Home Assistant Virtual Power Sensors

Custom component to calculate estimated power consumption of lights and other appliances. Provides easy configuration to get virtual power consumption sensors in Home Assistant for all your devices which don't have a build in power meter. This component estimates power usage by looking at brightness, hue/saturation and color temperature etc using different strategies. They are explained below.

TOC

• Installation
  • HACS
  • Manual
• Setup power sensors
• Configuration
  • Sensor
  • Global
• Calculation modes
  • LUT
  • Linear
  • Fixed
  • WLED
• Light model library
  • LUT data files
    • Measuring lights
  • Supported models
• Sensor naming
• Daily fixed energy
• Setting up for energy dashboard
• Advanced features
  • Multiple entities and grouping
  • Multiply Factor
  • Utility Meters
  • Use real power sensor
• Debug logging

Installation

HACS

This integration is part of the default HACS repository. Just click "Explore and add repository" to install

Manual

Copy custom_components/powercalc into your Home Assistant config directory.

Post installation steps

• Restart HA
• Add the following entry to configuration.yaml:

powercalc:

• Restart HA final time

Setup power sensors

Powercalc has a build-in library of more than 60 light models (LUT), which have been measured and provided by users. See supported models.

Starting from 0.12.0 Powercalc can automatically discover entities in your HA instance which are supported for automatic configuration. After intallation and restarting HA power and energy sensors should appear. When this is not the case please check the logs for any errors.

When your appliance is not supported you have extensive options for manual configuration. These are explained below.

Note: Manually configuring a entity will override an auto discovered entity

Configuration

To manually add virtual sensors for your devices you have to add some configuration to configuration.yaml. Additionally some settings can be applied on global level and will apply to all your virtual power sensors. After changing the configuration you need to restart HA to get your power sensors to appear.

Sensor configuration

For each entity you want to create a virtual power sensor for you'll need to add an entry in configuration.yaml. Each virtual power sensor have it's own configuration possibilities. They are as follows:

Name	Type	Requirement	Description
entity_id	string	Required	HA entity ID. The id of the device you want your power sensor for
manufacturer	string	Optional	Manufacturer, most of the time this can be automatically discovered
model	string	Optional	Model id, most of the time this can be automatically discovered
standby_power	float	Optional	Supply the wattage when the device is off
disable_standby_power	boolean	Optional	Set to true to not show any power consumption when the device is standby
name	string	Optional	Override the name
create_energy_sensor	boolean	Optional	Set to disable/enable energy sensor creation. When set this will override global setting create_energy_sensors
create_utility_meters	boolean	Optional	Set to disable/enable utility meter creation. When set this will override global setting create_utility_meters
utility_meter_types	list	Optional	Define which cycles you want to create utility meters for. See cycle. This will override global setting utility_meter_types
utility_meter_offset	string	Optional	Define the offset for utility meters. See offset.
custom_model_directory	string	Optional	Directory for a custom light model. Relative from the config directory
power_sensor_naming	string	Optional	Change the name (and id) of the sensors. Use the {} placeholder for the entity name of your appliance. When set this will override global setting power_sensor_naming
energy_sensor_naming	string	Optional	Change the name (and id) of the sensors. Use the {} placeholder for the entity name of your appliance. When set this will override global setting energy_sensor_naming
energy_integration_method	string	Optional	Integration method for the energy sensor. See HA docs
mode	string	Optional	Calculation mode, one of lut, linear, fixed. The default mode is lut
multiply_factor	float	Optional	Multiplies the calculated power by this number. See multiply factor
multiply_factor_standby	boolean	Optional	When set to true the multiply_factor will also be applied to the standby power
fixed	object	Optional	Fixed mode options
linear	object	Optional	Linear mode options
wled	object	Optional	WLED mode options
entities	list	Optional	Makes it possible to add multiple entities at once in one powercalc entry. Also enable possibility to create group sensors automatically. See multiple entities and grouping
create_group	string	Optional	This setting is only applicable when you also use entities setting or include. Define a group name here. See multiple entities and grouping
include	object	Optional	Use this in combination with create_group to automatically include entities from a certain area, group or template. See Include entities
power_sensor_id	string	Optional	Entity id of an existing power sensor. This can be used to let powercalc create energy sensors and utility meters. This will create no virtual power sensor.

Minimalistic example creating two power sensors:

sensor:
  - platform: powercalc
    entity_id: light.hallway
  - platform: powercalc
    entity_id: light.living_room

This will add a power sensors with the entity ids sensor.hallway_power and sensor.living_room_power to your installation. See Calculation modes for all possible sensor configurations.

Global configuration

All these settings are completely optional. You can skip this section if you don't need any advanced configuration.

Name	Type	Requirement	Default	Description
enable_autodiscovery	boolean	Optional	true	Whether you want powercalc to automatically setup power sensors for supported models in your HA instance.
scan_interval	string	Optional	00:10:00	Interval at which the sensor state is updated, even when the power value stays the same. Format HH:MM:SS
create_energy_sensors	boolean	Optional	true	Let the component automatically create energy sensors (kWh) for every power sensor
power_sensor_naming	string	Optional	{} power	Change the name of the sensors. Use the {} placeholder for the entity name of your appliance. This will also change the entity_id of your sensor
energy_sensor_naming	string	Optional	{} energy	Change the name of the sensors. Use the {} placeholder for the entity name of your appliance. This will also change the entity_id of your sensor
create_utility_meters	boolean	Optional	false	Set to true to automatically create utility meters of your energy sensors. See utility_meters
utility_meter_types	list	Optional	daily, weekly, monthly	Define which cycles you want to create utility meters for. See cycle
energy_integration_method	string	Optional	Integration method for the energy sensor. See HA docs

Example:

powercalc:
  scan_interval: 00:01:00 #Each minute
  power_sensor_naming: "{} Powersensor"
  create_energy_sensors: false

Calculation modes

To calculate estimated power consumption different modes are supported, they are as follows:

• LUT (lookup table)
• Linear
• Fixed
• WLED

LUT mode

Supported domain: light

This is the most accurate mode. For a lot of light models measurements are taken using smart plugs. All this data is saved into CSV files. When you have the LUT mode activated the current brightness/hue/saturation of the light will be checked and closest matching line will be looked up in the CSV.

• Supported models for LUT mode
• LUT file structure

Configuration

sensor:
  - platform: powercalc
    entity_id: light.livingroom_floorlamp
    manufacturer: signify
    model: LCT010

For most lights the device information in HA will supply the device and model correctly, so you can omit these.

sensor:
  - platform: powercalc
    entity_id: light.livingroom_floorlamp

Linear mode

Supported domains: light, fan

The linear mode can be used for dimmable devices which don't have a lookup table available. You need to supply the min and max power draw yourself, by either looking at the datasheet or measuring yourself with a smart plug / power meter. Power consumpion is calculated by ratio. So when you have your fan running at 50% speed and define watt range 2 - 6, than the estimated consumption will be 4 watt.

Configuration options

Name	Type	Requirement	Description
min_power	float	Optional	Power usage for lowest brightness level
max_power	float	Optional	Power usage for highest brightness level
calibrate	string	Optional	Calibration values

Example configuration

sensor:
  - platform: powercalc
    entity_id: light.livingroom_floorlamp
    linear:
      min_power: 0.5
      max_power: 8

Fixed mode

Supported domains: light, fan, humidifier, switch, binary_sensor, device_tracker, remote, media_player, input_boolean, input_number, input_select, sensor, climate, vacuum, water_heater

When you have an appliance which only can be set on and off you can use this mode. You need to supply a single watt value in the configuration which will be used when the device is ON

Configuration options

Name	Type	Requirement	Description
power	float	Optional	Power usage when the appliance is turned on (in watt). Can also be a template
states_power	dict	Optional	Power usage per entity state. Values can also be a template

Simple example

sensor:
  - platform: powercalc
    entity_id: light.nondimmabled_bulb
    fixed:
      power: 20

Advanced precision calibration

With the calibrate setting you can supply more than one power value for multiple brightness/percentage levels. This allows for a more accurate estimation because not all lights are straight linear.

sensor:
  - platform: powercalc
    entity_id: light.livingroom_floorlamp
    linear:
      calibrate:
        - 1 -> 0.3
        - 10 -> 1.25
        - 50 -> 3.50
        - 100 -> 6.8
        - 255 -> 15.3

Note: For lights the supplied values must be in brightness range 1-255, when you select 1 in lovelace UI slider this is actually brightness level 3. For fan speeds the range is 1-100 (percentage)

Using a template for the power value

sensor:
  - platform: powercalc
    entity_id: light.bathroom
    fixed:
      power: "{{states('input_number.bathroom_watts')}}"

Power per state

The states_power setting allows you to specify a power per entity state. This can be useful for example on Sonos devices which have a different power consumption in different states.

sensor:
  - platform: powercalc
    entity_id: media_player.sonos_living
    fixed:
      states_power:
        playing: 8.3
        paused: 2.25
        idle: 1.5

You can also use state attributes. Use the | delimiter to seperate the attribute and value. Here is en example:

sensor:
  - platform: powercalc
    entity_id: media_player.sonos_living
    fixed:
      power: 12
      states_power:
        media_content_id|Spotify: 5
        media_content_id|Youtube: 10

When no match is found in states_power lookup than the configured power will be considered.

WLED mode

Supported domains: light

You can use WLED strategy for light strips which are controlled by WLED. WLED calculates estimated current based on brightness levels and the microcontroller (ESP) used. Powercalc asks to input the voltage on which the lightstrip is running and optionally a power factor. Based on these factors the wattage is calculated.

Configuration options

Name	Type	Requirement	Default	Description
voltage	float	Required		Voltage for the lightstrip
power_factor	float	Optional	0.9	Power factor, between 0.1 and 1.0

Example configuration

sensor:
  - platform: powercalc
    entity_id: light.wled_lightstrip
    wled:
      voltage: 5

Configuration examples

Linear mode with additional standby power

sensor:
  - platform: powercalc
    entity_id: light.livingroom_floorlamp
    linear:
      min_power: 0.5
      max_power: 8
    standby_power: 0.2
    name: My amazing power meter

---

Light model library

The component ships with predefined light measurements for some light models. This library will keep extending by the effort of community users.

These models are located in config/custom_components/powercalc/data directory. You can also define your own models in config/powercalc-custom-models directory, when a manufacturer/model exists in this directory this will take precedence over the default data directory.

Each light model has it's own subdirectory {manufacturer}/{modelid}. i.e. signify/LCT010

model.json

Every model MUST contain a model.json file which defines the supported calculation modes and other configuration. See the json schema how the file must be structured or the examples below.

When LUT mode is supported also CSV lookup files must be provided.

Example lut mode:

{
    "name": "Hue White and Color Ambiance A19 E26 (Gen 5)",
    "standby_power": 0.4,
    "supported_modes": [
        "lut"
    ],
    "measure_method": "script",
    "measure_device": "Shelly Plug S"
}

Example linear mode

{
    "name": "Hue Go",
    "supported_modes": [
        "linear"
    ],
    "standby_power": 0.2,
    "linear_config": {
        "min_power": 0,
        "max_power": 6
    },
    "measure_method": "manual",
    "measure_device": "From manufacturer specifications"
}

LUT data files

To calculate power consumption a lookup is done into CSV data files.

Depending on the supported color modes of the light the integration expects one or more CSV files here:

• hs.csv.gz (hue/saturation, colored lamps)
• color_temp.csv.gz (color temperature)
• brightness.csv.gz (brightness only lights)

Some lights support two color modes (both hs and color_temp), so there must be two CSV files.

The files are gzipped to keep the repository footprint small, and installation fast but gzipping files is not mandatory.

Example:

- signify
  - LCT010
    - model.json
    - hs.csv.gz
    - color_temp.csv.gz

Expected file structure

• The file MUST contain a header row.
• The data rows in the CSV files MUST have the following column order:

hs.csv

bri,hue,sat,watt

color_temp.csv

bri,mired,watt

brightness.csv

bri,watt

Ranges:

• brightness (0-255)
• hue (0-65535)
• saturation (0-255)
• mired (0-500) min value depending on min mired value of the light model

Creating LUT files

New files are created by taking measurements using a smartplug (i.e. Shelly plug) and changing the light to all kind of different variations using the Hue API or Home Assistant API. The tooling is available at utils/measure.

The script supports several smartplugs with power monitoring.

See the README for more information.

Supported models

See the list of supported lights which don't need any manual configuration

Sensor naming

Let's assume you have a source sensor light.patio with name "Patio". Powercalc will create the following sensors by default.

• sensor.patio_power (Patio power)
• sensor.patio_energy (Patio energy)

Utility meters will use the energy name as a base and suffix with _daily, _weekly, _monthly

Change suffixes

To change the default suffixes _power and _energy you can use the power_sensor_naming and energy_sensor_naming options. The following configuration:

powercalc:
  energy_sensor_naming: "{} kWh consumed"

will create:

• sensor.patio_power (Patio power)
• sensor.patio_kwh_consumed (Patio kWh consumed)

Change name

You can also change the sensor name with the name option

sensor:
  - platform: powercalc
    entity_id: light.patio
    name: Patio Light

will create:

• sensor.patio_light_power (Patio light power)
• sensor.patio_light_energy (Patio light energy)

Daily fixed energy

Available from v0.13 an higher

Sometimes you want to keep track of energy usage of individual devices which are not managed by Home Assistant. When you know the energy consumption in kWh or W powercalc can make it possible to create an energy sensor (which can also be used in the energy dashboard). This can be helpful for devices which are always on and have a relatively fixed power draw. For example an IP camera, intercom, Google nest, Alexa, network switches etc.

Configuration options

Name	Type	Requirement	Default	Description
value	float	Required		Value either in watts or kWh. Can also be a template
unit_of_measurement	string	Optional	kWh	kWh or W
on_time	period	Optional	24:00:00	How long the device is on per day. Only applies when unit_of_measurement is set to W. Format HH:MM:SS
update_frequency	integer	Optional	1800	Seconds between each increase in kWh

Configuration examples

This will add 0.05 kWh per day to the energy sensor called "IP camera upstairs"

sensor:
  - platform: powercalc
    name: IP camera upstairs
    daily_fixed_energy:
      value: 0.05

Or define in watts, with an optional on time (which is 24 hour a day by default).

sensor:
  - platform: powercalc
    name: Intercom
    daily_fixed_energy:
      value: 21
      unit_of_measurement: W
      on_time: 12:00:00

This will simulate the devices using 21 watts for 12 hours a day. The energy sensor will increase by 0.252 kWh a day.

Setting up for energy dashboard

If you want to use the virtual power sensors with the new energy integration, you have to create an energy sensor which utilizes the power of the powercalc sensor. Starting from v0.4 of powercalc it will automatically create energy sensors for you by default. No need for any custom configuration. These energy sensors then can be selected in the energy dashboard.

If you'd like to create your energy sensors by your own with e.g. Riemann integration integration, then you can disable the automatic creation of energy sensors with the option create_energy_sensors in your configuration (see global configuration).

Advanced features

Multiple entities and grouping

Available from v0.8 and higher

Two new configuration parameters have been introduced entities and create_group. entities will allow you to multiple power sensors in one powercalc sensor entry. create_group will also create a group summing all the underlying entities. Which can directly be used in energy dashboard. Each entry under entities can use the same configuration as when defined directly under sensor

sensor:
  - platform: powercalc
    create_group: All hallway lights
    entities:
      -  entity_id: light.hallway
      -  entity_id: light.living_room
         linear:
           min_power: 0.5
           max_power: 8

This will create the following entities:

• sensor.hallway_power
• sensor.hallway_energy
• sensor.living_room_power
• sensor.living_room_energy
• sensor.all_hallway_lights_power (group sensor)
• sensor.all_hallway_lights_energy (group sensor)

Nesting groups

Available from v0.15 and higher

You can also nest groups, this makes it possible to add an entity to multiple groups.

sensor:
  - platform: powercalc
    create_group: All lights
    entities:
      - entity_id: light.a
      - entity_id: light.b
      - create_group: Upstairs lights
        entities:
          - entity_id: light.c
          - create_group: Bedroom Bob lights
            entities:
              - entity_id: light.d

Each group will have power sensors created for the following lights:

• All lights: light.a, light.b, light.c, light.d
• Upstairs lights: light.c, light.d
• Bedroom Bob lights: light.d

Dynamically including entities

Powercalc provides several methods to automatically include a bunch of entities in a group with the include option.

Note: only entities will be included which are in the supported models list (these can be auto configured). You can combine include and entities to extend the group with custom configured entities.

Include area

Available from v0.12 and higher

sensor:
  - platform: powercalc
    create_group: Outdoor
    include:
      area: outdoor

This can also be mixed with the entities option, to add or override entities to the group. i.e.

sensor:
  - platform: powercalc
    create_group: Outdoor
    include:
      area: outdoor
    entities:
      - entity_id: light.frontdoor
        fixed:
          power: 100

Include group

Available from v0.14 and higher

Includes entities from a Home Assistant group or light group

sensor:
  - platform: powercalc
    create_group: Livingroom lights
    include:
      group: group.livingroom_lights

Include template

Available from v0.14 and higher

sensor:
  - platform: powercalc
    create_group: All indoor lightd
    include:
      template: {{expand('group.all_indoor_lights')|map(attribute='entity_id')|list}}

Multiply Factor

This feature allows you to multiply the calculated power.

This can be useful in the following use cases:

• You have a bunch of similar lights which you control as a group and want a single power sensor.
• You are using a LED strip from the LUT models, but you have extended or shortened it.

Let's assume you have a combination of 4 GU10 spots in your ceiling in a light group light.livingroom_spots

- platform: powercalc
  entity_id: light.livingroom_spots
  multiply_factor: 4

This will add the power sensor sensor.livingroom_spots_power and the measured power will be multiplied by 4, as the original measurements are for 1 spot.

By default the multiply factor will NOT be applied to the standby power, you can set the multiply_factor_standby to do this.

- platform: powercalc
  entity_id: light.livingroom_spots
  multiply_factor: 4
  multiply_factor_standby: true

Note: a multiply_factor lower than 1 will decrease the power. For example 0.5 will half the power.

Utility meters

The energy sensors created by the component will keep increasing the total kWh, and never reset. When you want to know the energy consumed the last 24 hours, or last month you can use the utility_meter component of Home Assistant. Powercalc allows you to automatically create utility meters for all your powercalc sensors with a single line of configuration.

powercalc:
  create_utility_meters: true

By default utility meters are created for daily, weekly, monthly cycles. You can change this behaviour with the utility_meter_types configuration option.

powercalc:
  create_utility_meters: true
  utility_meter_types:
    - daily
    - yearly

The utility meters have the same name as your energy sensor, but are extended by the meter cycle. Assume you have a light light.floorlamp_livingroom, than you should have the following sensors created:

• sensor.floorlamp_livingroom_power
• sensor.floorlamp_livingroom_energy
• sensor.floorlamp_livingroom_energy_daily
• sensor.floorlamp_livingroom_energy_weekly
• sensor.floorlamp_livingroom_energy_monthly

Use real power sensor

Available from v0.14 and higher

Use the following configuration to use an existing power sensor and let powercalc create the energy sensors and utility meters for it:

- platform: powercalc
  entity_id: light.toilet
  power_sensor_id: sensor.toilet_light_power

Debug logging

Add the following to configuration.yaml:

logger:
  default: warning
  logs:
    custom_components.powercalc: debug