Daily fixed energy

Sometimes you want to keep track of energy usage of individual devices which are not managed by Home Assistant. When you know the energy consumption in kWh or W powercalc can make it possible to create an energy sensor (which can also be used in the energy dashboard). This can be helpful for devices which are always on and have a relatively fixed power draw. For example an IP camera, intercom, Google nest, Alexa, network switches etc.

Configuration options

Name	Type	Requirement	Default	Description
value	float	Required		Value either in watts or kWh. Can also be a template
unit_of_measurement	string	Optional	kWh	kWh or W
on_time	period	Optional	24:00:00	How long the device is on per day. Only applies when unit_of_measurement is set to W. Format HH:MM:SS
update_frequency	integer	Optional	1800	Seconds between each increase in kWh

Examples

This will add 0.05 kWh per day to the energy sensor called “IP camera upstairs”

powercalc:
  sensors:
    - name: IP camera upstairs
      daily_fixed_energy:
        value: 0.05

Or define in watts, with an optional on time (which is 24 hour a day by default).

powercalc:
  sensors:
    - name: Intercom
      daily_fixed_energy:
        value: 21
        unit_of_measurement: W
        on_time: 12:00:00

This will simulate the device using 21 watts for 12 hours a day. The energy sensor will increase by 0.252 kWh a day.

Note

When you use on_time no power sensor (W) will be created, but only an energy sensor (kWh) will be available.

Services

Resetting sensor

To reset the energy sensor to zero use the powercalc.reset_energy service.

service: powercalc.reset_energy
target:
  entity_id: sensor.my_energy

Increasing sensor

To increase the sensor with a given value use the powercalc.increase_daily_energy service.

service: powercalc.increase_daily_energy
data:
  value: 100
target:
  entity_id: sensor.my_energy

This will increase the energy sensor with 100 Kwh or 100 W when you have set unit_of_measurement to W

Tip

This can be useful in automations where you want to increase the energy sensor when a certain event occurs (using triggers). For example use a NFC tag to register a dishwasher cycle and increase the sensor with the known kWh for one cycle. Or measure the kWh once for certain programs of your smart washing machine, and use the program states in automation to increase the energy sensor.