Posted by: @transparent

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Posted by: @batpred

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I have bluetooth dongles on my HA, but the signal from the BMS does not reach it. 

This is ambiguous; please clarify.

The Bluetooth signal does not reach due to the distance...

Posted by: @transparent

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Posted by: @batpred

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As I already have three integration adapters pointing at my Solis inverter, am I dreaming that info could be set to "flow" from the modbus of the battery via the Solis? 

1: Please define what you mean by "integration adapters".

From what source have you picked up that term?

Greg Hohpe's Enterprise Integration Patterns I have to admit, I never got to write mine! 

These terms have never really been fully standardised. But by 'an adapter', I mean the bit of code that allows data to flow from source and destination interfaces.  

When that is installed and configured in a processing unit (in this case, what runs home assistant), then I would name it an integration.  

Posted by: @batpred

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Is it perhaps a poor translation from Mandarin?

😊 Where do you get these ideas?  

Hopefully Mandarin picked it from Hohpe's, who was/is the western world's authority for many of these things! 

Now seriously, these are implementation specific details for monitoring...

The most important for readers is to get heating system to perform well and not cost an arm and a leg to run. 

The topic in the subject shows that many people wonder why the controls and apps were either not setup/explained or not fit for purpose.

You and I know that, for the owners to have this, these "integrations" need to be configured and a few other 'boxes' are often needed.    

DAIKIN ONECTA

Simple answer is not a great deal.

You can monitor the current hot water and heating modes. The temps and targets are indicated when operating. You can setup and modify schedules (slightly easier then the Daikin MMI interface) for heating/water but you cant alter the Comfort & Eco temps for water heating.

The energy statistics are basic and I believe are rounded anyway so not particularly accurate. There's no calculation or indication of COP or SCOP.

I recently enabled LWT or "pure" weather compensation mode in the installer menu. Uses the WDC curve to match leaving water temp to the current outside temp. You can create a schedule to add or subtract a few degrees from the calculated target i.e. night time setback. The Onecta app is now restricted to indicated temps (Inside, Outside & calculated FT). You can temporarily adjust the leaving water temp until the next schedule change resets your adjustment.

@batpred https://esphome.io/projects/ bluetooth proxy is your friend!

No app for Global Energy Systems heat pumps. When we replace our unit next year, a good app will be a high priority for me. 

@editor have you decided on which brand you are going for? I would think with your contacts you should be able to get some awesome advice on the best ASHP on the market. Now that would make a great video!

On the subject of ESPHome, I've set up an EMS ESP box which is plugged into the EMS Bus on our indoor unit and it gets me so much data. I also have the ability to break things in very interesting ways, so I'll be taking care to avoid that.

I currently don't have a dedicated HomeAssistant box, but as a test bed, I set one up in a Docker container, and have started work on creating a heat pump dashboard so that I can monitor the behaviour over time:

The EMS Bus gives me access to outputs of all the temperature sensors, the flow rate, the real-time energy use as well as a ton of other internal variables. I'm calculating the delivered heat using the flow/return temperatures and the flow rate. The plan is basically to watch what it's doing for a week or so to get a proper handle on how everything is actually controlled, then I can start playing around a bit more with hot water set temperatures and the like to optimise performance and comfort.

For example, there are two temperature sensors in the hot water tank (top and bottom) and the bottom one controls when the hot water turns on according to the temperatures set in the heating modes (Eco+, Eco, Comfort) but the top sensor can also turn the hot water on 'when the temperature falls to a temperature above the set temperature' (per docs). It looks like this is at set-temperature + 2.

I can also see that the room setback temperature overnight does impact the target heating flow temperature, despite the unit not being in room influence mode. I don't know if it's just the setback period that reduces the target temperature, or if the setback amount does too. Is the weather compensation curve, which I can set, calibrated to a 21C room temperature and then shifted to account for a higher/lower target temperature? More experimentation needed.

Eventually, I aim to send this all to emoncms and then to HeatPumpMonitor, but that may take some time as I don't have all that much time to work on it.

Posted by: @grantmethestrength

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@editor have you decided on which brand you are going for? I would think with your contacts you should be able to get some awesome advice on the best ASHP on the market. Now that would make a great video!

Not yet. We’ve been approached by several brands, and we’re weighing up the best option. There’s a lot of thought that needs to go into it, and we are planning to release loads of videos detailing the entire process. We’ve already filmed content that we’re editing that shows the shortfallings of our original install, what went wrong recently and finally on how to plan and install a heat pump properly and professionally. 

@editor really looking forward to this!

Question of a "good" app is complex as different users will have different needs and expectations.

My LG installed 2020 has a poor controller I believe compared to others. The ThinQ wifi app is a costly extra which we do not have - most people say the outputs and options via app are not very impressive anyway. 

Ideally an ashp should be setup and after initial adjustment for weather compensation etc should need minimal tinkering. 

However many people will want good integration options including:

• Solar/batteries
• Time of use tariffs

That integration may be via 3rd party apps or kit.

If I was buying/upgrading I'd certainly seek a decent app as well as capability for integration with 3rd party apps/hardware.

I'd want the manufacturer app to have user friendly setup & controls that should not need an installer to be called out after initial install & familiarisation.

I'd want decent access to data so that I can monitor usage, make comparisons, monitor SCOP etc.

Not exactly demanding but some manufacturers clearly better than others.

Installer training means they may or may not be best placed to advise. 

• Do they have the knowledge?
• It's likely they are only familiar with one or 2 manufacturers so can't offer "whole market" comparisons

Posted by: @editor

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We’ve already filmed content that we’re editing that shows the short-fallings of our original install...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences stipulates than running time must be less than 40-mins (incl credits) in order to qualify as a "Short Film".

It's worthwhile bearing that in mind if you're aiming for an Oscar...
otherwise you'll be up against mainstream feature films.

How's casting going?

Have you offered a cameo role for Ian Rippin to appear as himself?

Posted by: @tim441

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Question of a "good" app is complex as different users will have different needs and expectations.

Yes. Personally I would only use a heating control app to drives a heatpump if it works locally, at most relying on the wifi signal.   

By 'driving' I mean real control, not just sending commands to the pump system.

Apps can help monitor it and be 'a remote control' for small adjustments. HA can suit the more technically inclined for this.. 

Calculating figures based on pump operation and pricing seems to be harder for suppliers, as these are global brands. And would every customer want it done the same way?  

Posted by: @tim441

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Installer training means they may or may not be best placed to advise. 

You make a good point. Also the installers tend to stick to a small set of pump brands (app if available would be dedicated) for all sorts of practical, logistical and other reasons. The one we contacted would just do one brand for my type of property..   

I would want my granny to tune the pump without struggling, but these things will always be an order of complexity higher than selecting a good electricity tariff...

But at least 

• there should just be a way to say what temperature the system needs to maintain at different times, etc.
• for DHW, mainly temperature, perhaps some mechanism for the pump not to have to overwork to keep water too warm at night. The simplest electrical heated cylinders come with smart learning features, I assume these do as well.