Building a $120 Porch Monitor for Construction Noise

Logosofia no Dia a Dia · Jul 25, 2026 · 33m

When Daniel realized he'd be leaving town just as a construction site next door began drilling into rock, he didn't settle for secondhand reports. Instead, he designed a complete weatherproofed porch sensor system that reports decibel levels, particulate counts, and vibration data directly into Home Assistant. This episode walks through the entire build: the ESP32-based brain, the digital MEMS microphone that delivers lab-adjacent accuracy for under $4, the dust sensor that duty-cycles its laser to last years, the accelerometer that catches vibrations before you hear them, and the clever…