Posted by: @bash

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@majordennisbloodnok Would you be able to help me continue down this rabbit hole?!!

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Although I haven't used PlatformIO before and so am somewhat flying blind, I'm more than happy to help. Let me have a look first.

@majordennisbloodnok 

Thanks.

I have made some more progress. I found Speak to the Geeks youtube video. He also has exactly the same Daikin HP I have.

I think I managed to build the PlatformIO files and uncheck the sensors I want to use (followed Speak to the Geeks suggestion), however I have found that the M5NanoC6 ESP device isn't compatible when I went to upload the files!

Thankfully it was only £4.50 from AliExpress...

It looks like I need ESP32, not ESP32-6

I have seen someone using this M5StickC ESP board - M5StickC PLUS ESP32-PICO Mini IoT Dev Kit - Claude Desktop Buddy– m5stack-store

They are using pin G26, G36/25, GND and 5V

I was thinking of getting one without the screen and battery as it costs more, isn't needed and may require more power to run?

Would this one be ok? I am a little unsure around the pins and which would work if that makes sense?

ATOM Lite ESP32 IoT Development Kit– m5stack-store

@majordennisbloodnok 

I found out how to switch the screen off, I can map the F7 button in the bios to switch it off, which is great. The laptop now only consumes 5.4w when running HA without the screen on.

I think you are looking for the S3 module - e.g. https://thepihut.com/products/atoms3-lite-esp32s3-dev-kit

I installed on this and put a X10A connection on the end of a Grove cable

My main disappointment is this connection is read only and also not all the data..?

There is also the P1P2 protocol (so you put a device in between the main controller and circuit board) which mimicks the main controller data and commands which I got from Arnold's project 

Thanks, @f1p.

@bash, my instinct would have been to go with the ESP device recommendations of Raomin since that's what he or she wrote the code for, and the extra energy consumption of the screen is so small as to be irrelevant in this scenario. However, @f1p has just demonstrated that Raomin's comment about "...but any ESP32 should work..." is correct.

Personally, I would prefer an ESP32 module with an RJ45 connection since a network cable is always more stable and reliable than wifi, but, being in unfamiliar territory, I was concerned about serial pinouts and connectors. Once again, what @f1p has demonstrated is that other ESP32 devices can be used, and that's backed up by Speak to the Geek's video. I even found another video that shows somewhere in the code where you can define which GPIO pins are used for the send and receive, so there's lots of flexibility, but the big issue is that the flexibility comes directly proportionate to the techie fiddling needed to sort it out. At the moment, I'd say the KISS principle applies in spades. As a result, I'd strongly suggest you stick either with the M5StickCPlus that Raomin recommends or the module that @f1p has proven works.

So far as it appears, once the module is programmed and connected to the heat pump, Home Assistant should autodiscover it. The only thing I'd say here is that it's well worth setting up a separate HA user specifically for the module so that you can limit the rights somewhat. The chances are that your own HA account is probably an administrator, so that's not ideal to have specified in the ESP32's code.

@majordennisbloodnok  @f1p - Thanks.

After reading the code somewhat more (with my very limited experience of these things!) I came to the same conclusion, to use the exact device Raomin suggested. 

I found in the code that you could choose one of the recommended ESP boards which sets the correct pins and I found some more info on the OpenEnergy forum which shows pins 26 and 36 being used, the same as Raomin's code.

Thankfully I found the M5StickC PLUS on Amazon as it is hard to find, as stock seems to be limited and it should arrive today.

The ESP board is wifi only. I am hopefully it should be ok as the heat pump is about 1m from the wireless router, just a window in the way.

HA is up and running well. It has been collecting data from the Shelly meter happily, so at least that bit is completed!

Is there a way of testing the ESP board once I have uploaded the code to it before I fit it inside the HP?

Posted by: @bash

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The ESP board is wifi only. I am hopefully it should be ok as the heat pump is about 1m from the wireless router, just a window in the way.

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Most ESP devices are wifi, so my preference is hardly mainstream. Wifi should be fine, albeit you may find the odd dropout every now and then; it's weaker wifi signals that start to give a bigger problem.

Posted by: @bash

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Is there a way of testing the ESP board once I have uploaded the code to it before I fit it inside the HP?

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Yes-ish, but I'm not sure how much use that would be without the heat pump connected since it won't have anything to send via MQTT and so most of what you might want to test would be unavailable. Bear in mind, though, that it would need either to be connected to the heat pump or connected to your PC (via USB) to get power, but once it has power and has been rebooted with the code running on it, it should connect to the network. At that point you should at least be able to see it on the network (e.g. seeing which clients are connected to your router). 

be connected to the heat pump or connected to your PC

From @majordennisbloodnok's post, i am putting strong emphasis on the word "OR"
It could be damaging to your heat pump if you backfeed power from a connected PC so to be safe, do one or the other

Yes, indeed, @f1p. My bad; I should've spotted how important making that distinction was.

@majordennisbloodnok @f1p Thanks.

Yes, I wouldn't be connecting to both at the same time 🙂

@majordennisbloodnok - How do I create an additional user for the module you suggested? Would this be the user I add to the code on the ESP board? Thanks.

In the Raomin code I noticed it is set to query the data every 30 seconds. HA I believe is every 10 seconds. Would it be sensible to change the ESP code to query the data every 10 seconds to match HA?