Adrian "RevK" Kennard's "Faikin" Is a Drop-In Home Assistant-Compatible Controller for Daikin ACs
"This code/module provides local control via web interface, MQTT, and Home Assistant integration, all with no cloud crap," its creator says.
ISP director and maker Adrian "RevK" Kennard is hoping to make it easier to connect Daikin air conditioning units to home automation systems — without the need to sign up to the company's cloud service.
"Everyone knows Daikin make some of the best air conditioners out there. But their implementation of IoT [Internet of Things] (remote control over the Internet) is now totally cloud based, and they are even limiting the use of the API [Application Programming Interface] access rates, and still needs Internet to work," Kennard explains.
"If you are planning on integrating your air conditioners into something like an MQTT [setup] or Home Assistant in your home or office," Kennard continues, "or simply want very basic web control/status for your units, this unit provides these features. It plugs in where the old Daikin Wi-Fi module goes."
The device, dubbed the Faikin, is designed as a simple drop-in replacement for Daikin original Wi-Fi controllers wired over the S21 connector, or X50A/X35A connector in some models. There's an Espressif ESP32 microcontroller with a single-band 2.4GHz Wi-Fi connection, which serves a captive portal for initial configuration. It works, Kennard says, entirely locally — linking to an MQTT broker or Home Assistant where remote reporting and control is required — and can be connected to selected Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) temperature sensors to provide an external temperature reference.
"The history is that, after years of using Daikin air-con in my old home, and using the local HTTP control, in my new house in Wales the [air-con] Wi-Fi was all cloud based with no local control, and useless, and slow," Kennard explains. "Just configuring it was a nightmare. I spent all day reverse engineering it and making a new module to provide local control."
Kennard is selling assembled units via the Andrews & Arnold Tindie store at $37 each; hardware design files and software source code are available on GitHub under the reciprocal GNU General Public License 3.