ista EcoTrend in Home Assistant: Installation & use

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Would you like to monitor and manage your energy consumption more efficiently? With the ista EcoTrend integration in Home Assistant, you can do just that. In this blog article, I'll show you step by step how to install and make the most of the integration.

Why ista EcoTrend?

ista EcoTrend offers you detailed insights into your energy consumption, be it for heating, water or electricity. By integrating this data into Home Assistant, you can visualize and analyse your consumption and create automated notifications or actions.

I'm not advertising ista as a provider, but for all those ista tenants or customers who already use EcoTrend and have it available, for example through their landlord, it makes sense to link the whole thing to Home Assistant. You can find more information on the GitHub repository for ista EcoTrend for Home Assistant.

Installation of HACS and integration of ista EcoTrend in Home Assistant

Step 1: Installing HACS in Home Assistant

Home Assistant Community Store (HACS) is a custom add-on for Home Assistant that provides access to a variety of custom integrations and plugins developed by the community. How to install HACS:

1. Check requirements: Make sure that your Home Assistant is ideally up to date.
2. Download Execute script: Open a terminal for the Docker container version or the core version.
   • Docker: Dial into the container with: docker exec -it homeassistant bash or (similar)
   • Core: Switch to the user who is running Home Assistant
   • Execute the following command for both variants:
     wget -O - https://get.hacs.xyz | bash -
3. Restarting the Home Assistant: After the files have been copied, restart Home Assistant.
4. Integrate HACS into Home AssistantGo to "Configuration" > "Integrations" > "Add" in the Home Assistant interface and search for HACS. Add it and enter your GitHub token if prompted.

For the supervised version, please refer to the Documentation of HACS itself to read about the installation.

Step 2: Add ista EcoTrend integration via HACS

Once HACS has been installed, you can simply add ista EcoTrend:

1. Open HACS: Go to HACS in the Home Assistant interface.
2. Search for integrationClick on "Integrations" and use the search function to search for "ista EcoTrend".
3. ista EcoTrend installFind ista EcoTrend in the list and click on "Install". This will add the integration to your Home Assistant.
4. Restarting the Home Assistant: Start Home Assistant again to apply the changes.
5. ista EcoTrend ConfigureAfter restarting, you can set up and customize ista EcoTrend via "Configuration" > "Integrations" in Home Assistant.

Conclusion

With these steps, you have successfully installed HACS in your Home Assistant and added the ista EcoTrend integration. This powerful combination opens up a world of additional features and customizations that have been and are being developed by the Home Assistant community. More blog posts and videos on useful integrations to follow. If you don't want to miss it, subscribe to my YouTube channel!

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Using the ista EcoTrend integration

Visualize data

After successful configuration, you will find the ista EcoTrend data in your Home Assistant devices. You can visualize this data in various diagrams and graphics:

1. Go to your dashboard and click on "Edit dashboard".
2. Add a new map and select the type "Statistics" or "Graph".
3. Select the relevant sensors provided by the ista EcoTrend integration, such as heating or water consumption.

Create automations

You can create automated notifications or actions based on your consumption data. For example, you could receive a notification if your water consumption is unusually high:

1. Go to "Settings" > "Automations".
2. Click on the plus sign (+) to create a new automation.
3. Select the relevant ista EcoTrend sensor as the trigger and define the conditions under which the automation should be triggered.
4. Define the action, e.g. sending a notification with the current monthly report.

Consumption meter in Home Assistant via the GUI

Step 1: Open Home Assistant and log in

1. Open your web browser and go to your Home Assistant URL (e.g. http://homeassistant.local:8123).
2. Log in with your access data.

Step 2: Go to the settings

1. In the left side menu, click on Settings.
2. Choose Devices & services.

Step 3: Add a new helper

1. Click on the button Helper.
2. Click on the plus sign (+) at the bottom right to add a new helper.
3. Choose Consumption meter (Utility Meter) from the list of helper types.

Step 4: Configuring the consumption meter

1. NameGive the consumption meter a name, e.g. "Annual energy consumption".
2. SourceSelect your consumption sensor from the list of available sensors (e.g. sensor.ista_ecotrend_consumption).
3. CycleChoose Annually as a cycle.

Step 5: Save configuration

1. Click on Createto create and save the consumption meter.

Step 6: Customize dashboard

1. Go to your Home Assistant dashboard.
2. Click on Edit dashboard.
3. Add a new card and select the card type Sensor from.
4. Select the consumption meter you have just created (e.g. sensor.yearly_energy) from the list of available sensors.
5. Customize the display of the map according to your wishes and save the changes.

Exemplary explanation

Suppose your sensor reports the energy consumption at the end of each month:

• In January, the sensor shows 60 kWh.
• In February, the sensor shows 50 kWh.
• The Utility Meter adds these values together so that you have an annual consumption of 110 kWh (60 + 50) at the end of February.

If the sensor reports a consumption of 55 kWh in March, the annual consumption is updated to 165 kWh (60 + 50 + 55). This process continues until the cycle (one year) ends and the meter is reset on January 1st of the next year.

Advantages

• Automatic calculationThe Utility Meter automatically adds up the consumption values without the need for manual calculations or additional automation.
• Historical dataYou can easily retrieve and analyze historical consumption data.
• Simple integrationIntegration and configuration are uncomplicated and easy to handle.

Summary

The consumption meter in Home Assistant is a useful tool for monitoring the annual energy consumption that you get from ista EcoTrend over the year through the sensors. It automatically adds up the monthly consumption values and resets the meter at the end of the year so that you always have a clear overview of your annual consumption.

YouTube video implementation

Conclusion

With the ista EcoTrend integration in Home Assistant, you have a powerful tool at your fingertips to monitor your energy consumption and make it more efficient. Installation and configuration is quick and easy thanks to HACS. Use the possibilities of Home Assistant to create automations and improve your energy efficiency.

Try it out and enjoy the benefits of smarter energy management!

Interested, but lack time or knowledge?

No problem. Contact me and we will discuss your requirements. No matter if business or private.