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I'm afraid not, I just had a look to see what might be sensible to share, almost all of it has bits that are specific to my setup, like the zwave on/off switch and the power monitoring. But if there's anything specific you want I'm happy to share it.

@@RodMcBain thank you for your quick replay, i was just wondering if you made it or this is a custom software that you can name it? i have one Residential Heat Pump water heater from A. O. Smith that communicates with RS485 similar to you application that i would like to control remotely as well. thank you very much!

​@@Laerciocatao If by dashboard you're talking about this th-cam.com/video/Xuj2YFZ5zME/w-d-xo.html then that's just a standard Home Assistant lovelace dashboard with standard components on it. All the controls, sensors and climate devices can just be added to make it look however you want it.

I know, but DIY Dab doesn't have the same ring to it.

@@RodMcBain Its great to see tradesmen showing the people the DIY skilks.

Can you expand on your comment a little, there are several ways to connect this up, seems like using modbus and native Home Assistant is the simplest cleanest solution. But I'd love to hear what you think the advantage of using mqtt instead plain modbus for something that natively speaks modbus is. Why is node-red better? Seems like another layer of complexity for little advantage? Not really arguing either way, if there's a better way I want to know what it is!

I think it is a better approach by using a different converter type from Modbus RS485 to Modbus TCP...and read directly the values using ModbusTCP using Node-Red as gateway without mqtt that is heavy and needs brokers and queues

​@@MrElciupacabra I think I misunderstood the point you were trying to make, home assistant does directly read the Modbus TCP values, MQTT is not involved and node-red is not needed to do that, check out www.home-assistant.io/integrations/modbus/

oh, it means I misunderstood the setup. I thought you are converting RS485 to mqtt

I'm not entirely sure what you're asking, I don't think the batteries have a settable ID or why you'd want one. The serial number is usually all you need to identify a battery.

Thanks, I'm afraid I don't have a good source for the Samson cabinets, I bought the three I have 2 years ago form Amazon, but that's almost certainly not the cheapest place and they SRK is not in stock. Maybe try www.bax-shop.co.uk/19-inch-racks/samson-srk-12-universal-rack-with-wheels-12u One thing to remember, the SRK12 fits exactly 4 US3000Cs but you should really have about a 2cm gap between each battery. I've had no problem with battery temps but if I needed to make a warranty claim pylontech could probably use that as an excuse to void a warranty claim. If I was doing it again I'd make the effort to ensure I had the suggested gap.

Thanks, I'm aware that was an option, but I still think the external fuse holders are a good idea for the batteries and MPPTs, allows fusing and isolation in one.

Thanks, I was expecting the slate roof to be a pain, but it was worse than I'd imagined, strange square slates, needed to remove 3 layers of slate to expose any of the battens.

Thanks, sorry it's taken so long...

@RodMcBain mine has been 2 years in planning, its a do it once and once only

Glad it helped! Hope manage to get your Fujitsu connected up OK.

Our house is mostly solid 9 inch brick walls, including the bit where I installed the insulation. We do have a 1970s extension that has a cavity, when we had our heat pump installed we needed to have the cavity filled to qualify for the grant payments, I went with a product called carbon saver from Insta, little polystyrene balls blown in with glue that holds them all together, not particularly expensive and does make a difference. I'm far from an expert on the subject so don't let what I say have too much weight on your decision. I'd probably start by filling the cavity as the cheapest and easiest option and see how much that helps. Then if you're still not happy with the heat loss go for external wall insulation. The other option if you have the space is internal wall insulation you don't have to think about the cavity but you do loose any benefit you'd get from the thermal mass of the wall.

True, but DIY Dab doesn't have the save ring to it 😀

Great job mate

I wish that was true, but for the model I have the flow rate is not returned over modbus, everything else works but the flow is blank.

Thanks for watching, hope it was useful.

Thanks for the reply, the complaints I had would mostly be easy to fix in future designs so I genuinely hope you do take them on board.

I don't believe so, they are talking RS485.

Thanks!

Theyre electronic not hydraulic.

Probably not going to work well with electric openers 😀

@@dejanbrice8774 yes BUT the cylinders have Oil in them you can adjust flow rates mate if you add flow restrictors to the ports.

@@greg9345 Are you sure they are not electronic screw driven mechanisms like a lot of electronic openers?

Sorry, this was probably not the video you wanted to find! Hopefully I've just been very unlucky and you have a better experience.

@@RodMcBain Good to know. It is very cheap so not expecting perfection.

Thank you

No worries, sorry I couldn't be of more help.

In my experience yes, as long as the ambient temp is not too high.

Hi, I'm afraid the only non pylontech source I know about doesn't have firmware for the extras.

I've never had to use it but I believe there's a tool available from Pylontech to help recover a failed update, there might be some helpful detail in the most recent posts in energytalk.co.za/t/pylontech-firmware-updates-we-take-no-responsibility-for-any-firmware-posted-here-choose-correct-firmware-for-your-battery/1007/248

It is a bit thin at 50mm but it's Kingspan K5 which has a much lower conductivity than standard EPS insulation but is also a lot more expensive.

Thanks! I feel your pain, I went though much trial and error to get this working with my LG Therma V.

Hi, Probably not helpful but I use an old Secure SRT321 z-wave thermostat and receiver, I'd removed it from our previous house and it seemed sensible to re-use it. I really only use it as a wireless switch. I've not looked in detail but I expect there are wi-fi based options that cost less and have local control from home assistant.

Yes, I noticed this yesterday, I've removed the 2 duplicate entries from the modbus config and replaced them with sensor templates that get the values from the climate devices. Something like this should work: - sensor: - name: hp_outlet_temp unique_id: "modbus.hp_outlet_temp" unit_of_measurement: "°C" device_class: temperature state_class: measurement state: "{{ state_attr('climate.hp_heating_climate', 'current_temperature')|float }}" - name: hp_dhw_tank_temp unique_id: "modbus.hp_dhw_tank_temp" device_class: temperature state_class: measurement unit_of_measurement: "°C" state: "{{ state_attr('climate.hp_water_climate', 'current_temperature')|float }}"

Hi@@RodMcBain Thanks for the code. I tried something similar but failed. I have this information from github: 2024.3.1 allows duplicate names if they are in different entity types.

Hi@@RodMcBain Your code didn't help me either. I am getting this error Invalid config for 'modbus' at modbus.yaml, line 155: required key 'address' not provided Invalid config for 'modbus' at modbus.yaml, line 160: 'state' is an invalid option for 'modbus', check: modbus->0->sensors->0->state Shouldn't I create the sensor somewhere other than in the modbus section?

Hi, Those are template sensors so can't live in the modbus file. I have them in a templates.yaml file which is included in the configuration.yaml file with: template: !include templates.yaml

Hi@@RodMcBain I've got it sorted and sorry for spamming. I put the following in the sensors.yaml file. Maybe it will be useful to someone. - platform: template sensors: hp_outlet_temp: friendly_name: "HP Outlet Temperature" unit_of_measurement: "°C" device_class: temperature value_template: "{{ state_attr('climate.hp_heating_climate', 'current_temperature') | float }}" - platform: template sensors: hp_dhw_tank_temp: friendly_name: "HP DHW Tank Temperature" unique_id: "modbus.hp_dhw_tank_temp" device_class: temperature unit_of_measurement: "°C" value_template: "{{ state_attr('climate.hp_water_climate', 'current_temperature') | float }}"

Yes it's made a big difference, it's hard to quantify but before the insulation we had constant condensation on the wall every morning, that problem has completely gone.

I live in a timber frame home..upstairs always warm..but downstairs ud know when the heat goes off...

Are you using Home Assistant? The TXD / RXD light won't come on until HA is connected. I'd start by checking the logs in HA for modbus related errors.

@@RodMcBain thx rod, that was exactly the point.

I'm no expert here, I suspect you could if the plaster was sound, but I'd have to question why, if the plaster is blown you'd be better of stripping it all off and screwing the boards directly to the studs. You could probably also get away with using longer drywall screws to go straight through the existing plaster and into the studs and lath.

I've never selected it, I suggest you don't unless you're trying to achieve something specific, usually not needed.

Sounds like an interesting project! Happy the video was useful and I hope you get all working.

@@RodMcBain Worked great! Thanks again

Thanks, happy it helped! You can get rid of the message and allow config from the UI by adding a unique_id entry for each of the entries in the modbus.yaml file, the ID can be anything you like but must be unique in your HA instance. I think you need to restart HA after setting the IDs.

Now it's working! The problem was a wrong Modbus address. Thanks again for the excellent description!

Possibly, you'd have to check the manual for the unit.

Thanks, they do now appear to be on the ENA register.

I'm really not sure, your best bet is to check the manual. I know some of the split heat pump units require some additional hardware to control them with modbus, the VRF System might be the same, but I've had no experience of this, sorry.

Happy to hear the video was useful to you!

This is not a simple question, broadly speaking if you want to export and get paid for it your installation needs an MCS certificate, although Octopus have recently started trialing a scheme where they will accept installations without a cert but you need to pay them and they need evidence that it's compliant with all regs and safe. If you are installing the battery and inverter on an existing circuit, my understanding is it's not technically notifiable work from the perspective of building control so could theoretically be completed by anyone competent. All inverters attached to the grid need to be notified to the DNO, if the inverter is less than 3.68 kWp you can notify them with a G98 application and they get no say in if you're allowed. If it's larger than that you need to complete the G99 process and request approval to connect it to the grid, this is a bit more complicated but can be done by anybody. I did my own G99 app and have a signed off connection allowing 8.8kW of export. If you know what you're doing you can do it yourself but it's far from simple, working with an electrician is going to make your life much easier.

Thank you very much for your detailed response. I was thinking about using a local electrician to install a new circuit to the consumer unit and then wire up the inverter and battery myself. My priority is to optimise our consumption and use cheaper electricity as much as possible - rather than try and sell power back to the grid. However it would be silly to accidentally send power back to the grid and not get paid for it!

Hi Norman, Thanks for watching and the comment, great to hear at least 1 person appreciates my style and humour!

Thanks Craig, great advice as always, I know by not pushing back i'm probably encouraging their behaviour.

Yes. it's a bit of a pain that the older modules use an RJ10 socket, fortunately I only have US300Cs so have never had to deal with this. Sounds like you found a workable solution 👍

Hi, you can use both at the same time, I still have the main controller connected and it still controls the timing of my hot water, so shouldn't be a problem to just use home assistant for monitoring. I hadn't really considered a video showing the operation, was there something specific you wanted to see?

I think it has some way to go to be the longest ever, but I get it's so boring it might feel that way 😀 Just not an exciting topic but hopefully a useful one.

I did consider mentioning some of the other ways this could be achieved, but didn't want to complicate the video further. I'm sure this will be helpful to anyone who doesn't have a crimper handy, just got to be careful with all that slicing and cutting, easy to make a mistake. Thanks.

Thanks, In my example I added a line "modbus: !include modbus.yaml" to my configuration.yaml file, that includes the modbus.yaml which which defines where the waveshare adaptor lives and beneath that defines all the devices to create (sensors, binary_sensors, climate etc), each of those devices maps onto a modbus input_type and address. You can see the full contents of my modbus file here: rodmcbain.com/mastering-modbus-heat-pump-integration-with-home-assistant/

@@RodMcBain thanks for that and sorry for the newbie questions. I’ve put a new file called modbus.yaml plus I put the include line in my config.yaml. I think I’ve followed this correctly and no errors. After a restart should the waveshare device show up in my devices list ? Accompanied by all the entities? There is nothing showing in mine ? Also if you unplug the inverter would you still see these entities but they would be 0 or null ? Ie can I set this up on the bench without the inverter just to get the HA bit working? Thanks Rod

It can be a good idea to stagger them to help prevent cracks along the joints, but for this wall it was more efficient to put them on vertical and the remaining top section was not worth staggering, I don't think it will make any difference.

Hi, If you email Pylontech and let them know what problem you have with the batteries they will be able to provide the Battery View app and an appropriate firmware. It's really the only "safe" way to do it, sorry.

Hi, It is an inverter style and I did try what you suggest. I expect 24/7 might work with weather compensation, a properly situated internal control panel and well insulated house, but that's not my use case.