Migrating your Home Assistant database from SQLite to PostgreSQL can significantly enhance performance, especially as your data grows. This guide will walk you through creating a database dump, converting data types, setting up your PostgreSQL database, and configuring Home Assistant to use the new database.
Creating the Database Dump from SQLite
To start, you need to create a dump of your existing SQLite database:
sqlite3 home-assistant_v2.db .dump > ha_dump.sql
This command creates a plain text file containing the SQL commands needed to reconstruct the database.
Converting Data Types
During the migration from SQLite to PostgreSQL, certain data types need to be converted:
DATETIME to TIMESTAMP: PostgreSQL uses TIMESTAMP instead of DATETIME.
sed -i 's/DATETIME/TIMESTAMP/g' ha_dump.sql
BLOB to BYTEA: Convert BLOB fields to BYTEA for binary data.
sed -i 's/BLOB/BYTEA/g' ha_dump.sql
Preparing PostgreSQL Database
Creating Database and User
Start by setting up your PostgreSQL database and user:
CREATE DATABASE homeassistant;
CREATE USER ha WITH ENCRYPTED PASSWORD 'yourpassword';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE homeassistant TO ha;
Create the objects and load the data
Use the command line utility psql to create the database objects and load the data into the newly created PostgreSQL database:
Replace [your_db_host] with the actual hostname or IP address where your PostgreSQL database is hosted.
User and Database: Ensure that ha is the correct username and homeassistant is the correct database name you created for Home Assistant.
After running the command, the SQL dump file (ha_dump.sql) will be executed against your PostgreSQL database. The output and any errors encountered during the process will be redirected to load.log. This log file is essential for tracking the progress and identifying any issues that need resolution.
Check for Errors:
Review the load.log file for possible errors. This file contains all output from the psql command, including any SQL errors or warnings that were generated during the import process.
Iterate as Necessary: If errors are found, you may need to fix issues in ha_dump.sql and rerun the command. This step might need to be repeated several times. Modifications could involve correcting data types, adding missing sequences for auto-incrementing fields, or adjusting SQL syntax to be compatible with PostgreSQL.
This process can be time-consuming, but it is crucial for ensuring that your database is correctly set up with all the necessary data and schema configurations. As noted, your mileage may vary depending on the specifics of your data and the initial state of the ha_dump.sql file.
Adjusting the Schema
For tables needing auto-increment functionality (which is common in primary key columns), set up sequences:
CREATE SEQUENCE states_state_id_seq;
ALTER TABLE states ALTER COLUMN state_id SET DEFAULT nextval('states_state_id_seq');
SELECT setval('states_state_id_seq', (SELECT MAX(state_id) FROM states) + 1);
Repeat this pattern for other necessary tables and columns, such as events(event_id), state_attributes(attributes_id), and so on.
Configuring Home Assistant
Install SQLAlchemy and other dependencies
Home Assistant uses SQLAlchemy as the SQL toolkit and Object-Relational Mapping(ORM)system for Python. Install it with pip:
This setup directs Home Assistant to use the newly configured PostgreSQL database.
Benefits of Migrating to PostgreSQL
Moving from SQLite to PostgreSQL offers several benefits:
Scalability: PostgreSQL handles larger databases and more concurrent connections.
Performance: Improved query performance and optimization options.
Reliability: Robust transaction support and recovery features.
Flexibility: Richer set of data types and full-text searching capabilities.
Conclusion
Migrating your Home Assistant database to PostgreSQL not only enhances performance but also provides a more robust and scalable backend, suitable for growing smart home environments. This migration ensures that your Home Assistant setup can handle increased data loads efficiently and reliably.
Famous last words
One of my primary concerns during this migration was the potential loss of historical data, particularly how it might affect critical metrics like energy usage. The statistics table, which was the last to have the auto-incremental column added, is pivotal as it houses the energy usage stats.
As the image below shows, there appears to be a gap of approximately four hours in the data on energy usage stats. However, it seems that Home Assistant has effectively compensated for this missing data. The system appears to have aggregated the missing energy usage from those four hours into the data represented in the 5 PM bar on the chart.
This outcome is quite reassuring and confirms that the system’s integrity remains intact despite the migration hiccups. I’m relieved to see that after all the adjustments and troubleshooting, everything is functioning as expected.
This experience underscores the importance of careful planning and execution in database migrations, especially when dealing with essential home automation systems like Home Assistant. The transition may require significant effort and attention to detail, but the end result can be gratifying, ensuring continuity and robustness in data handling.
Securing your HomeAssistant setup should be a priority, especially if you plan on accessing your system remotely. One of the best ways to do this is by setting up an SSL certificate. This article guides you through five easy steps to set up SSL on HomeAssistant using Let’s EncryptCertbot.
Understanding the Importance of SSL for HomeAssistant
Secure Sockets Layer, popularly known as SSL, is a security protocol that encrypts the connection between a web server and a client. When implemented on your HomeAssistant, it prevents eavesdropping and tampering of your data by encrypting all communication between your HomeAssistant and your devices. This is crucial, especially when accessing your HomeAssistant remotely over the internet where your data could be intercepted.
Moreover, SSL also provides authentication, ensuring that you’re communicating with the right server and not a malicious one. This is achieved through the use of SSL certificates issued by trusted Certificate Authorities (CAs). These certificates also provide visual cues, such as a padlock symbol, giving end-users confidence that their connection is secure.
An Overview of Let’s Encrypt Certbot
Let’s Encrypt is a free, automated, and open Certificate Authority. It provides digital certificates needed to enable HTTPS (SSL/TLS) for websites. The Certbot is an easy-to-use client that fetches certificates from Let’s Encrypt and configures your web server to use them.
By using Let’s Encrypt Certbot, you can easily acquire and renew SSL certificates for your HomeAssistant. It automates the process of obtaining and installing SSL certificates, thereby saving time and eliminating the risk of manual errors. Moreover, it also handles the renewal of SSL certificates, ensuring that your connection remains secure.
Contrary to what seems to be the case for many, if not most, I find the use of third-party VPN solutions for accessing an otherwise cloud-free HomeAssistant setup to be illogical. Moreover, the notion of implementing the HomeAssistant Cloud service, Nabucasa, doesn’t appeal to me at all. The core of my philosophy is to maintain a smart home solution that is independent of both third-party and cloud services.
Step 1: Installing Let’s Encrypt Certbot
The initial step to enable SSL for your HomeAssistant involves installing Let’s Encrypt’s Certbot. The installation method differs across operating systems. On Linux systems, it’s straightforward to install Certbot using the package manager. For example, Ubuntu users can execute the command sudo apt-get install certbot.
My setup took a slightly different route. As previously mentioned, my HomeAssistant operates within a Docker container, and I also host several websites, including the one hosting this blog post, on a virtual machine. This VM shares the same server as the HomeAssistant Docker container. Installing Certbot on CentOS Stream, the operating system of my VM where SSL is primarily needed, was a breeze by simply following the guided instructions available on the Certbot website.
You can confirm the successful installation of Certbot by executing certbot --version in your terminal. This command should return the version number of Certbot installed on your machine. Should you encounter any issues, indicating that Certbot hasn’t been installed properly, you may need to address the installation process or attempt reinstalling it.
Step 2: Generating an SSL Certificate
With Certbot installed, the subsequent step involves generating an SSL certificate for your domains. In my experience, executing the command certbot --apache was a straightforward process. Certbot intelligently scanned all my Apache virtual hosts, generating certificates for each. Interestingly, it selected the first domain in the list as the root certificate for all others—a decision I wouldn’t have made intentionally, but one I’m content with nonetheless.
Aiming to secure a certificate for HomeAssistant as well, I introduced fake virtual hosts within Apache and initiated certbot --apache once more, this time specifying the addition of the exclusive HomeAssistant domain, which for me is ha.auroranrunner.com.
An alternative method involves the command certbot certonly --standalone. This approach instructs Certbot to secure a certificate by functioning as a temporary web server (standalone) to authenticate domain ownership—useful for situations requiring a more hands-off approach.
However, my objective was for Certbot to manage the certification updates for all domains collectively, thus I adopted a slightly different strategy.
Opting to exclusively focus on HomeAssistant, without intertwining Apache configurations, prompts a straightforward process. You’ll be asked to input your domain name along with your contact details. Upon submission, Certbot seamlessly liaises with the Let’s Encrypt Certificate Authority (CA), generating an SSL certificate for your domain. The newly minted certificate and its private key are securely stored in the directory /etc/letsencrypt/live/your_domain_name/.
Step 3: Setting SSL sync between primary host and secondary host
In my situation, it was necessary to establish a method for synchronizing the SSL certificates between the virtual machine hosting the Apache web servers and the server operating the HomeAssistant Docker container. To accomplish this, I undertook the following steps:
Established passwordless SSH authentication between my Apache hosts and the server hosting HomeAssistant to ensure a seamless connection.
Created a script located at /usr/local/bin/sync_lets_cert designed to facilitate the synchronization of Let’s Encrypt certificates.
Developed a systemd service aimed at automating the daily synchronization of Let’s Encrypt certificates between the two hosts, ensuring that both systems always use the latest SSL certificates.
Configured a dedicated volume for the HomeAssistant Docker container mapped to /etc/letsencrypt:/etc/letsencrypt. This setup allows the HomeAssistant container direct access to the synchronized SSL certificates, simplifying the process of securing communications.
The script located at /usr/local/bin/sync_lets_cert is responsible for synchronizing the SSL certificates between servers. Its contents are as follows:
This script ensures that the certification files are kept in sync between the hosts. The next step involves setting up a systemd service to schedule this script’s execution, which proved to be slightly more complex but was successfully achieved as follows:
Create a timer file at /etc/systemd/system/sync_lets_cert.timer with the following content to establish a daily execution schedule:
With these steps completed, the SSL certificates will not only be renewed every 90 days but also synchronized between servers daily, ensuring seamless security and authentication continuity.
Step 4: Setting up SSL on HomeAssistant
With the SSL certificate secured, the following step is to integrate SSL into your HomeAssistant setup. This process entails adjusting your HomeAssistant’s configuration to recognize and utilize the SSL certificate. Achieve this by appending the below entries into your HomeAssistant’s configuration.yaml file:
These lines instruct HomeAssistant on the locations of the SSL certificate (fullchain.pem) and its corresponding private key (privkey.pem). Post addition, a restart of your HomeAssistant is required for the adjustments to be applied.
Initially, setting up SSL without specifying base_url sufficed for web browser access. However, to ensure the mobile application functioned correctly, including the base_url became necessary.
Regarding domain registration, I own auroranrunner.com and manage its DNS settings via the AWS console. Given the dynamic nature of my IP address, I employ the dy.fi service to update the DNS record for my dy.fi domain automatically. On AWS Route 53, ha.auroranrunner.com is configured with a CNAME record pointing to sirius.dy.fi, a nifty setup. Thanks to my router’s dy.fi support, any alterations to my external IP are automatically synchronized.
Step 5: Troubleshooting Common SSL Setup Issues
While setting up SSL on HomeAssistant using Let’s Encrypt Certbot is straightforward, you might encounter some issues along the way. One common issue is the “Failed authorization procedure” error. This usually occurs when Certbot is unable to verify domain ownership. To resolve this, you need to ensure that your domain name is correctly pointed to your HomeAssistant’s IP address.
Another common issue is the “SSL connection error”. This usually occurs when HomeAssistant is not correctly configured to use the SSL certificate. To resolve this, you need to ensure that the paths to the SSL certificate and its corresponding private key in your HomeAssistant configuration file are correct.
Setting up SSL on HomeAssistant using Let’s Encrypt Certbot is a good way to secure your system. While the process might seem complex, it can be broken down into five easy steps: installing Certbot, generating an SSL certificate, setting up SSL on HomeAssistant, configuring HomeAssistant with the SSL certificate, and troubleshooting common SSL setup issues. By following these steps, you can secure your HomeAssistant and ensure that your data remains safe and private.
Conclusion
Implementing SSL with Certbot is relatively straightforward for those who are well-acquainted with their network setup. This approach offers a security advantage over depending on third-party VPN solutions, which merely introduce an additional layer to your existing infrastructure. Leveraging third-party services to manage your smart home system does not enhance security; rather, it compromises it. While VPNs can serve as a viable security measure for those lacking the expertise to properly configure their home networks, the assertion that third-party VPNs inherently bolster security is misleading.
For those considering a VPN, I advocate for hosting your own. In my experience, OpenVPN has been fully compatible with HomeAssistant, offering a cost-effective solution without the need for extra expenditures. Like the SSL setup, OpenVPN requires dynamic DNS unless you have the luxury of a static IP address, ensuring reliable and secure remote access to your smart home systems.
Finland has been part of Nord Pool, a pan-European power exchange, since 1998. Meaning, when you sign your power contract with electricity supplier, you can choose a contract utilising the power stock exchange prices.
The prices for the next day are announced every day around 1pm CET. You can combine this information for example with weather forecast to plan your electricity usage for the cheapest hours where applicable.
Home Assistant on the other hand has Nord Pool integration which enables you to optimise the electricity SPOT pricing. There is a lot of articles on how to do that to help you to get started. This articles goes through my current setup and my own experience with both Home Assistant and electricity stock pricing. And how I made everything working with GitHub Copilot vim plugin.
Typical claim is, that normal user cannot really utilise the power stock pricing since it is too much work, warming up the house takes constant amount of energy so there is no way to optimise or it is too much work to do the automation in he first place. The latter might be true, but if you take building a smart home as a hobby, then even that is not true. The more time it takes, the more fun it is.
Home Assistant is a hobby anyway. It’s non commercial product and it is Cloud independent: Meaning, you set it your yourself and you maintain it yourself in your own server. That being said, it is fairly easy to set up. You just need to have a server to install it. That can be dedicated server or mini computer like Raspberry Pi, old PC you have no other use or something that can run Linux.
My choice was to to use my Asus PN41 mini PC I already had running Ubuntu which I had set up earlier to run as my sandbox having several virtual machines running in it. Instead of adding another virtual machine I decided to setup Home Assistant as Docker Container. Installation and set up did not really take too long time. Once I installed mobile app to my phone I already had working setup.
The reason why I wanted to have Home Assistant in the first place though is, that I had two Toshiba Shorai Edge heat pump internal units installed, and Toshiba’s mobile app is installable only with European apple id. I have North American apple id and I really cannot change that, since although living most of the time in Europe, I have close ties to North America. After some googling I figured out that I can get around the limitation with this totally new thing for me at the time called Home Assistant.
After I had Home Assistant container running, Toshiba AC integration installed and mobile app on my phone, I was good to go. Setup up is really fast to do as long as one is familiar with the related technology it really doesn’t take more than an hour. My initial aim was just to be able to manage the internal heating units through my phone. Then later I noticed that ok, it is also much easier, for example, to schedule the heat pumps to different temperatures different times with Home Assistant than with extremely cumbersome Toshiba remote.
On the other hand, I noticed Home Assistant itself had plenty of other interesting features I could utilise while building a smart home gradually. I got four Shelly H&T and one Shelly Plus H&T thermometers I could have on my Home Assistant dashboard. Three Shelly Plugs to monitor electricity usage for the Heat Pump and other appliances.
Automation
Just having Home Assistant Mobile App running enabled me being able to control heat pump units, follow room temperatures, current weather and forecast, electricity consumption and price is of course nice, but everything is still done manually. I felt I’m missing at least half of the benefits and nothing really changed anything yet.
Then I found this blog post on how to automate device for cheapest hours and it was pretty much all I was looking for. At least on idea level it was. It grabs the next days cheapest electricity prices and one can schedule heat pump to increase temperature when the electricity is on it’s cheapest. This happens typically at night – it is just after midnight almost always. I wasn’t very familiar with yaml and I still find the syntax cumbersome to get anything working – anything working easily at least. There’s plenty of scheduling solution with GUI based forms, but for me understanding those was even more difficult. I got this solution for getting next day’s cheapest hours and increase heating during them to work fine except for one thing. Once it started, it did not stop without manually stopping it.
I decided to create a schedule which set the heating back from 24C to 20C at 5am. With Home Assistant of course. If the cheapest hours are at day time, that does not work though. But it worked well enough almost for a year. Then I got more involved with yaml while learning Ansible and writing Pipelines for Azure with yaml. I also utilised yaml syntax highlighting on vim, so it all started to get easier.
Why write own code when there’s Github Copilot
Completing the first idea
The biggest motivator I found was Github Copilot. I started to use it while writing Python code, but noticed it helps quite a lot with yaml too. I only wanted to change my automations.yaml slightly. I wanted to get the part working, where the heating should stop. And I don’t want any heating blowing full 24C during day time either. Copilot does not write it to you, but it makes it easier to get it done.
So I did this: added the time conditions with after and before.
# Set temp to 24C when the SPOT price is at it's cheapest.
- id: '1663399614818'
alias: Increase heating
description: 'Cheap energy time set heating to 24C'
trigger:
- platform: time
at: input_datetime.device_start_time
condition:
condition: and
conditions:
- condition: time
after: '00:00'
before: '04:00'
action:
- service: climate.set_temperature
data:
temperature: 24
target:
entity_id: climate.ac_12494102
mode: single
The code without timing conditions are available from the blog post link above, so I’m not writing it here, although you can check my full automations.yaml from my GitHub repo – not that I expect it to help anyone or to be perfect, but there it is. Then next thing is to stop the increased heating. To be noted, I constantly work on my automations, so the code in repo does not necessarily reflect what I have demonstrated here.
# Set temp to 20C at end of cheap hours
- id: '1663399614821'
alias: Hallway AC temp to 20
description: 'Cheap energy end time set temp to 20'
trigger:
- platform: time
at: input_datetime.device_end_time
condition:
condition: and
conditions:
- condition: time
after: '03:00'
before: '06:00'
action:
- service: climate.set_temperature
data:
temperature: 20
target:
entity_id: climate.ac_12494102
mode: single
I didn’t have time conditions there as time of writing this, but I added them later once I had verified everything works correctly. With Home Assistant it’s better to build things gradually. Then you know easier what does not work and what does.
I also wanted to have things like: If electricity is more expensive than 15c/kWh, decrease heating by 1C:
# If SPOT price is above average let's set heating 1C lower
- id: hallway_ac_fan_expensive_spot
alias: If spot price above average cents set heat 1C lower
description: ''
trigger:
- platform: numeric_state
entity_id: sensor.nordpool_kwh_fi_eur_3_10_024
above: sensor.energy_spot_average_price
condition:
condition: and
conditions:
- condition: time
after: '08:00'
before: '22:00'
action:
- service: climate.set_temperature
data:
temperature: "{{ state_attr('climate.ac_12494102', 'temperature') - 1 }}" # Decrease temperature by 1 degree
target:
entity_id: climate.ac_12494102
mode: single
The above is partly written by ChatGPT, but it typically generates code, which needs a lot of tweaking to get it to work for real, but some of it is usable.
I also often turn heater off when outside is a bit warmer and don’t necessarily remember to put it on before going to sleep. At least in theory this could lead to situation where it gets really cold at night, and then the heater is off when temperature is way below 0C. Then one should really not turn it on anymore before it gets warmer, since it decreases the life of the outside unit some what. If not significantly even.
# If outdoor temp is below 1C turn on hallway AC
- id: hallway_ac_fan_on_low_temp
alias: If temp below 1 set on
description: ''
trigger:
- platform: numeric_state
entity_id: sensor.ac_12488762_outdoor_temperature
below: 1
condition: []
action:
- service: climate.turn_on
target:
entity_id: climate.ac_12494102
mode: single
Expanding the ideas
Above was just first step though. I wanted to have more. Simple things though. I struggled a day with getting my next idea to work. The idea is simple:
Increase heat, when spot price is above daily average.
Decrease heat, when spot price is below daily average.
I had everything working with fixed values. But daily average spot price varies a lot, so I’m not ok with fixed value. I tried to use something like state_attr('sensor.nordpool_kwh_fi_eur_3_10_024', 'average'). Looks valid to me, but when I tried to use it, it just didn’t work. I tried to “cast” since I always got error “could not convert string to float” no matter what I trid.
Then I figured out just by myself with no Github Copilot, that if I put above to sensors.yaml and create a sensor having the daily average, I might be able to use that. Bingo!
Above I have created sensor: sensor.energy_spot_average_price on sensors.yaml. That I can use on automations.yaml as shown below:
# If outdoor temp is below 1C turn on hallway AC
- id: hallway_ac_fan_on_low_temp
alias: If temp below 1 set on
description: ''
trigger:
- platform: numeric_state
entity_id: sensor.ac_12488762_outdoor_temperature
below: 1
condition: []
action:
- service: climate.turn_on
target:
entity_id: climate.ac_12494102
mode: single
Since I’m increasing heat above I want to do it only when it’s relatively cold outside. Also I want to do it only during day, when the prior cheapest prices logic is not active. That is why I have set this to do following:
Between 10am and 5pm:
When outside temperature is below +2C and spot price is below daily average:
Lower the heat on Hallway AC by 1 degree celcius
Then I have another entry for decreasing the heat, when spot price goes above daily average. For that I don’t use the requirement for outside temperature, since if it’s warmer than that, I’m always ok to decrease the temperature.
Purpose
The goal for me is to heat a bit more when electricity is cheaper and then heat a bit less when it’s more expensive. Air is not very good on preserving the heat, but it does it a bit. Also, when I go to sleep, I don’t need to heat. My house colder at least till midnight since there’s almost no heating. The after midnight there’s typically the cheapest hours in hand and my system starts to overheat a bit. Pretty normal pattern is, that when I wake up, the electricity price starts to go up during the normal morning hours when other people wake up as well. My heating system isn’t really needed by then and the temperature starts going down gradually till it is needed gain.
Rest of the day my system follows the strategy to lower heat slightly if price goes above average and heat a bit more when it the price goes below average
This will optimize the heating the way, that most of the time the average price I pay for electricity is bit lower than the average spot price, which is my intention.
Below pictures shows, how the heating takes in place at midnight. The stops at 4am. Next hike is around 6am, when the upstairs heat pump in bedroom is turned on after waking up. The bedroom heating is never on during night and most of the automation is only for Hallway AC.
The yaml code needed
The examples here are pretty much copy/pasted from Toni’s blog post so credits to him.
configuration.yaml
Home Assistant needs a configuration file configuration.yaml and there you need following to get the cheapest hours utilized.
# Helper to keep the start time
input_datetime:
device_start_time:
name: Device Start Time
has_time: true
has_date: false
device_end_time:
name: Device End Time
has_time: true
has_date: false
# Include automations.yaml and sensors.yaml
automation: !include automations.yaml
sensor: !include sensors.yaml
sensors.yaml
On sensors.yaml you need following. Note that sensor.nordpool_kwh_fi_eur_3_10_024 must be replaced with the sensor you have for Nord Pool integration.
- platform: template
sensors:
energy_spot_average_price:
friendly_name: "Nordpool Average Spot Price"
unit_of_measurement: 'c/kWh'
value_template: "{{ state_attr('sensor.nordpool_kwh_fi_eur_3_10_024', 'average') | float | round(2) }}"
cheapest_hours_energy_tomorrow:
device_class: timestamp
friendly_name: Cheapest sequential electricity hours
value_template: >
{%- set numberOfSequentialHours = 3 -%}
{%- set lastHour = 23 -%}
{%- set firstHour = 0 -%}
{%- if state_attr('sensor.nordpool_kwh_fi_eur_3_10_024', 'tomorrow_valid') == true -%}
{%- set ns = namespace(counter=0, list=[], cheapestHour=today_at("00:00") + timedelta( hours = (24)), cheapestPrice=999.00) -%}
{%- for i in range(firstHour + numberOfSequentialHours, lastHour+1) -%}
{%- set ns.counter = 0.0 -%}
{%- for j in range(i-numberOfSequentialHours, i) -%}
{%- set ns.counter = ns.counter + state_attr('sensor.nordpool_kwh_fi_eur_3_10_024', 'tomorrow')[j] -%}
{%- endfor -%}
{%- set ns.list = ns.list + [ns.counter] -%}
{%- if ns.counter < ns.cheapestPrice -%}
{%- set ns.cheapestPrice = ns.counter -%}
{%- set ns.cheapestHour = today_at("00:00") + timedelta( hours = (24 + i - numberOfSequentialHours)) -%}
{%- endif -%}
{%- endfor -%}
{{ ns.cheapestHour }}
{%- set ns.cheapestPrice = ns.cheapestPrice / numberOfSequentialHours -%}
{%- endif -%}
automations.yaml
Now Here are the triggers I have created in automations.yaml. I have three triggers for pumping up the heat with each one different action for cheap hours. Combining actions with one trigger seem not to work, or I don’t know correct syntax. I decrease the heat after four hours, but since I don’t need to stop heater, when the heating gets decreased. I have only two actions.
First I need to create the input_date times to use later:
# Set device start time: Needs cheapest_hours_energy_tomorrow in sensor.yaml
- id: '1663398489357'
alias: 'Set device start time'
description: ''
trigger:
- platform: time
at: '23:10:00'
condition:
- condition: not
conditions:
- condition: state
entity_id: sensor.cheapest_hours_energy_tomorrow
state: unknown
action:
- service: input_datetime.set_datetime
data:
time: '{{ as_timestamp(states(''sensor.cheapest_hours_energy_tomorrow'')) | timestamp_custom(''%H:%M'') }}'
target:
entity_id: input_datetime.device_start_time
# Set device end time 4 hours after start time: Needs cheapest_hours_energy_tomorrow in sensor.yaml
- id: '1663398489358'
alias: 'Set device end time'
description: ''
trigger:
- platform: time
at: '23:15:00'
condition:
- condition: not
conditions:
- condition: state
entity_id: sensor.cheapest_hours_energy_tomorrow
state: unknown
action:
- service: input_datetime.set_datetime
data:
time: '{{ ((as_timestamp(states(''sensor.cheapest_hours_energy_tomorrow'')) + (3600*4)) | timestamp_custom(''%H:%M'')) }}'
target:
entity_id: input_datetime.device_end_time
mode: single
Then the actual triggers:
# Do the actions when time trigger is hit.
# Each action separately: Turn on, set temp, set fan mode
# Make sure AC is on before setting temp or fan mode
- id: '1663399614817'
alias: Turn on Hallway AC
description: 'Cheap energy time turn on hallway AC'
trigger:
- platform: time
at: input_datetime.device_start_time
condition:
condition: and
conditions:
- condition: time
after: '00:00'
before: '05:00'
action:
- service: climate.turn_on
target:
entity_id: climate.ac_12494102
mode: single
# Set temp to 24C
- id: '1663399614818'
alias: Increase heating
description: 'Cheap energy time set heating to 24C'
trigger:
- platform: time
at: input_datetime.device_start_time
condition:
condition: and
conditions:
- condition: time
after: '00:00'
before: '05:00'
action:
- service: climate.set_temperature
data:
temperature: 24
target:
entity_id: climate.ac_12494102
mode: single
# Set fan mode to high
- id: '1663399614819'
alias: Hallway AC fan to high
description: 'Cheap energy time set fan to high'
trigger:
- platform: time
at: input_datetime.device_start_time
condition:
condition: and
conditions:
- condition: time
after: '00:00'
before: '05:00'
action:
- service: climate.set_fan_mode
data:
fan_mode: "High"
target:
entity_id: climate.ac_12494102
mode: single
# Lower fan from High to Auto four hours after start time
- id: '1663399614820'
alias: Hallway AC fan to Auto
description: 'Cheap energy time set fan to Auto'
trigger:
- platform: time
at: input_datetime.device_end_time
condition:
condition: and
conditions:
- condition: time
after: '04:00'
before: '09:00'
action:
- service: climate.set_fan_mode
data:
fan_mode: "Auto"
target:
entity_id: climate.ac_12494102
mode: single
# Set temp to 20C four hours after start time
- id: '1663399614821'
alias: Hallway AC temp to 20
description: 'Cheap energy time set temp to 20'
trigger:
- platform: time
at: input_datetime.device_end_time
condition:
condition: and
conditions:
- condition: time
after: '04:00'
before: '09:00'
action:
- service: climate.set_temperature
data:
temperature: 20
target:
entity_id: climate.ac_12494102
mode: single
# If SPOT price is below average we can increase heating by 1C during day time
- id: hallway_ac_fan_low_spot
alias: If spot price below 7 cents increase heat
description: 'With low price increase heat by 1'
trigger:
- platform: numeric_state
entity_id: sensor.nordpool_kwh_fi_eur_3_10_024
below: sensor.energy_spot_average_price
- platform: numeric_state
entity_id: sensor.ac_12488762_outdoor_temperature
below: 2
condition:
condition: and
conditions:
- condition: time
after: '10:00'
before: '17:00'
action:
- service: climate.set_temperature
data:
temperature: "{{ state_attr('climate.ac_12494102', 'temperature') + 1 }}" # Increase temperature by 1 degree
target:
entity_id: climate.ac_12494102
mode: single
# If SPOT price is above average let's set heating 1C lower.
- id: hallway_ac_fan_expensive_spot
alias: If spot price above 7 cents set heat 1C lower
description: ''
trigger:
- platform: numeric_state
entity_id: sensor.nordpool_kwh_fi_eur_3_10_024
above: sensor.energy_spot_average_price
condition:
condition: and
conditions:
- condition: time
after: '10:00'
before: '17:00'
action:
- service: climate.set_temperature
data:
temperature: "{{ state_attr('climate.ac_12494102', 'temperature') - 1 }}" # Decrease temperature by 1 degree
target:
entity_id: climate.ac_12494102
mode: single
Full examples
My full yaml files are also in my personal GitHub repo:
Home Assistant is useful tool to make some simple home automations. Obviously getting the heat pump itself have saved me plenty on electricity bills, but Home Assistant takes me one step further.
Although Home Assistant does provide nice GUI for creating schedules, I do prefer editing the text based yaml files. yaml itself is error prone format and for that good editor is a must. My choice of editor has been vim for last 20 years at least and I see no reason to switch away from it. Although I have tried to switch to Eclipse, Pycharm, VS Code – yet I always go back to vim. I even tried neovim but couldn’t find any difference compared to vim (I do not use lua).
When I found Github Pilot plugin for vim I found it to be a game changer. Not only for writing Python and Azure Pipelines with yaml, but especially for Home Assistant configuration yaml files. I also feel GitHub Copilot extremely addictive. The way it provides suggestions makes me chuckle once in a while and I really miss it almost everywhere – almost. It really would need to write my commit messages with vim fugitive. Feature suggestion for Tim.
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