v0.24.0-alpha.1

[bramstroker]

This release brings a config flow which allows you to configure sensors with the GUI.
I tried to focus on the most used options to not clutter the UI and keep things simple for users.
When you need advanced options which are not exposed in the GUI yet you can still use the YAML way.
I have no plans to remove YAML, this will stay and give power users the possibilities they want.

Currently implemented:

• Virtual power sensor
  • Fixed
  • Linear
  • Wled
  • LUT strategy
• Daily fixed energy sensor
• Group sensors

Preview: https://imgur.com/a/IgcSJjc

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This discussion was created from the release v0.24.0-alpha.1.

[townsmcp]

I installed the alpha last night. I am blown away with this integration. Great job! I have been wanting to track electricity usage of a Lay Z Spa for a while, including various functions specifically eg filtering, heating, bubbling etc. I stumbled across your integration, installed it a few weeks ago but didn’t get round to configuring in yaml (been a bit busy lately, and a touch of laziness reading through a readme and then implementing). So when I saw there was a gui config I thought I would give it a try. Wow, really easy to setup!

The one suggestion I would like to add, is a way to track cost of the energy usage for the device. It’s great to track usage for a given device but I think an enhancement could be cost tracking to. I know this opens a whole can of worms as I’m sure everyone will define cost tracking entities in different ways. The way I do it is I have an input_number setup with automations that change the input_number value to the current rate (I have dual tariff and have setup 2 other input_numbers that define the day rate and night rate; the automation just changes the now rate sensor to the correct time of day rate). I also use that input_number with the current tariff in the energy dashboard for smart meter electric usage, so maybe something along those lines as HA already has a defined method for tracking cost in an entity?

[bramstroker]

@townsmcp Thanks for your kind words. Good to here you have been able to setup power sensors with the GUI flow and it was self explanatory.

About the cost tracking, I did not have time to look into this myself, but I know HA has build in possibilities for that in the energy dashboard.
Powercalc just supplies energy sensors, as other integrations can do. You should be able to add the energy sensors to the energy dashboard and setup cost tracking there. Also see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVFeXiokT0k
When you have issues with that or ar missing anything you should ask help on the community forum / discord.
Also let's not discuss this further here as this discussion section is for feedback / bugs on the v0.24.0 and not new features / other questions.

[nepozs]

@bramstroker
I've installed, so far I haven't found any serious bugs, but drop-down lists are hard to use on low- and mid-resolution screens.

It is also unclear when entities are created by autodetection (eg. from entities like Philips Hue integration) - I suppose they were created when I've created first group sensor? - There is no equivalent for "alone" powercalc:option in YAML.

Usually in integrations with GUI there is an option to create translations - is it also planned?

I haven't found in the project folders any resources dedicated to translations - nice example of component with translation (so it can look similar):
https://github.com/briis/weatherbit/tree/master/custom_components/weatherbit/translations

[bramstroker]

@bramstroker I've installed, so far I haven't found any serious bugs, but drop-down lists are hard to use on low- and mid-resolution screens.

That's not something I can change. These are built in components by HA (which are used throughout all configuration panels), and are conforming to HA UX.

It is also unclear when entities are created by autodetection (eg. from entities like Philips Hue integration) - I suppose they were created when I've created first group sensor? - There is no equivalent for "alone" powercalc:option in YAML.

Nothing has changed in the autodection logic yet. These entities (power, energy sensors) will still be created in the background, and will not be visible as a config_entry. Only entries you create by using the GUI config flow are shown in the list. When you create a GUI config entry for the same entity as was already autodetected the GUI one will take precedence.

Maybe I will have a look into adding the autodected ones also in the list of config entries, but that's out of scope for this first iteration and also not sure if it is possible at all. Need to do some further research on it.

With the "alone" powercalc: option I suspect you mean the global powercalc configuration? That's not something which can be added to the GUI as HA does not supply any possibilities for that yet. So the only way to configure that is still YAML.

Usually in integrations with GUI there is an option to create translations - is it also planned?

Sure, translations should just work. You can just add a pl.json to the translations directory (which is a copy of en.json). If you are done you can create a PR so other users can also use the polish translations.

[bramstroker]

Btw I did have a further look into making the global configuration also editable in the GUI. I did manage to get something working, but it was very hacky. I have discussed this further with HA core developer Frenck and this is not something HA provides any functionality for yet. I have decided to not go further trying to get something working as it would get rather hacky and error prone. And will probably cause issues in the future.

[nepozs]

I have decided to not go further trying to get something working as it would get rather hacky and error prone. And will probably cause issues in the future.

If it could generate future issues, it's not worth the effort.

[hdsheena]

Not sure if this is the right spot to post this, but giving it a try. I've installed powercalc and set up a device via the UI, but can't set up any more than the first one? Maybe I did something wrong or am confused about how it should work :)

[bramstroker]

Just click add integration again

[hdsheena]

I did and dont see powercalc in the list! I'll see if i can figure it out, if that's how it shoudl work! thanks!

[bramstroker]

Strange. This should appear after you click add integration.
Also check the error logs, maybe there is an error somehow.

[hdsheena]

Shows up great now. Maybe just some front end cache issue or something. Thanks!

[bramstroker]

Shows up great now. Maybe just some front end cache issue or something. Thanks!

Strange one, glad it's resolve. Have fun!