Home Assistant

[katie279]

Excellent work Semple - great idea, hadn't spotted this from Ikea - might get a few.

Any extra recoding required for the DHT11 to achieve this? Might try with a DHT22 or even a BME280 as they're generally much more accurate (BME would also allow barometric pressure etc)

 

[dctek]

Here's mine, optimised for Mobile as that's 90% of what I use it on.

I guess the icons wont make sense to anyone, but they are Hot water boost, AC, Inside and Outside lights (and the PIR on/off) A "Cinema mode" to turn on the projector, shut the curtains, Dim the lights and turn off motion control etc, then reverse it, then controls for the inputs.

I really like HA, I use both a ZWave and a Zigbee dongle as I have both since I started making my home smart in 2014

 

[Semple]

Excellent work Semple - great idea, hadn't spotted this from Ikea - might get a few.

Any extra recoding required for the DHT11 to achieve this? Might try with a DHT22 or even a BME280 as they're generally much more accurate (BME would also allow barometric pressure etc)

Just the relevant sensor config in esphome so that it can read the sensor. It'll be the same for the DHT22 just with a change of model.

I can't take credit for the idea though, there's quite a thread over on the HA forums of other things people have stuck in the enclosure. Carbon Dioxide and Carbon Monoxide sensors for example, although from what i recall reading the carbon monoxide sensor has to heat up a fair bit to take a reading which can throw the temperature sensor in close proximity.



My next project is to attach a camera to the water meter, and use optical character recognition to grab the numbers from the display. You can get zigbee devices that you can stick onto the water meter to obtain readings for you, but my water supplier (united utilities) have slapped their own device on the end, so that they can drive by outside and collect a meter reading without having to physically check the device. Which leaves my only option to get an automated reading by using a camera and OCR.

I've got the OCR part going at least, i just need to now test it with some real seven-segment numbers, and then get a mount printed to house the camera securely on the water meter. Will update the thread if the project is successful.

 

[jpaul]

My next project is to attach a camera to the water meter, and use optical character recognition to grab the numbers from the display.

Does that mean you already monitor the electricity/gas meter, with a blink counter - I'm looking for a more affordable device than friert at ~£50;
albeit an electricty monitor with a clamp, is perhaps more versatile to rotate around white goods/appliances

 

[Semple]

Does that mean you already monitor the electricity/gas meter, with a blink counter - I'm looking for a more affordable device than friert at ~£50;
albeit an electricty monitor with a clamp, is perhaps more versatile to rotate around white goods/appliances

I have a prototype built copying this design (https://github.com/klaasnicolaas/home-assistant-glow). I don't have a smart meter installed yet, and although these devices are non-intrusive, i'm a bit apprehensive installing in until i've had a smart meter fitted. I suppose i could stick it on a battery pack in the mean time just to confirm all is working before running a small wire for power.

I'm waiting on delivery of a CT clamp that i plan to add on so i can measure watts via photodiode, and current via CT clamp. From my understanding you can only put the CT clamp around the live cable, so that rules out using it on things like appliances, as the AC would null the reading. - unless of course you spliced the wire to reveal just the live sheathed cable and put the CT clamp around that - a bit messy though!

 

[jpaul]

unless of course you spliced the wire to reveal just the live sheathed cable and put the CT clamp around that - a bit messy though!

yes - I was just planning to make a short split-out extension lead .. and for the oven/hob heavy-hitters hopefully intercept wiring under the hob. ...

 

[Semple]

Just a reminder for any HA users on here to test your backups!

Short(ish) story - I overwrote one of my esphome files, so went to my last night backup (mine are daily) to retrieve the file and after downloading the full backup I realised it was corrupt. Downloaded one from a few days ago and that was corrupted too, even going back a few months - all corrupted.

My daily backups are around 8Gb in size - which is quite a whopper. I knew my influxDB was getting big, so I was suspecting that was causing the backups to be corrupted.

I have two main users for influxDB, Home Assistant and Glances - which is an addon to monitor the system. After extracting the database, it had grown to a whopper of 20Gb, Glances was using about 11Gb and HA about 8.5Gb. I've been running HA for probably close to 4 years now, and by default influxDB is set up for infinite retention. I'm not interested in what my CPU was doing 3 years ago, so I've now set the retention period for Glances down to 7 days.

Now my monster task is to clear out a lot of the HA data - I don't want to nuke it all like Glances. I'll start by setting the retention period to 2 years and then start to look at what data I'm logging from devices/sensors that aren't useful.

So yeah, don't assume just because you're doing frequent backups, that they're all good.

 

[Freefaller]

This looks really interesting - although currently I use google home to run everything, but this looks smart. Do you need to be able to code at all to get the best out of it? Or is it literally linking everything via APIs or accounts etc?

 

[Semple]

This looks really interesting - although currently I use google home to run everything, but this looks smart. Do you need to be able to code at all to get the best out of it? Or is it literally linking everything via APIs or accounts etc?

It's come a long way to make things friendlier to setup.

Most devices now can be auto discovered and will walk you through the setup.

Other things are done/setup with yaml - which is pretty basic once you understand the syntax/structure.

Dashboards for example are fully customisable, but people have developed add-ons to auto-create these if you don't want to spend time doing any customisation.

 

[katie279]

Just a reminder for any HA users on here to test your backups!

Short(ish) story - I overwrote one of my esphome files, so went to my last night backup (mine are daily) to retrieve the file and after downloading the full backup I realised it was corrupt. Downloaded one from a few days ago and that was corrupted too, even going back a few months - all corrupted.

My daily backups are around 8Gb in size - which is quite a whopper. I knew my influxDB was getting big, so I was suspecting that was causing the backups to be corrupted.

I have two main users for influxDB, Home Assistant and Glances - which is an addon to monitor the system. After extracting the database, it had grown to a whopper of 20Gb, Glances was using about 11Gb and HA about 8.5Gb. I've been running HA for probably close to 4 years now, and by default influxDB is set up for infinite retention. I'm not interested in what my CPU was doing 3 years ago, so I've now set the retention period for Glances down to 7 days.

Now my monster task is to clear out a lot of the HA data - I don't want to nuke it all like Glances. I'll start by setting the retention period to 2 years and then start to look at what data I'm logging from devices/sensors that aren't useful.

So yeah, don't assume just because you're doing frequent backups, that they're all good.

Oh dear! Yes, definitely worth setting up automated backups and I keep various instances (ie 6 months ago, 3 months ago etc) - good tip to test!

 

[andy_mk3]

@Semple good tip on the backups. That’s a common thing in the world of IT, your backups are only as good as the ones that work! I don’t use any extra databases but it’s something I’ll look into. I have restored from a backup a couple of times in the past. Mine are daily too which means that if the worst happens then at least nothing much is ever lost.

This looks really interesting - although currently I use google home to run everything, but this looks smart. Do you need to be able to code at all to get the best out of it? Or is it literally linking everything via APIs or accounts etc?

As time goes on, more and more of the config is done through the GUI. For anything that can’t be done through that, it’s usually quite easy to follow instructions tow do the yaml config. I wouldn’t say you’d need to be able to code at all, as long as to can follow instructions and copy and paste.

The majority of things do link up through an account or api. It’s always very daunting to start with HA, it’s a pretty complex thing to get set up. I’d advise having a play first. Do small steps at a time and build it up over time. I’ve been using it for a few years now and I my setup is forever changing for improvements or additions, it’s great fun and rewarding when it all works.

 

[katie279]

It's come a long way to make things friendlier to setup.

Most devices now can be auto discovered and will walk you through the setup.

Other things are done/setup with yaml - which is pretty basic once you understand the syntax/structure.

Dashboards for example are fully customisable, but people have developed add-ons to auto-create these if you don't want to spend time doing any customisation.

Yeah, there's less and less of any coding these days - you can get a pretty powerful home automation set up without any lines of code and then as Semple says, there's pretty simple code to do more advanced stuff.

Watch a few youtube videos on 'building home assistant dashboards' and you'll get a sense - just filter for videos from the last six months or so. It really is developing pretty quickly.

PS just in case you have Google Home hubs, you can case home assistant to it (so it effectively 'takes over') - I use these around the house

 

[katie279]

@Semple good tip on the backups. That’s a common thing in the world of IT, your backups are only as good as the ones that work! I don’t use any extra databases but it’s something I’ll look into. I have restored from a backup a couple of times in the past. Mine are daily too which means that if the worst happens then at least nothing much is ever lost.



As time goes on, more and more of the config is done through the GUI. For anything that can’t be done through that, it’s usually quite easy to follow instructions tow do the yaml config. I wouldn’t say you’d need to be able to code at all, as long as to can follow instructions and copy and paste.

The majority of things do link up through an account or api. It’s always very daunting to start with HA, it’s a pretty complex thing to get set up. I’d advise having a play first. Do small steps at a time and build it up over time. I’ve been using it for a few years now and I my setup is forever changing for improvements or additions, it’s great fun and rewarding when it all works.

Best thing for me is being rid of all these blooming apps for home automation! (especially the ropey chinese, Samsung etc ones)

I've found Home Assistant is generally better than most native apps - eg Lightwave RF responds faster through home assistant, is slightly laggy through their own app.

I get loads more control, data and options for Samsung stuff through HA than through their apps.

Oh and you can save a fair whack through all these silly apps that charge for 'premium features' - eg CCTV etc....

 

[Freefaller]

Yeah, there's less and less of any coding these days - you can get a pretty powerful home automation set up without any lines of code and then as Semple says, there's pretty simple code to do more advanced stuff.

Watch a few youtube videos on 'building home assistant dashboards' and you'll get a sense - just filter for videos from the last six months or so. It really is developing pretty quickly.

PS just in case you have Google Home hubs, you can case home assistant to it (so it effectively 'takes over') - I use these around the house

Yeah we're quite entrenched in the Google ecosystem (hubs, speakers, door bell). Though we have hive thermostat and smart Trvs. Half a dozen smart plugs, Synology with dockers for all the *raars, CCTV and file server, a Plex box that turns on, on demand (WOL), and of course our solar panels and battery system.

I do have a pi lying around doing nothing so maybe I'll fire it up and have a play. Not that I have the time for it!

But I like that tablet interface and something that may make the kids and wife feel more able to manage the bits around the house.

 

[katie279]

Yeah well worth a try - I tend to tinker on laptop whilst watching TV in evenings!

You're very similar to me - have lots of google stuff, tado thermostats, smart plugs, 2 x synology NAS' and solar of course - PM and can share some screenshots of our HA set up if interested!

 

[Freefaller]

Yeah well worth a try - I tend to tinker on laptop whilst watching TV in evenings!

You're very similar to me - have lots of google stuff, tado thermostats, smart plugs, 2 x synology NAS' and solar of course - PM and can share some screenshots of our HA set up if interested!

I do the same. I tinker in front of the TV at night whilst streaming from Plex!

I think we've established we're eerily similar in previous threads so let's not go there....

Will 100% take you up on the offer once/if I get it up and running!

 

[Semple]

Just one thing to note with Google, they've now opened up their API for public access but do charge a one time $5/£5 fee (can't recall the currency) for access.

I've got a doorbell I need to add but keep putting it off for installing/setting up other things.

 

[jpaul]

I have a prototype built copying this design (https://github.com/klaasnicolaas/home-assistant-glow). I don't have a smart meter installed yet, and although these devices are non-intrusive, i'm a bit apprehensive installing in until i've had a smart meter fitted. I suppose i could stick it on a battery pack in the mean time just to confirm all is working before running a small wire for power.

I'm waiting on delivery of a CT clamp that i plan to add on so i can measure watts via photodiode, and current via CT clamp. From my understanding you can only put the CT clamp around the live cable, so that rules out using it on things like appliances, as the AC would null the reading. - unless of course you spliced the wire to reveal just the live sheathed cable and put the CT clamp around that - a bit messy though!

*reviving meter discussion*
looks like there is a commercial reasonably priced solution now
which folks have integrated, could be my first post brexit aliexpress purchase

TUYA 1 or 3 phase Energy Meter

https://au-m.banggood.com/OWON-WIFI-Tuya-Single-or-3-phase-Power-Clamp-80A-or-120A-or-200A-or-300A-Multi-Function-Residential-Commercial-Application-p-1891726.html?rmmds=orderdetail Not sure how reliable banggood is, but they are selling a tuya wifi energy meter with different ct clamp sizes...

community.home-assistant.io

https://www.aliexpress.com/i/1005004845740618.html

finally get some high precision data

 

[Semple]

*reviving meter discussion*
looks like there is a commercial reasonably priced solution now
which folks have integrated, could be my first post brexit aliexpress purchase

TUYA 1 or 3 phase Energy Meter

https://au-m.banggood.com/OWON-WIFI-Tuya-Single-or-3-phase-Power-Clamp-80A-or-120A-or-200A-or-300A-Multi-Function-Residential-Commercial-Application-p-1891726.html?rmmds=orderdetail Not sure how reliable banggood is, but they are selling a tuya wifi energy meter with different ct clamp sizes...

community.home-assistant.io

https://www.aliexpress.com/i/1005004845740618.html

finally get some high precision data

Nice, rather embarrassingly I've still got the prototype built I've just not bothered to try and install it. I recall having some issues trying to calibrate it.

Does this device also track power or just current? And does it calibrate well / reasonably accurate?

 

[Lethal`]

Just a reminder for any HA users on here to test your backups!

Short(ish) story - I overwrote one of my esphome files, so went to my last night backup (mine are daily) to retrieve the file and after downloading the full backup I realised it was corrupt. Downloaded one from a few days ago and that was corrupted too, even going back a few months - all corrupted.

My daily backups are around 8Gb in size - which is quite a whopper. I knew my influxDB was getting big, so I was suspecting that was causing the backups to be corrupted.

I have two main users for influxDB, Home Assistant and Glances - which is an addon to monitor the system. After extracting the database, it had grown to a whopper of 20Gb, Glances was using about 11Gb and HA about 8.5Gb. I've been running HA for probably close to 4 years now, and by default influxDB is set up for infinite retention. I'm not interested in what my CPU was doing 3 years ago, so I've now set the retention period for Glances down to 7 days.

Now my monster task is to clear out a lot of the HA data - I don't want to nuke it all like Glances. I'll start by setting the retention period to 2 years and then start to look at what data I'm logging from devices/sensors that aren't useful.

So yeah, don't assume just because you're doing frequent backups, that they're all good.

Any idea how InfluxDB getting too big corrupts the backup?