Welcome to the website of HomeChip, which aims to be the best and cheapest supplier of 1-wire and other sensing and control products in Europe.

What is 1-wire?

1-wire is a technology defined by Dallas/Maxim and used in their range of iButtons and other 1-wire sensors which can measure and control a wide range of environmental parameters. Communication with the devices is via a two wire bus consisting of data and ground. Each device has a unique, factory programmed address which cannot be altered and which is guaranteed unique. This fact alone makes them useful for key access and identification systems, but they have many other useful functions ranging from non-volatile storage, to temperature and humidity sensing, switching and voltage measurement.

What is an iButton?

An iButton is a 1-wire component sealed into a small stainless steel can, approximately the size of a camera battery. This packaging makes them very rugged, and under normal conditions almost indestructible. Some have an inbuilt power source, such as the Thermochron range which can be set to independently measure temperature which they store internally and report when read periodically. Thermochrons can work from -40°C to +125°C and so are perfect for measuring and monitoring processes. Their uses are really only limited by your imagination.

As well as iButton and 1-wire components we supply a wide range of 1-wire sensors and controllers supplied by iButtonLink, as well as a range of readers, software and hardware accessories. Browse our catalogue for information and ideas.