Smart Floor Registers with Raspberry Pi Pico 2W: Smarter Heating, Lower Bills

Take control of your home heating with a smart solution powered by Raspberry Pi Pico 2W. This innovative system optimizes heating, reduces energy costs, and adds convenience — all for an affordable price.

Want to see how I did it? Check out the full story in my video:

The Story

Does your heating system drive you crazy? Mine used to. I was stuck with an outdated setup that blasted heat evenly across the house, leaving small, insulated rooms unbearably hot and larger spaces freezing cold. My thermostat? Practically useless — it only measured the temperature in the living room, ignoring every other space. Meanwhile, my furnace burned gas and pushed air through old-school floor vents with no way to control which rooms got heat.

Sure, I could manually adjust the floor registers every morning and evening, but who wants to do that? So, I decided to solve the problem with a DIY solution: a smart floor vent system.

The Plan

My solution uses a Raspberry Pi Pico, a temperature sensor, and a stepper motor to monitor and adjust room temperatures automatically. With a 3D printer and a few affordable components, I spent only $30 to transform my heating system and lower my energy bills.

The Design Challenge

I started by designing the floor register in Fusion 360. Since the part was larger than my 3D printer’s capacity, I split it into two pieces.

My first attempt didn’t go as planned. Warping ruined the print, and worse, the two pieces didn’t fit together!