[GUIDE] Automations for Octopus Intelligent with Home Assistant

[Kansalis]

I set up a really simple automation for when the Octopus rate changes & tested it last night.

It triggers when the current rate goes below a certain level, checks to make sure the car is plugged in, wakes it up & starts charging. This one just leaves it charging until the max set charge is reached. It would be relatively simple to add a trigger to stop charging if the electricity rate goes up. If/when I switch back to Agile I'll flesh it out a bit to make sure the best rates are being used. For now I'm just testing it with my Tracker rates.

 

[yessuz]

I set up a really simple automation for when the Octopus rate changes & tested it last night.

It triggers when the current rate goes below a certain level, checks to make sure the car is plugged in, wakes it up & starts charging. This one just leaves it charging until the max set charge is reached. It would be relatively simple to add a trigger to stop charging if the electricity rate goes up. If/when I switch back to Agile I'll flesh it out a bit to make sure the best rates are being used. For now I'm just testing it with my Tracker rates.

View attachment 986061

Ummm, why do you need to wake it up!?

 

[Kansalis]

Ummm, why do you need to wake it up!?

I was playing around with the different data calls yesterday & it seemed like a good idea. I wasn't certain the charge would start without sending a wakeup signal first, so I left it in there. It probably doesn't, I'll take it out next time I need to use it & check that it works without it.

 

[yessuz]

Nope, not needed

 

[Kansalis]

Has anyone with HA automations updated to 2023.38.6 yet? I've not deferred an update since I got my car but this one I'm waiting to see if it breaks anything, like it has with TeslaMate...

 

[Bacon]

Has anyone with HA automations updated to 2023.38.6 yet? I've not deferred an update since I got my car but this one I'm waiting to see if it breaks anything, like it has with TeslaMate...

Mine did on Friday night.

It looks like the only thing that has gone is when I utilise car is at home (car tracker).

I need to figure out a work around. Although I could potentially remove the need for it.

 

[Garry TheBiz]

We've updated a couple of cars, and their locations have disappeared from HA. The other one which hasn't been updated yet is still reporting it's location.

 

[Kansalis]

I suspected as much. I'll defer the update for a while & see if the integration gets updated.

 

[yessuz]

I mean there can be other ways to automate. the car's location is not necessary.

I for example use Pod Point's integration to check if car is plugged in. I found, earlier, that car's location was not so reliable and it was some time until it managed to update location

 

[yessuz]

Is it just me or others as well has issue with HA integration, when IO does not send signal when IO slot is over?

I read somewhere that API changed a bit and the entity for Io to go off is called differently.

I find that sone of my automations which depends on the entity do not run :/

 

[Medved_77]

Is it just me or others as well has issue with HA integration, when IO does not send signal when IO slot is over?

I read somewhere that API changed a bit and the entity for Io to go off is called differently.

I find that sone of my automations which depends on the entity do not run :/

In v9.0.0 of BottlecapDave's integration, this new feature was added:

• updated intelligent sensors to include account id. This is to support future functionality (57e3d79)

Releases · BottlecapDave/HomeAssistant-OctopusEnergy

Unofficial Home Assistant integration for interacting with Octopus Energy - BottlecapDave/HomeAssistant-OctopusEnergy

github.com

With breaking changes including:

• Any references to intelligent sensors will need to be updated based on name changes including account id

This resulted in my automation not knowing when the intelligent dispatching slots were on or off until I selected the new sensor.

The trigger now looks like:

The obfuscated part is my octopus account ID. If you compare this to previous screenshots in the guide, you'll see that the sensor/entity used was not linked to the account.

 

[yessuz]

yup, looks like same issue. will need to update the integration.

btw I cannot see the update...
does it goes via HACS or any other way?

 

[Kansalis]

btw I cannot see the update...
does it goes via HACS or any other way?

Yes it's in HACS. You should see it as an update in the HACS window. v10.0.2 was released a week or so ago.

 

[yessuz]

In v9.0.0 of BottlecapDave's integration, this new feature was added:

Releases · BottlecapDave/HomeAssistant-OctopusEnergy

Unofficial Home Assistant integration for interacting with Octopus Energy - BottlecapDave/HomeAssistant-OctopusEnergy

github.com

With breaking changes including:



This resulted in my automation not knowing when the intelligent dispatching slots were on or off until I selected the new sensor.

The trigger now looks like:

View attachment 1009015

The obfuscated part is my octopus account ID. If you compare this to previous screenshots in the guide, you'll see that the sensor/entity used was not linked to the account.

i upadted my automations.

now it works fine.

but yesterday I noticed some strange anomaly.

1) Intelligent dispatching was off, Pod-point charging was not allowed. it was around 9 pm.
2) car started to charge.
3) I stopped charging manually. Slot was created, 23:30 charging started.
4) at end of charging I get notification that Pod-Point automation ran and charging is not allowed now.. Ok, cool, as it should be.
5) start precondition in the morning - suddenly charging is allowed and car sucks power from the gid.

do you notice same behaviour? What am I doing wrong?

 

[Medved_77]

i upadted my automations.

now it works fine.

but yesterday I noticed some strange anomaly.

1) Intelligent dispatching was off, Pod-point charging was not allowed. it was around 9 pm.
2) car started to charge.
3) I stopped charging manually. Slot was created, 23:30 charging started.
4) at end of charging I get notification that Pod-Point automation ran and charging is not allowed now.. Ok, cool, as it should be.
5) start precondition in the morning - suddenly charging is allowed and car sucks power from the gid.

do you notice same behaviour? What am I doing wrong?

If you can post screenshots of your automation in an expanded form I can take a look for you. GUI is fine.

 

[yessuz]

yeah, no worries. here:

 

[Medved_77]

yeah, no worries. here:
View attachment 1010373

View attachment 1010379
View attachment 1010381

View attachment 1010383
View attachment 1010384

I can't see anything obviously wrong with this setup, but the automation is triggered based on a state change so it may have failed based on the charging state that the podpoint was in before you last saved/edited the automation. That could explain why the car started to charge when you plugged in at 9am but not why it started to charge when pre-conditioning.

I made a few updates to the template since my original post, making use of trigger IDs, adding provision for bump charging and removing the condition for whether the car is plugged in or not as that only really serves to make sure no one else uses your charger when your car is not at home, during a dispatch slot. (I'm covering that in a separate automation now).

Not sure if you want to tweak your automation as per the images I've attached, or leave for another night to observe it? After making any edits to the automation, set the podpoint charging allowed value to off so that it's in the correct state when the automation for the dispatch slot runs.

 

[yessuz]

I was thinking the same. But at that time when I plugged in, Pod-Point LED was white, meaning charging not allowed.

 

[yessuz]

UPDATE: So looks like my issue was caused by failing wifi unit. Now it completely failed, and it is "dumb" charger (meaning once you plug it in - it immediately starts charge, unless schedule is set by car or Octopus.

It is well known issue with Pod-Points and once it is out of warranty - the only solution Pod-Point offers is to purchase new unit.

So now my automation has changed.
Now HA checks if IO intelligent slot is on, Tesla's charger door is opened AND if my phone is at home.

 

[Zilla91]

Why are you checking if your phone is at home and not the car itself?