Hi all, HomeAssistant is quite stable on RPi4, and quick to switch Sonoff devices on load demand during load shedding. During the day with high solar power available, devices can run, but during the night, power management is important to extend battery life.

What is your strategy on deciding which devices to switch, and on what triggers ?

 

Hi

 

I have not been able to get Sonoff fully working with Sonoff the way I would like

 

2 hours ago, AndreFvdM said:

Hi all, HomeAssistant is quite stable on RPi4, and quick to switch Sonoff devices on load demand during load shedding. During the day with high solar power available, devices can run, but during the night, power management is important to extend battery life.

What is your strategy on deciding which devices to switch, and on what triggers ?

 

I think the answer would be ít depends'based on your usage and battery size. I use HA to run off outside lights when we are in LS but thats about it for now - i will probably look into restricting some appliances but i haven't seen that as necessary just yet. My geyser is on non-essentials anyways so i lose it during LS - as is the oven

Hello all

I bought a few Sonoff devices, but use a Sonoff TX T0-2 GANG switch, which controls my perimeter lights through the Ewelink app integrated into Home Assistant.

My geyser has been Solar converted and I use gas for cooking, so issues to switch off unnecessary appliances, except for the pool pump.

My pool pump is still on a mechanical timer and need to get that remotely controlled, as my pool pump and garage door is on the same circuit. The easy solution would be to get my electrician to rewire the pool pump on an excluded circuit, but to get him here took 6 months! 🤣

So, either I replace the timer with an electronic one, or find a way to cut the power remotely. I do have a Sonoff R2 Basic switch, and RF Bridge, which I can use to control the mechanical timer to shutdown the pool pump circuit. I'm installing a Sonoff Door Sensor to the pool pump lid cover to monitor it when its opened, as I have had security issues before and that's why I bought the RF Bridge in the first place.

I think its worth a test.

PS: @Johanba -when choosing Sonoff devices be very careful what you buy. I learned the hard way, the you get Wifi only, Wifi/RF and wifi/RF/Zigbee devices. The Zigbee bridge I bought is not supported by the Ewelink app, so I integrated it into Home Assistant as a Tasmota device, I did the same with the Basic switch as its not supported by the app either. For ease of use, I would say get the devices that's fully integrated into the app, it is very stable on its own, even if not integrated into Home Assistant. The Home Assistant integration allows local and cloud control.

Let me stop. I'm faffing now...🤣

1 hour ago, Prince3121 said:

Hello all

I bought a few Sonoff devices, but use a Sonoff TX T0-2 GANG switch, which controls my perimeter lights through the Ewelink app integrated into Home Assistant.

My geyser has been Solar converted and I use gas for cooking, so issues to switch off unnecessary appliances, except for the pool pump.

My pool pump is still on a mechanical timer and need to get that remotely controlled, as my pool pump and garage door is on the same circuit. The easy solution would be to get my electrician to rewire the pool pump on an excluded circuit, but to get him here took 6 months! 🤣

So, either I replace the timer with an electronic one, or find a way to cut the power remotely. I do have a Sonoff R2 Basic switch, and RF Bridge, which I can use to control the mechanical timer to shutdown the pool pump circuit. I'm installing a Sonoff Door Sensor to the pool pump lid cover to monitor it when its opened, as I have had security issues before and that's why I bought the RF Bridge in the first place.

I think its worth a test.

PS: @Johanba -when choosing Sonoff devices be very careful what you buy. I learned the hard way, the you get Wifi only, Wifi/RF and wifi/RF/Zigbee devices. The Zigbee bridge I bought is not supported by the Ewelink app, so I integrated it into Home Assistant as a Tasmota device, I did the same with the Basic switch as its not supported by the app either. For ease of use, I would say get the devices that's fully integrated into the app, it is very stable on its own, even if not integrated into Home Assistant. The Home Assistant integration allows local and cloud control.

Let me stop. I'm faffing now...🤣

If you are already on HA then maybe consider a CBI astute for your pool pump - its Tuya based but works flawlessly and doesn't have wifi issues like some other IoT devices. You can use the standard Tuya HA integration or go for the localTuya - both work well.

Hi @AndreFvdM

Do you have your inverter connected to Home Assistant as well? 

If so, monitor the grid frequency and if it drops below 45,  check if your power production is less than your usage, if so I switch the heavy loads and then just recheck every 5 minutes. 

I believe that there is a new way of doing automations in Home Assistant so you may be able to do it there or alternatively you could do it in Node Red.  

My heavy loads are not switched on at night so I have no reason to check time but you could do something along those lines as well. 

 

 

good idea to monitor the frequency ! I will try that in HA. (I am rather using HA control than NodeRed).

thanks

@mzezman - Thanx for the suggestion that the CBI smart products are reliable. I will definitely be acquiring it soon.

 

4 minutes ago, Prince3121 said:

@mzezman - Thanx for the suggestion that the CBI smart products are reliable. I will definitely be acquiring it soon.

 

Do note though that they are Tuya based and so use the cloud - some users don't like that and prefer fully localised control (tasmota) - i haven't had an issue with Tuya cloud myself and continue to use the devices

13 minutes ago, mzezman said:

Do note though that they are Tuya based and so use the cloud - some users don't like that and prefer fully localised control (tasmota) - i haven't had an issue with Tuya cloud myself and continue to use the devices

I have a Sonoff setup and use both the cloud and local control for it. I bought a Tuya smartplug and cannot integrate it into HA, even flashing it, as they changed the security API backdoor. Even if it does not work in HA, its not a problem, as the smartplug I have I control via the Smartlife app and it works flawlessly. For me, I want automation to be easy, I don't want to hack or flash a device, unless I really need to. Tuya has confirmed that they will support Africa for all their smart devices. I know the CBI brand, as I had a geyser timer from them, and it was reliable and stable.

😎

31 minutes ago, Prince3121 said:

I have a Sonoff setup and use both the cloud and local control for it. I bought a Tuya smartplug and cannot integrate it into HA, even flashing it, as they changed the security API backdoor. Even if it does not work in HA, its not a problem, as the smartplug I have I control via the Smartlife app and it works flawlessly. For me, I want automation to be easy, I don't want to hack or flash a device, unless I really need to. Tuya has confirmed that they will support Africa for all their smart devices. I know the CBI brand, as I had a geyser timer from them, and it was reliable and stable.

😎

What issues are you having getting Tuya to work? I have 9 tuya devices all present and working in HA using the default integration

On 2022/11/10 at 11:26 AM, mzezman said:

What issues are you having getting Tuya to work? I have 9 tuya devices all present and working in HA using the default integration

I could not get the Tuya device ID for the smart Vizia smartplug that I had. Also, the plug refuses to flash with Tasmota. I even tried a new FTDI USB to TTL Serial Adapter Module FT232RL, but does not work. I followed all the docs on the Tasmota website as well. 

The Smartlife app works, but I cannot find how to integrate it into Home Assistant with Tuya convert. Yet the Sonoff Ewelink - Home Assistant integration was straight forward.

Thanx for asking.

Edited November 24, 20223 yr by Prince3121

And im assuming you're not keen to use the standard integration that is cloud based via Smart Life?

@mzezman

I think to just get integrated will be a big help. Thanx. I see two Tuya ways to connect in ha. Not sure which one to use and do I need an IOT account?

😎

 

Edited November 24, 20223 yr by Prince3121

The top one requires an account on the tuya IoT platform but its free. It IS cloud based so you're giving the data over - but the data is already in the cloud due to using the Smart app. follow steps below - it should work with no issues:

https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/tuya/

3 minutes ago, mzezman said:

The top one requires an account on the tuya IoT platform but its free. It IS cloud based so you're giving the data over - but the data is already in the cloud due to using the Smart app. follow steps below - it should work with no issues:

https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/tuya/

Thanx that explains it. I'm looking for ease of use integration, so no fancy programming. I see enough IT issues daily. 🤣

@mzezman

-Thanx for pointing me in the right direction. The Vizia Smart Plug is fully integrated into Home Assistant.

👏 😎

21 minutes ago, Prince3121 said:

@mzezman

-Thanx for pointing me in the right direction. The Vizia Smart Plug is fully integrated into Home Assistant.

👏 😎

Awesome, glad to hear you got it working

21 hours ago, Prince3121 said:

I could not get the Tuya device ID for the smart Vizia smartplug that I had. Also, the plug refuses to flash with Tasmota. I even tried a new FTDI USB to TTL Serial Adapter Module FT232RL, but does not work. I followed all the docs on the Tasmota website as well. 

The Smartlife app works, but I cannot find how to integrate it into Home Assistant with Tuya convert. Yet the Sonoff Ewelink - Home Assistant integration was straight forward.

Thanx for asking.

Hi @Prince3121

A lot of the newer MCU's being put into the Tuya smart devices are not compatible with Tasmota. 

There is however alternative firmware that can be flashed that is almost identitical to Tasmota visually and in function that is compatible with most of the new modules. 

https://github.com/openshwprojects/OpenBK7231T_App

https://www.elektroda.com/rtvforum/topic3925472.html

You will need to check which MCU is in your switch and flash the appropriate version. 

@Sc00bs

Thanx for the info, when I have some time, will have a look into it.

😎

On 2022/10/12 at 10:47 AM, AndreFvdM said:

Hi all, HomeAssistant is quite stable on RPi4, and quick to switch Sonoff devices on load demand during load shedding. During the day with high solar power available, devices can run, but during the night, power management is important to extend battery life.

What is your strategy on deciding which devices to switch, and on what triggers ?

 

I use HA, Solar Assistant and Sonoff devices not to turn my pool and small geyser if my battery SOC is not above 95 percent, if battery is above 95 they will turn on, this is timed during the day. HA is checking every minute 

If SOC is not above 95 it usually means it’s a cloudy day 

Then I use HA to turn on certain outside lights during load shedding this is timed at night.

 

 

I have linked a Tuya RGB downlight in the kitchen to turn on red when there is loadshedding. (so my wife doesnt overload the inverter during LS).  Then if the load gets to 4000W, it starts flashing.

So I have a question, a bit off topic but relavant I think.  I've been running the Tuya integration with HA for a month now and things stopped working today as I need to renew my trail subscribtion and this is at 6 month ingrements if Tuya approves the application it seems.

I do not have a issue using a cloud interface connection to get my devices into HA but I do if it requires me to renew every 6 months to retain access and this is not a garenteed access either if you read their site.  So I don't really like the idea of investing time into a platform that can do a rug pull at anytime.

My question is therefor have any sonoff users had similar experience or are their intergration via HACS more permanent in the sense of no need to interviene every now and then to renew subscribtions etc.  I see sonoff also support LAN mode to truely go internetless but that is a bonus.  Tuya local seems similar in this regard but that 6 month renew thing bugs me.  I've only invested into the eco system with 2 devices as a test and was holding off getting more devices to identify any little hickups and this seems to be one of them.

So if sonoff is a bit more hassle free to integrate into HA without that question of oneday things might just stop working I might need to jump ship and rather invest my time into Sonoff 🤷‍♂️

1 hour ago, -cK- said:

So I have a question, a bit off topic but relavant I think.  I've been running the Tuya integration with HA for a month now and things stopped working today as I need to renew my trail subscribtion and this is at 6 month ingrements if Tuya approves the application it seems.

I do not have a issue using a cloud interface connection to get my devices into HA but I do if it requires me to renew every 6 months to retain access and this is not a garenteed access either if you read their site.  So I don't really like the idea of investing time into a platform that can do a rug pull at anytime.

My question is therefor have any sonoff users had similar experience or are their intergration via HACS more permanent in the sense of no need to interviene every now and then to renew subscribtions etc.  I see sonoff also support LAN mode to truely go internetless but that is a bonus.  Tuya local seems similar in this regard but that 6 month renew thing bugs me.  I've only invested into the eco system with 2 devices as a test and was holding off getting more devices to identify any little hickups and this seems to be one of them.

So if sonoff is a bit more hassle free to integrate into HA without that question of oneday things might just stop working I might need to jump ship and rather invest my time into Sonoff 🤷‍♂️

Have been using both Sonoff and Tuya for sometime with HomeAssistant. Sonoff do not have that renewal thing that you mentioned and the sonoff integration is pretty easy to install. SOME of the sonoff devices support SonoffLAN but not all - so be aware when you add the devices

Hi

I think the simplest solution in the near future for new users that require local automation will be the Sonoff iHost but that remains to be seen.

 

Aleks