It’s hard to believe it’s been a full year since I started my journey with Govee! This month marks the one-year anniversary of my Govee setup, and I couldn’t be happier with how everything has performed. From the sleek design to the reliable functionality, Govee has truly elevated my smart home experience. 
One of the most exciting projects I’ve undertaken this year was converting my battery-powered sensors to run on USB power. After watching a few YouTube tutorials and doing some research, I discovered a small device that converts 4-12V DC to 3.3V DC, which is perfect for my sensors. I decided to give it a try and was pleasantly surprised by how easy the process was!
Here’s a quick breakdown of what I did:
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Choosing the Right Adapter: I went with a slightly different power module than what was mentioned in the video since this one had a higher input voltage range and was smaller in size. It’s available on Amazon here!
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Wiring Setup: I hooked up a few wires to the power module and connected it to a USB cable. I also made sure to connect the positive pin of the 3.3V output to the positive terminal of the sensor. The negative pin was left alone for now.
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Modifying the Sensor: To make everything fit neatly, I drilled a small hole in the sensor to run the wire through. I then placed the power module inside the battery slot and put the sensor back together. It was a bit of a tight squeeze, but it worked perfectly!
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Testing: I bent the negative pin so it touched the negative terminal and used a small wire to connect the positive pin to the positive terminal. I even added a few pins at the end of the wire so I could easily disconnect it from the USB cable if needed. The power module has an LED, so I could tell it was working by the red light inside the sensor.
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Final Touches: I installed the sensor back in my attic and plugged it in. No more battery changes! It’s been running smoothly ever since.
If you’re interested in using the same type of pins and crimper I used, here’s a picture of the kit I bought. I picked up a set since I’ve been doing other Arduino projects as well. The crimper is available here, and the pins are available here.
I plan to do this conversion for a few more sensors around my house. It’s such a simple yet effective way to reduce waste and save time on maintenance. If you have any questions or tips for improving this setup, I’d love to hear them!
Happy one-year anniversary to my Govee setup! Here’s to many more years of seamless smart home integration! 