Air Humidity Sensor - DHT

written by hek
The most basic DHT humidity and temperature sensor comes in two variants with different levels of accuracy. There are better alternatives to this sensor, like the [Si7021](/build/humidity_si7021), so please consider using them first.
DHT-11 DHT-22
Humidity range 20%-80%RH (±5%RH) 0%-100%RH (±2%RH)
Temperature range 0-50°C (±2°C) -40-80°C (±0.5°C)
Measurement time 1s per sample 2s per sample

There's more humidity sensors around which requires less power to operate, like BME280 or Si7021. See this comparison for in-depth information on their accuracy.

Wiring Things Up

Start by connecting the radio module.

Sensor Arduino Comment
- GND Marked black
+ VCC (3.3 - 5.5V) Marked red
out (middle) Digital pin 3 Marked green

Example

This example uses a modified version of the external DHT library, which is included in the MySensors external examples. Please install it and restart the Arduino IDE before trying to compile.

For the DHT-11, you can find an example created by michlb1982 here.

/**
 * The MySensors Arduino library handles the wireless radio link and protocol
 * between your home built sensors/actuators and HA controller of choice.
 * The sensors forms a self healing radio network with optional repeaters. Each
 * repeater and gateway builds a routing tables in EEPROM which keeps track of the
 * network topology allowing messages to be routed to nodes.
 *
 * Created by Henrik Ekblad <henrik.ekblad@mysensors.org>
 * Copyright (C) 2013-2015 Sensnology AB
 * Full contributor list: https://github.com/mysensors/Arduino/graphs/contributors
 *
 * Documentation: http://www.mysensors.org
 * Support Forum: http://forum.mysensors.org
 *
 * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
 * modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
 * version 2 as published by the Free Software Foundation.
 *
 *******************************
 *
 * REVISION HISTORY
 * Version 1.0: Henrik EKblad
 * Version 1.1 - 2016-07-20: Converted to MySensors v2.0 and added various improvements - Torben Woltjen (mozzbozz)
 * 
 * DESCRIPTION
 * This sketch provides an example of how to implement a humidity/temperature
 * sensor using a DHT11/DHT-22.
 *  
 * For more information, please visit:
 * http://www.mysensors.org/build/humidity
 * 
 */

// Enable debug prints
#define MY_DEBUG

// Enable and select radio type attached 
#define MY_RADIO_RF24
//#define MY_RADIO_RFM69
//#define MY_RS485
 
#include <SPI.h>
#include <MySensors.h>  
#include <DHT.h>

// Set this to the pin you connected the DHT's data pin to
#define DHT_DATA_PIN 3

// Set this offset if the sensor has a permanent small offset to the real temperatures.
// In Celsius degrees (as measured by the device)
#define SENSOR_TEMP_OFFSET 0

// Sleep time between sensor updates (in milliseconds)
// Must be >1000ms for DHT22 and >2000ms for DHT11
static const uint64_t UPDATE_INTERVAL = 60000;

// Force sending an update of the temperature after n sensor reads, so a controller showing the
// timestamp of the last update doesn't show something like 3 hours in the unlikely case, that
// the value didn't change since;
// i.e. the sensor would force sending an update every UPDATE_INTERVAL*FORCE_UPDATE_N_READS [ms]
static const uint8_t FORCE_UPDATE_N_READS = 10;

#define CHILD_ID_HUM 0
#define CHILD_ID_TEMP 1

float lastTemp;
float lastHum;
uint8_t nNoUpdatesTemp;
uint8_t nNoUpdatesHum;
bool metric = true;

MyMessage msgHum(CHILD_ID_HUM, V_HUM);
MyMessage msgTemp(CHILD_ID_TEMP, V_TEMP);
DHT dht;


void presentation()  
{ 
  // Send the sketch version information to the gateway
  sendSketchInfo("TemperatureAndHumidity", "1.1");
  
  // Register all sensors to gw (they will be created as child devices)
  present(CHILD_ID_HUM, S_HUM);
  present(CHILD_ID_TEMP, S_TEMP);
  
  metric = getControllerConfig().isMetric;
}


void setup()
{
  dht.setup(DHT_DATA_PIN); // set data pin of DHT sensor
  if (UPDATE_INTERVAL <= dht.getMinimumSamplingPeriod()) {
    Serial.println("Warning: UPDATE_INTERVAL is smaller than supported by the sensor!");
  }
  // Sleep for the time of the minimum sampling period to give the sensor time to power up
  // (otherwise, timeout errors might occure for the first reading)
  sleep(dht.getMinimumSamplingPeriod());
}


void loop()      
{  
  // Force reading sensor, so it works also after sleep()
  dht.readSensor(true);
  
  // Get temperature from DHT library
  float temperature = dht.getTemperature();
  if (isnan(temperature)) {
    Serial.println("Failed reading temperature from DHT!");
  } else if (temperature != lastTemp || nNoUpdatesTemp == FORCE_UPDATE_N_READS) {
    // Only send temperature if it changed since the last measurement or if we didn't send an update for n times
    lastTemp = temperature;

    // apply the offset before converting to something different than Celsius degrees
    temperature += SENSOR_TEMP_OFFSET;

    if (!metric) {
      temperature = dht.toFahrenheit(temperature);
    }
    // Reset no updates counter
    nNoUpdatesTemp = 0;
    send(msgTemp.set(temperature, 1));

    #ifdef MY_DEBUG
    Serial.print("T: ");
    Serial.println(temperature);
    #endif
  } else {
    // Increase no update counter if the temperature stayed the same
    nNoUpdatesTemp++;
  }

  // Get humidity from DHT library
  float humidity = dht.getHumidity();
  if (isnan(humidity)) {
    Serial.println("Failed reading humidity from DHT");
  } else if (humidity != lastHum || nNoUpdatesHum == FORCE_UPDATE_N_READS) {
    // Only send humidity if it changed since the last measurement or if we didn't send an update for n times
    lastHum = humidity;
    // Reset no updates counter
    nNoUpdatesHum = 0;
    send(msgHum.set(humidity, 1));
    
    #ifdef MY_DEBUG
    Serial.print("H: ");
    Serial.println(humidity);
    #endif
  } else {
    // Increase no update counter if the humidity stayed the same
    nNoUpdatesHum++;
  }

  // Sleep for a while to save energy
  sleep(UPDATE_INTERVAL); 
}

Datasheets

NameSize# Downloads
DHT11.pdf677.52 kB5012
DHT22.pdf896.87 kB6234

Shopping Guide

DHT11 Module
Humidity range: 20%-80%RH (±5%RH). Temperature range: 0-50°C (±2°C).
Unavailable   Buy
Unavailable   Buy
DHT22 Module
Humidity range: 0%-100%RH (±2%RH). Temperature range: -40-80°C (±0.5°C).
Unavailable   Buy
In stock - $3.80   Buy

Gateways

Sensors & Actuators

Comments

  • catchra commented 5 years ago

    @skywatch
    ya i did try that 1st but it did not work so I tried to get it to work with the updated lib and so far it has been working well

  • skywatch commented 5 years ago

    @catchra This bit might be important.....
    "This example uses a modified version of the external DHT library, which is included in the MySensors external examples. Please install it and restart the Arduino IDE before trying to compile."

    Did you do this already?

  • catchra commented 5 years ago

    For any one that needs it this is how I got the DHT22 to work.
    This is my poor attempt at trying to get the DHT22 to work as the original code
    https://github.com/cnerone/MySensorsArduinoExamples/blob/master/examples/DhtTemperatureAndHumiditySensor/DhtTemperatureAndHumiditySensor.ino
    will not compile for me.

    // Enable debug prints
    #define MY_DEBUG
    
    // Enable and select radio type attached 
    #define MY_RADIO_RF24
    //#define MY_RADIO_RFM69
    //#define MY_RS485
    
    #define MY_RF24_CE_PIN 9
    #define MY_RF24_CS_PIN 10
    
    #include <SPI.h>
    #include <MySensors.h>  
    #include <DHT.h>
    
    // Set this to the pin you connected the DHT's data pin to
    #define DHTPIN 2     // what digital pin we're connected to
    #define DHTTYPE DHT22   // DHT 22  (AM2302), AM2321
    
    #define CHILD_ID_HUM 0
    #define CHILD_ID_TEMP 1
    
    MyMessage msgHum(CHILD_ID_HUM, V_HUM);
    MyMessage msgTemp(CHILD_ID_TEMP, V_TEMP);
    DHT dht(DHTPIN, DHTTYPE);
    
    void presentation()  
    { 
      // Send the sketch version information to the gateway
      sendSketchInfo("TemperatureAndHumidity", "1.1");
      
      // Register all sensors to gw (they will be created as child devices)
      present(CHILD_ID_HUM, S_HUM);
      present(CHILD_ID_TEMP, S_TEMP);
      
    }
    
    void setup()
    {
      dht.begin(); // set data pin of DHT sensor
    
    }
    
    void loop()      
    {  
     delay(2000);
     // Reading temperature or humidity takes about 250 milliseconds!
      // Sensor readings may also be up to 2 seconds 'old' (its a very slow sensor)
      float h = dht.readHumidity();
      // Read temperature as Celsius (the default)
      float t = dht.readTemperature();
      // Read temperature as Fahrenheit (isFahrenheit = true)
      float f = dht.readTemperature(true);
    
      // Check if any reads failed and exit early (to try again).
      if (isnan(h) || isnan(t) || isnan(f)) {
        return;
      }
    
      // Compute heat index in Fahrenheit (the default)
      float hif = dht.computeHeatIndex(f, h);
      // Compute heat index in Celsius (isFahreheit = false)
      float hic = dht.computeHeatIndex(t, h, false);
      
    
        send(msgTemp.set(f, 1));
        send(msgHum.set(h, 1));
    
      }
    
  • rmalbers commented 5 years ago

    Also, I could not get a clean compile/download to a arduino mini 3.3v with 168 processor. From what I could find there is not enough memory to handle the newest mysensor libraries, at least that's what some people are saying in forums. I didn't spend much time on it and moved on to other arduinos.

  • rmalbers commented 5 years ago

    I used the code that cnerone has in his comment below with a nano and DHT22 and it worked great. For my nano I did have to use the 'old' bootloader for the program to download into the nano correctly with the arduino IDE. The code in the example here wouldn't compile for me, I think because someone changed the DHT library but for some reason kept the name the same so I ran into some kind of conflicts with variables. I wish when people modified libraries they would give them new/different names because the IDE does not have a good way of handling multiple libraries with the same name. BTW: That is not a MySensors issue, it's the IDE.

  • mfalkvidd commented 5 years ago

    @cnerone no you did 't forget anything. It is just that the external examples don't get much attention and are a bit truoublesome (due to the need of handling third party libraries).

  • cnerone commented 5 years ago

    Hi all,
    I recoded this sketch and I posted on GitHub (1 year ago, and I updated it today). It runs good from 1 year with no issues.
    I don't know why it's still not merged in master branch. I forgot to do some action??
    Can anyone help me? please.
    Meanwhile you can download and use it; this is its link:
    https://github.com/cnerone/MySensorsArduinoExamples/blob/master/examples/DhtTemperatureAndHumiditySensor/DhtTemperatureAndHumiditySensor.ino

  • roachgf85 commented 7 years ago

    Note: Double check your DHT11 module! The pinouts of the PCB of my DHT11 module differed from those in this article. My leftmost pin was Data out, the middle pin was VCC and the right was GND.

  • Maschler commented 7 years ago

    @bgunnarb
    You are right. I had to define a sensor id and now it works perfectly 🙂 Thank you very much!

  • Maschler commented 7 years ago

    Oh. I am using the sketch in from above and only changed the radio module.

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