Home Assistant

10-10-20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122821531#Comment_122821531

I can't bear those cloud apps. My Xiaomi robot vacuum just quit on me as the app signed me out and won't take what I know to be the correct password now, seems to be forcing me to re-register by using my gmail account… which I'm not doing with some squirrely cloud account.

championc

Hi all,

Can someone please possibly tell me as to what is wrong with the way I have these Template Sensors

I started with the one for "heat_power" and it works perfectly. But when I added the two more for "energy_import" and "energy_export", then it broke everything, and "heat_power" stopped working

10-10-20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122825479#Comment_122825479

Dump it in text format in code quotes and we can have a go. 👍️

Raoul

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122821172#Comment_122821172

Why do you want to integrate it with home assistant?

I find we can try to do too much. Just get a decent fan and set and forget it? I think there are some fans that turn on over a certain humidity level.

micks_address

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122825754#Comment_122825754

well i have one which has a humidstat.. the problem i have with it is that it doesnt turn off sometimes and stays running.. its relatively knew and in a bathroom.. its not a big deal as we usually cop it and switch it off at the wall but sometimes it will run for hours and suck all the heat out of the upstairs if the bathroom door is open.. its not on the light switch it has its own isolation switch.. i was thinking if integrated in home assistant i could have it switch off with an automation if its running for more than 30 minutes etc..

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08D9DLPVY/ref%3Dppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

championc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122825511#Comment_122825511

template:

  - sensor:

      - name: "heat_power"

        unique_id: "heat_power"

        unit_of_measurement: W

        state_class: measurement

        device_class: power

        availability: |

          {{ has_value('sensor.ebusd_hmu_flowtemp') and

             has_value('sensor.ebusd_hmu_returntemp_temps2') and

             has_value('sensor.ebusd_hmu_waterthroughput') }}

        state: >

          {% set t_flow = states('sensor.ebusd_hmu_flowtemp') | float(0) %}

          {% set t_return = states('sensor.ebusd_hmu_returntemp_temps2') | float(0) %}

          {% set flow_rate = states('sensor.ebusd_hmu_waterthroughput') | float(0) %}

          {% set heat_power = flow_rate / 3600 * (t_flow - t_return) * 4186  %}

          {% if heat_power < 7500 %}

            {{ heat_power }}

          {% else %}

            {{ this.state }}

          {% endif %}





      - name: "energy_import"

        unique_id: "energy_import"

        unit_of_measurement: W

        state_class: measurement

        device_class: power

        state: >

          {% set energy_import = states('sensor.myenergi_zappi_12047048_grid_ct2') | float(0) %}

          {% if energy_import > 0 }

            {{ energy_import }}

          {% else %}

            {{ this.state }}

          {% endif %}


      - name: "energy_export"

        unique_id: "energy_export"

        unit_of_measurement: W

        state_class: measurement

        device_class: power

        state: >

          {% set energy_export = states('sensor.myenergi_zappi_12047048_grid_ct2') | float(0) %}

          {% if energy_export < 0 }

            {{ energy_export }}

          {% else %}

            {{ this.state }}

          {% endif %}

10-10-20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122826029#Comment_122826029

I stuck that code into the validator on HA:

Missing a % there and on the next sensor.

championc

Thanks. Didn't even know such a feature existed

mel123

For someone who is a newbie getting started, what's the best thing you recommend to do? What's your favourite thing that you have done?

micks_address

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122831333#Comment_122831333

it depends what you have.. for me probably seeing my energy usage, solar, battery etc is pretty nice.. ive a few automations as well like getting a notification on the phone when the postbox is open - some with lights on motion sensors as well which are handy.. probably the most useful for the house is ive an automation running which monitors the temp of the water in the hot water cylinder.. once the middle of the tank gets to a certain set point it boosts the hot water circuit from the gas boiler for 30 minutes. means there's never cold water for a shower

Tree

The dimmer in the en suite is probably a big one (dim at night, bright in the day, operated by normal looking switch, shelly dimmer in the fitting). I also like that my wallbox responsed to excess solar based on the inverter's export (it doesn't have a bidirectional current sensor of its own).

I think my OH's favourite is probably that I have the lamp on his locker on a smart plug, so if he turns it on, it turns off the big light (which he always forgets). His least favourite is probably the skull of lights I put on his desk that blinks when the doorbell goes…

championc

I possibly use the history function in HA the most. I recently self installed a Vaillant AroTherm Plus heat pump, and so there are various parameters that I am watching from time to time, as we move into the winter months.

I also use it for looking at the individual cells of my solar battery when they are discharging and charging in the small hours.

munsterfan2

Aside from the energy monitoring for solar etc, I have automations that have the heat pump to heat water during EV rate, turns on external socket for leaf from 2 - 6, discharge battery to grid if spare capacity at night, checks the clock on the heat pump as it seems to go haywire every few months.

Also, the kona and zappi dont always play nice so it tries a test charge at 11pm and lets me know if I need to plug the cable in and out..

Jonathan

The simple ones are the best. Near sunset the sitting room blind closes and exactly 21 seconds later (the time it takes for the blind to reach the closed position) the lamp comes on. A few mins after, the hall lamp and then the outdoor porch light comes on.

The blinds and the external porch light give a good sense that the house is occupied. Far more piece of mind compared to the plug in lamp timers of years gone by.

micks_address

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122833033#Comment_122833033

Home alone style 😀

10-10-20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122833265#Comment_122833265

The heated door handle can now be automated by proximity and the dancing silhouettes can be triggered by a mmwave. We've come so far! 🤣

lostboy75

I agree on liking the simple ones, mainly because that's all I use so far. House is mainly still a dumb one, but excepting to begin major renovations next year that should give me a lot more options/headaches 😉.

Have morning alarm set, it turns on bedroom light low, light beside the front door and the radio in the kitchen, lights are darkness dependant. The radio turns off when I should be leaving the house as a secondary alarm. Rest of the lights etc then turn off ten minutes later.

Also put a sensor on the front door, if the door is opened after dark it turns on the hall light, nothing special at all, but very handy.

micks_address

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122833033#Comment_122833033

what do you use for smart blinds? i was looking at aqara as we have the roller type on chains..

paulbok

1. Having all my devices on one app/ dashboard for control.
2. Automations for lighting, like the sunset ones others have mentioned. Quite satisfying walking around the house at sunset and the lights come on automatically, especially if they allow them to gently brighten rather than just turn on.
3. Being able to send messages through smart speakers, alarm alerts, bedtime routines for the kids etc

Been using Home Assistant for around 8 years now, gets easier to use every year and if set up right, is very stable. Last 2 times it gave trouble, it was my own fault by not updating correctly. Very happy with it and I don't use enough automations to make it an even better experience.

One main piece of advice, and I can't emphasize this enough. Back-up, Back-up, Back up.

paulbok

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122833463#Comment_122833463

I have a couple of IKEA black out blinds in my office, the are bigger than the window opening so overhang but that doesn't bother me here. In the main house I'd want them to fit inside the open, so would have to use something else like the aqara controller on a chain.

micks_address

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122833626#Comment_122833626

agree re the backups.. ive backups running to google drive every night.. ive messed up my install few times and its just so easy to restore from last nights backup… also recommend don't run on old pi hardware.. i had a pi3 and it works but it struggled.. move to a dell micro form pc last year and its been pretty much flawless.. ssd and a backup UPS is also very helpful.. it used to happen me on the pi every time had a power cut the install became corrupt.. on the dell ive a small aps ups which keeps it going during a powercut

paulbok

I've the same opinion on the Pi. It's fine if you want to have a look at HA, but not good or stable enough for regular use. Have mine on an old mini PC, which is more than capable for running it. Am planning to move it to a different PC with all my other services, plex, frigate etc. hopefully will turn that mini PC into a proxmox backup server

donspeekinglesh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122833463#Comment_122833463

I have 5 of these in the house. They work very well, though the chain does need to be long enough, as I've always found issues if the break point rolls over the rotating wheel.

I charge them all about every 6 weeks - just go around with a battery park and plug them in for the 40 min or so it takes to charge.

Jonathan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122833463#Comment_122833463

Yep, I have the Aqara Roller Shade Driver E1. Experience has been very positive and similar to @donspeekinglesh describes.

ECO_Mental

Energy monitoring and deep diving into my energy consumption is what I access HA mostly for, but I have a load of simple automations running in the background that I never think about.

A few motion sensors to turn on lights in the garage, utility room etc then go off after a few mins

I have all my outside lights now on shelly relays so when I (or the missus) comes home and the sun is below the horizon it will switchs them all on then go off after 10mins as I drive up to the house. I live in the county side so it can be dark!

A few Aquara buttons (these are great) that switch on and off a few atmosphere lights and table lamps around the house. At christmas these buttons will turn on and off ALL my christmas lights

An Aquara button to switch on (and off) all my equipment in my cinema room, Xbox, home cinema amp and TV. No need for three controllers.

I then have a few alerts that will send messages to my phone if there is a water leak in one or two areas, if my borehole well is on for too long (eg someone left an outside tap on) and an alert if my car is charging outside of EV charging time.

come Feb/March next year I will set up my seed propagator where I have an automation to turn on and off a heating mat and then turn on and off grow lamps..worked brilliantly

Its amazing the things you can do..

10-10-20

Did many here use tteck's scripts for Proxmox? I spotted this sad news yesterday.

https://github.com/tteck/Proxmox/discussions/4009?sort=new

I always found them helpful, especially for running up Technitium and a new HA instance, etc. The community have taken on the scripts.

https://community-scripts.github.io/ProxmoxVE/

paulbok

I recently set up an Arrr stack on Proxmox using his scripts. Still tweaking the setups, but they were so handy for installation.

Sad news indeed.

championc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122833696#Comment_122833696

With other services, have you looked at installing all on Docker instead ?

paulbok

I've Sonarr,Radar,Lidarr, Qbittorrent set up for sailing the high seas. Moved Plex over as well from an old Optiplex pc that died on me.

Have Frigate to setup correctly now, just received an adapter for a Coral tpu chip to add that.

Hoping to migrate Home Assistant next week when I've a bit more time.

Then I want to set up a gaming server, or at least a Minecraft server for the kids (and big kid).

Maybe some self hosted cloud storage.

After that I think I'll be done but the PC I'm running on has the scope for adding more services if I need it.

I've never got my head around docker, sticking to the LXC containers from those scripts is enough to manage. I still have to figure out the correct way to manage storage on Proxmox, Linux is a strange beast after using Windows all my life.

championc

I got into Docker about 6 months ago. Absolutely love it. I just love the way you can spin up containers for services, and each not reliant on anything else, and each can be rebooted, upgraded or whatever without worrying about anything else.

Very easy too if two services work on the same web port, to port forward to another.

There is even a container called watchtower which updates all other containers automatically.

I'm struggling a bit with the setup of Frigate mind you.