Home Energy Systems - Monitoring and Control
Following a number of posts regarding a ‘home dashboard’, Solar PV and an ASHP installation, I thought it might be of interest if I put together some notes on where we’re up with our LCT (low carbon technology) and being able to monitor and control this together.
As I’ve mentioned previously, I use a system called Home Assistant (HA) to track data, look at it’s impact on bills and more lately control a few devices such as our Heat pump, Solar and Battery feeds and more recently a small air conditioning system.
The image above shows an Energy Monitor which gives top level information but also links to other views for example a Heat Pump monitor
These have given information and more importantly control over a few things such as domestic hot water (DHW) heating, improving the efficiency (CoP) by only heating when needed as a heat cycle from a lower temperature helps more than you might expect. Our CoP for DHW has increased from ~2.7 to ~3.4 while under ‘Smart’ control. The control part no longer blindly follows schedules but can take account of tariff changes (peak/off-peak etc) as well as current conditions (temperature, expected usage) and other environmental factors (green energy slots and expected weather).
The two screens above are deliberately uncluttered to give an overview whereas in each area, I can take a deeper dive into whichever entity I want to view current and historical data trends.
One of the final pieces of our LCT jigsaw is an EV and we have taken the decision to switch shortly, having had an EV charge point installed in preparation.
I’ve no doubt there will be a few questions on all this but it does link directly to the other tech items I’ve posted about in the past.
And rather than put a huge page together, I felt it better to give some headlines first. You might also note above a ‘tariff choice’ element which allows me to use gathered data and track potential costs when looking at alternative pricing options - one element which is currently very useful.
