At the completely Charged online event at Silverstone earlier this month we stopped by the open energy screen mean a chat with Glyn Hudson (check out the NIEVO video below for a taste of the show).
Glyn’s wise house configuration is based around the emonPi as well as employs MQTT, nodeRED, OpenHAB, LightwaveRF as well as Google Home.
Over to Glyn for all the great stuff…
I believe automation can play an useful function in assisting to reduce energy consumption. For example being able to manage my house central heating system remotely allows me to only turn on the heating when it’s needed as well as not have it running on a set routine when the home is empty.
As previously mentioned in a blog post, the emonPi (running emonSD pre-built SD card) can function as a powerful house automation hub. Utilising the emonPi as a house automation hub is a great in shape for a number of reasons:
It’s already running 24/7 for energy monitoring
It’s optimised for robust long term operation: the root Raspberry Pi file-system is read-only to boost SD card lifespan
It’s already linked to your regional network
It’s running Debian Raspbian Jessie therefore installing additional bundles is simple as well as great deals of support is available
Raspberry Pi 3 has lots of area capacity
Extra radios / accessories can be linked via USB
It’s already running an MQTT server
emonSD pre-built SD card comes pre packed with the complying with integrations nodeRED, OpenHAB as well as LightWaveRF
In this publish I want to show you exactly how I utilize the emonPi in my own home.
Here is a video demo utilizing Google house to manage my central heating as well as gadgets via MQTT:
Read on to discover exactly how this is accomplished utilizing an emonPi as well as open-source software…
There are many many choices when it comes to house automation as well as control. Where possible I prefer open-source solutions which do not depend upon any type of third-party services. All the software application services for my house system as I explain in this publish runs locally on my emonPi as well as apart from Google house voice integration does not need an Web connection to function. A self-hosted open-source solution has the added benefit of increased privacy as well as security which you are in completely in manage of.
MQTT
MQTT lightweight communication protocol is utilized as the ‘glue’ communication layer between all the complying with services. See technical/MQTT section of the individual guide for more information about exactly how MQTT works on the emonPi.
Energy Monitoring
Emoncms…obviously!
Recently I have been loving utilizing the V2 Emoncms Android app (currently in beta) which supports several pages (see forum thread).
Video demo Emoncms Android app V2 beta:
I have likewise just recently enjoyed utilizing the redesigned Emoncms apps module which have just bee released on Emoncms.org. It’s now possible to have more than one MyElectric or MySolarPV ‘app’ per Emoncms account as well as economic climate 7 split time of utilize tariffs are now supported (see forum thread):
Control
Central Heating
To manage my gas central heating boiler I utilize an MQTT WiFi relay which likewise has a developed in thermostat as well as scheduler, although I don’t utilize these features, I just manage directly via MQTT. The WiFi Relay has been extremely reliable, it’s been utilized everyday for the past two years in my house as well as never when needed a reboot.
Plug sockets (lights)
I utilize LightWave RF plugs to which I have lights as well as other entertainment gadgets linked e.g. stereo as well as chromecast. being able to switch a whole plug bank on/off has the advantage of being able to turn gadgets completely off when not in utilize to minimise any type of vampire drain.
The emonPi can manage LightWave RF gadgets directly via MQTT if an RF OOk modules is fitted. See LightWave RF emonPi individual Guide.
LightWave RF gadgets are not perfect, the OOK RF protocol is simplistic, unsecure, sometimes unreliable as well as specify comments is not available. I am thinking about swithcing to ESp8266 based Sonoff plug with third celebration MQTT firmware or EmonESP firmware.
Interface
For the past few years I have been utilizing OpenHAB as the manage interface. OpenHAB is pre-loaded onto the emonPi emonSD pre-built image. I am yet to upgrade to OpenHAB V2.0, it looks extremely nice. However, V1.8 has been extremely dependable as well as fits my needs. I utilize the OpenHAB Android app to access the interface quickly from my phone:
OpenHAB likewise integrates with my Pebble smartwatch which makes it super simple to turn on/off the heating while out as well as about:
A while back (early 2016) I dabbled with HomeAssistant, (see blog post). I was rather impressed, I have been complying with the job as well as it appears like it’s matured tobe an excellent house automation platform. stop potentially a rival to OpenHAB.
Another choice for an interface is NodeRED dashboard which is now officially part of the NodeRED project.
The beauty of MQTT is that it’s platform agnostic, it’s possible to have many different interfaces controlling the exact same manage nodes.
Voice interface
I’ve just recently obtained a Google house voice triggered speaker, with a bit assist from ha-bridge to emulate a Philips hue bridge it’s rather simple to get Google house to manage regional gadgets via MQTT. The exact same configuration will likewise work with Amazon Echo. See ha-bridge configuration guide for emonPi.
See video demo at the top of this post.
Device config utilizing ha-bridge webpage GUI:
Google house app setup:
Integration & Automation
I utilize NodeRED which is pre-loaded on emonPi / emonSD to integrate with other services such a getting the latest outside temperature from weather condition Underground, send push notifications (heating on / off temperature alert) to my phone utilizing Pushover. Both these services have pre-made nodeRED flows making integration extremely easy. NodeRED is pre-installed as well as configured on emonPi / emonSD. The example flow included on emonPi demonstrates reading emonTH data from MQTT as well as outside temperature data from weather condition Underground.
I likewise have a nodeRED flow that handles turning off the heating when the temperature in the livingroom (as determined by emonTH) reaches a set point. I might have utilized the thermostat controller on the WiFi relay to do this, nevertheless it would be difficult in my home to run the wired temperature sensor from the Wifi relay to the living room, therefore I utilize a wireless emonTH temperature instead.
Security as well as remote access
Remote manage (from outside the regional network) can be accomplished utilizing a dynamic DNS service such as DuckDNS or secure VPN to provide access to services from the outside. E.g I open port 8080 to provide access to OpenHAB running on my emonPi from the internet. OpenHAB has authentication turned on as well as HTTPS can be utilized to produce a secure connection.
Alternatively, as well as potentially a much better solution might be to utilize MyOpenhab.org service to enable remote manage without having to open up a port externally.
Home assistant has got an example of utilizing Tor Onion services to access house assistant running locally.
Visit openenergymonitor.org
Reproduced from the original blog publish by kind permission of Glyn Hudson.
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