# Home Automation in the Cloud with the ESP8266 & Adafruit IO ## Introduction The ESP8266 is an amazing little chip which has onboard WiFi capabilities, an integrated processor, and also comes at less than $10.  This makes it the perfect chip for DIY electronics projects, and especially in the home automation field. There are many breakout boards available for the ESP8266, but in this guide we are going to use the Adafruit HUZZAH ESP8266 breakout, which is a very convenient ESP8266 breakout board. ![](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/026/742/medium800/sensors_Screen_Shot_2015-07-24_at_09.49.48.png?1438084155) In this project, we are going to use the ESP8266 to build two components which are very useful in home automation: a sensor module, and a lamp controller.  We are also going to link these two projects to Adafruit IO, which will allow you to control this small home automation system from anywhere in the world. Let's start! - [Next Page](https://learn.adafruit.com/home-automation-in-the-cloud-with-the-esp8266-and-adafruit-io/hardware-and-software-requirements.md) ## Featured Products ### Adafruit HUZZAH ESP8266 Breakout [Adafruit HUZZAH ESP8266 Breakout](https://www.adafruit.com/product/2471) Add Internet to your next project with an adorable, bite-sized WiFi microcontroller, at a price you like! The ESP8266 processor from Espressif is an 80 MHz microcontroller with a full WiFi front-end (both as client and access point) and TCP/IP stack with DNS support as well. While this chip... In Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/2471) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/2471/guides) ### FTDI Friend with Micro USB Port + extras [FTDI Friend with Micro USB Port + extras](https://www.adafruit.com/product/284) Long gone are the days of parallel ports and serial ports. Now the USB port reigns supreme! But USB is hard, and you just want to transfer your every-day serial data from a microcontroller to computer. What now? Enter the FTDI Friend! The FTDI Friend is a tweaked out FTDI FT232RL chip... In Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/284) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/284/guides) ### DHT22 temperature-humidity sensor + extras [DHT22 temperature-humidity sensor + extras](https://www.adafruit.com/product/385) The DHT22 is a basic, low-cost digital temperature and humidity sensor. It uses a capacitive humidity sensor and a thermistor to measure the surrounding air and spits out a digital signal on the data pin (no analog input pins needed). It's fairly simple to use but requires careful timing... No Longer Stocked [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/385) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/385/guides) ### Powerswitch tail 2 [Powerswitch tail 2](https://www.adafruit.com/product/268) [**The PST has been discontinued. Please check out the IoT Power Relay for an equivalent alternative. The IoT Power Relay has more outlets but otherwise is functionally the same, and at a similar price!**](https://www.adafruit.com/product/2935) The Power Switch... No Longer Stocked [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/268) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/268/guides) ### Half Sized Premium Breadboard - 400 Tie Points [Half Sized Premium Breadboard - 400 Tie Points](https://www.adafruit.com/product/64) This is a cute, half-size breadboard with 400 tie points, good for small projects. It's 3.25" x 2.2" / 8.3cm x 5.5cm with a standard double-strip in the middle and two power rails on both sides. You can pull the power rails off easily to make the breadboard as... In Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/64) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/64/guides) ### Premium Male/Male Jumper Wires - 40 x 6" (150mm) [Premium Male/Male Jumper Wires - 40 x 6" (150mm)](https://www.adafruit.com/product/758) Handy for making wire harnesses or jumpering between headers on PCB's. These premium jumper wires are 6" (150mm) long and come in a 'strip' of 40 (4 pieces of each of ten rainbow colors). They have 0.1" male header contacts on either end and fit cleanly next to each other... In Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/758) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/758/guides) ### AM2302 (wired DHT22) temperature-humidity sensor [AM2302 (wired DHT22) temperature-humidity sensor](https://www.adafruit.com/product/393) Discontinued - [**you can grab** AM2301B - Wired Enclosed AHT20 - Temperature and Humidity Sensor  **instead!**](https://www.adafruit.com/product/5181) The AM2302 is a wired version of the [DHT22](http://www.adafruit.com/products/385), in a large plastic... No Longer Stocked [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/393) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/393/guides) ### DHT11 basic temperature-humidity sensor + extras [DHT11 basic temperature-humidity sensor + extras](https://www.adafruit.com/product/386) **Discontinued -** **you can grab the ** [DHT20 - AHT20 Pin Module - I2C Temperature and Humidity Sensor](https://www.adafruit.com/product/5183)  **instead! ** The DHT11 is a basic, ultra low-cost digital temperature and humidity sensor. It uses... No Longer Stocked [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/386) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/386/guides) ## Related Guides - [Adafruit USB Power Gauge Mini-Kit](https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-usb-power-gauge-mini-kit.md) - [MicroPython Basics: What is MicroPython?](https://learn.adafruit.com/micropython-basics-what-is-micropython.md) - [Adafruit IO Connected Animated GIF Display](https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-io-connected-animated-gif-display.md) - [Remote controlled door lock using a fingerprint sensor & Adafruit IO](https://learn.adafruit.com/remote-controlled-door-lock-using-a-fingerprint-sensor-and-adafruit-io.md) - [Using Zapier with Adafruit IO](https://learn.adafruit.com/using-zapier-with-adafruit-io.md) - [MicroPython Basics: Loading Modules](https://learn.adafruit.com/micropython-basics-loading-modules.md) - [A Sillier Mousetrap: Logging Mouse Data to Adafruit IO with the Raspberry Pi](https://learn.adafruit.com/a-sillier-mousetrap-logging-mouse-data-to-adafruit-io-with-the-raspberry-pi.md) - [MicroPython Smart Holiday Lights](https://learn.adafruit.com/micropython-smart-holiday-lights.md) - [Huzzah Weather Display](https://learn.adafruit.com/huzzah-weather-display.md) - [Building and Running MicroPython on the ESP8266](https://learn.adafruit.com/building-and-running-micropython-on-the-esp8266.md) - [MicroPython Hardware: Digital I/O](https://learn.adafruit.com/micropython-hardware-digital-i-slash-o.md) - [CircuitPython Libraries on Linux and ODROID C2](https://learn.adafruit.com/circuitpython-libaries-linux-odroid-c2.md) - [Desktop MQTT Client for Adafruit.io](https://learn.adafruit.com/desktop-mqtt-client-for-adafruit-io.md) - [Adafruit HUZZAH ESP8266 breakout](https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-huzzah-esp8266-breakout.md) - [CircuitPython Libraries on Linux and Orange Pi](https://learn.adafruit.com/circuitpython-on-orangepi-linux.md)