Automation based on status change.

[covert iris]

Hello, I can update manual the state of my heatpump to force Legionella prevention. There is no sensor or switch to achieve this it seems. As I update the status, the heatpump starts the program. Reason is that I want to generate 65'c hot water for 90 minutes when the price of power is low.

I can see that this works, but I want to automate this based on additional sensors which tell me when the cheapest energy hours are happening.

Anyone has an idea how to achieve this in a automation? So far I manage to manual change the status in the developer option but not with a script or automation. I see that this is a sensor but it does not have options. sensor.ecodan_heatpump_status_bedrijf

[next fiber]

To me it looks like that sensor displays the current state of your heatpump. I doubt that changing the state of that sensor actually starts the program

[covert iris]

yes it does, when i type off, the heatpump goes off, same for Legionellaprevention. I know there should be a switch or select for the different programs. Like this one: select.ecodan_heatpump_gekozen_werking_mode
Ecodan heatpump Gekozen werking mode
Verwarmen Flow
options: Verwarmen Ruimte, Verwarmen Flow, Verwarmen Curve, Koelen Ruimte, Koelen Flow, Opstookprotocol, Koelen Curve
friendly_name: Ecodan heatpump Gekozen werking mode

[next fiber]

A sensor is normally only to display a status, you can't perform actions on it. There is normally no feedback from HA to the device based on sensor state.
See it as an old fashioned scale with an arrow pointing to the weight. You can stand on it, and then it shows how much you weigh. If you then move the arrow, the scale indicates a different weight, but that has no effect on your actual weight.
So for that reason there is no interaction possible on sensors in HA. To interact with the device there are switches and select entities

The state changes done in devtools are meant to test automation triggers, but not to interact with the device

[icy storm]

very interesting type of integration if you are able to set the sensor entity, which changes the behavior of the target device through the sensor.

[covert iris]

yes, but look: I entered SWW (hot water tank program) you see my name as admin and it starts this program.

[rare topaz]

So you change the value in Dev tools => States => Set state?
And then the actual device starts that mode?

[icy storm]

Looks like update does also command? Strange implementation

[covert iris]

Yes! see the screenshot, it works... not as it should be, I know. But like legionella prevention you need 60-90 minutes water at 60 degrees to kill bugs. And yes it starts this and shows also on remote (melcloud) that it is started.

Mitsubishi is weird in their firmware indeed. The esp does nothing more than the firmware offers obvious. And yes I did when I tested last week that the water was indeed heated and the program for Legionella ran for 60mins.

[rare topaz]

The only thing you can do is make a bug report for the integration. As this is just wrong, a change is sensor should not reflect in the device. And if it is possible to set the mode, this should just be implemented as select.

Nothing you can do with it now. Changing the state via dev tools is just meant to debug behavior in HA itself. But should never be used in day to day use.

[covert iris]

I agree with you. And it would be great to have a select indeed as then it can be scheduled to run legionella prevention on cheap energy hours. Now I do this manual..

[icy storm]

what integration this is?

[covert iris]

not an integration as is, it is a ESP which connects to the E105 port in the heatpump. Works really good. So it works essentially as a remote/controller.

[icy storm]

so it is ESPHome integration? How do you connect your sensor to home assistant?

[next fiber]

That screenshot doesn't show that the actual program started. It just show that the state of the sensor changed, becuase you changed it

[covert iris]

@next fiber you have to believe me it does.

[next fiber]

ESPHome doesn't work like that. I really think you are making false assumptions here based on what you see in HA

[rare topaz]

@covert iris So what integration imports the ESP into HA then?

[covert iris]

https://github.com/gekkekoe/esphome-ecodan-hp

[covert iris]

explain me why when I do this my hot water goes to the setpoint? You don't have to believe me...

[icy storm]

what if the set point is in the device itself without you triggering it?

[covert iris]

good point, this device has an internal schedule to run the legionella protection as it keeps water for a hour at a high tempature. You can only modify manual when it runs on a remote with their software. So fixed time and repeat period every 14 days. So it happens at a time when maybe the energy price is huge. However, this is what the integration does when it detects the sate, it raises the setpoint and lowers it. But I want to schedule and force this myself.... https://github.com/gekkekoe/esphome-ecodan-hp/blob/main/automations/legionella.yaml fact is that I tested it and when I start the legionella prevention it starts and finished an hour later.

[next fiber]

Aaah

[covert iris]

and the SWW warm water keeps another thermostat to control this and I use this sensor: sensor.ecodan_heatpump_legionella_preventie_temp and it is 65'c

[next fiber]

this is just an automation triggered on the state change of that sensor

[icy storm]

so here it seems that the climate entity is changed, not the sensor

[next fiber]

just add a trigger to that automation

like e.g. an input boolean legionella prevention

and set that input boolean to on whenever the prices are lowest

So you changed the state of the sensor, and that triggered the automation

you can also remove the current trigger totally, so you have complete control over it. But then you need to ensure yourself you're doing it every month or so

[covert iris]

yes but not correct as it raise the SWW water temp. And to kill bugs you need 60 mins water at 60'c. sensor.ecodan_heatpump_legionella_preventie_temp is what it should use. And I tried (well chatgpt..) using an input boolean did not trigger the program, only the change state of the sensor did.

[next fiber]

what you posted here is just an automation which triggers on the state change of that sensor, and then performs some actions.
It will indeed kick off when you change the state manually, because that is a state change of the sensor. Like a mentioned above, devtools > states is used to test automation triggers, that was exactly what you were doing

if you add a trigger for a state change of an input boolean, it will do exactly the same actions

In the ESPHome code there is probably an automation built in which then changes the state again after an hour, and that will trigger the second automation

so you can trigger that second automation when input boolean turns off again

then you need to create an addional automation which turns the input boolean off after an hour

[covert iris]

yes legionella prevention done and it lowers the temp, As said for SWW I have this running with Tibber perfect. But SWW has a select to force it. Okay will try the input boolean.

[icy storm]

I am still interested, who is now setting the temperature to go up? device itself or strange sensor entity?

[covert iris]

no there is a sensor for legionella prevention which is 65'c and the program runs 60-90minutes. For SWW there is a thermostat which stops when it reaches the setpoint temp. So when legionella program starts it uses the sensor for legionella temp. Using the thermostat you maybe run the water at 65'c for a few minutes which does not kill the bugs in the water tank. So 2 ways: SWW is for hot water (50'c) and Legionella is 65'c and must run minumum of an hour. And the temp are both good sensors and working. What lacks is a select for the Legionella prevention.Thats why I keep my old melcloud still...

hope this explains...

[next fiber]

The way I think it is working:

• on a schedule set in ESPHome it will change the state of the sensor to legionella prevention
• the automation linked above will then set the climate entity to the degrees set in the number entity from the screenshot above
• after a period set in the ESPHome config, it will change the state of the sensor again
• the automation linked above (second part) will then return the climate entity to the lower temperature

[next fiber]

can't you just turn on this switch to force the legionella program?

ow wait, SWW is something else

[covert iris]

no it stops when it reaches 65'c and that can be a few minutes. Legionella keeps it 60-90 minutes at 65's. Difference between setpoint and timing.

[covert iris]

your first bullet is my wishlist but it is not in the ESPHome as it is not in the firmware of the heatpump the developer said. The automation I have, just need a way of automate what I did manual. And will try the input boolean as a try.