (160 °F) so you can take it off the heat in time. When the food probe gets there, the TEMP-1's light turns green and your phone gets one notification.

The light also stops the alert from repeating. The food probe reports every few seconds, so the flow only runs while the light is off; once the flow has turned it green, later readings leave it alone.

Keep the TEMP-1 away from the heat

Only the food probe and its cable can go on the grill or in the oven. Set the TEMP-1 itself somewhere cool and dry, such as a side shelf.

Before you build the flow, set Select probe to Food and check that the Food Probe reading on your TEMP-1 changes when you hold the probe tip in your hand.

In the Homey mobile app, tap Flow in the bottom bar, then tap + at the top right (or Create a Flow if you have none yet).
Under When..., tap Add Card. Open Apollo Automation under Apps, choose your TEMP-1, and choose Food probe changed.
Under And..., tap Add Card and add Homey's built-in condition for comparing numbers. Set it to check that the Temperature token is greater than 71.
Under And..., tap Add Card again. Find your TEMP-1 under Zones & Devices and choose its condition for whether it is turned on. Turn on Invert, so the card checks that the TEMP-1 is turned off. On a TEMP-1, turned on and off means its RGB light.
Under Then..., tap Add Card. Find your TEMP-1 under Zones & Devices and choose Turn on.
Under Then..., tap Add Card again. Choose Set a color for your TEMP-1, pick green, and tap the check mark.
Under Then..., add Send Message to User from Push Notifications. Type a message such as Check the food! The food probe reads, add the Temperature token after it, and pick a User.
Tap Next. Name the flow, for example Food is ready, and tap Save Flow.

The flow now shows in My Flows. When the food probe passes 71 °C, your TEMP-1 glows green and your phone gets one notification.

Reset it for the next cook¶

When the food is off the heat, open your TEMP-1 in the Homey app and turn it off, which turns its light off. With the light off, the flow is ready to alert you again. Between cooks, you can also switch the flow off in My Flows.

Test your flows¶

To check the alert without cooking anything, tap the play button next to the flow in My Flows. It runs its Then cards once, and a green check mark confirms it ran: the TEMP-1 lights green and the notification arrives. Turn the TEMP-1's light off afterwards so the flow is ready for the real thing.

If a flow doesn't run:

Check that Select probe matches the probe the flow uses: Temperature for the freezer flow, Food for the food flow.
Check that your limits are in °C.
For the food flow, check that the TEMP-1's light is off before the food reaches its target.
Check that the flow is switched on in My Flows.

Take it further¶

More probes: with the Multi-Probe Splitter, the extra probes each get their own trigger card: Temperature probe 2 changed, Temperature probe 3 changed, and Temperature probe 4 changed. Build the freezer flow once per probe to watch a fridge and a freezer from one TEMP-1.
Other targets: change the number in the food flow's condition for other dishes, and give each one its own message.

Coming from the Home Assistant cook chicken example¶

The Home Assistant version of the cook chicken example, shared by Discord user RalphP, does a few things the Homey flow above handles differently or leaves out:

A dashboard button to start and stop monitoring. In Homey, switch the flow on in My Flows when you start cooking and off when you're done.
A blinking light when the food is ready. The TEMP-1 has pulse effects for its light, but the Apollo Automation app has no card for them, so in Homey the light stays solid green.
A spoken announcement on smart speakers. The Home Assistant version uses text-to-speech. This guide doesn't cover speakers.