Home Assistant integration inc Fogstar JBD (4 Viewers)

[dpsuk999]

I was bought a Rasperry Pi for Christmas so decided to use it as a Home Assistant server in the motorhome to pull together and harmonise many smart switches and sensors I’ve got in the motorhome into one dashboard. It’s taken a while to get to grips with the coding (yaml) but I’ve got a simple multi level dashboard on my phone which I can access and control from wherever iam. I’ve also integrated via MQTT my 2 Fogstar batteries which allow access to a multitude of info to utilize in automation’s. I’ll be adding the info too from various Victron MPPT’s via MQTT too once I return home and buy the various cables etc.

Just thought I’d share this info for anyone interested. Here are a few screen shots but every information button leads into another level of data and switches to control. I’ll be installing a 7” touch screen and developing a front end to easy access the info in the motorhome.

 

[oldiesontour]

Goo job .beyond my computer literacy, I'll stick with Alexa and apps whole house runs on her( about 60ish ltems from curtains to fans)van next ...it all works which is more than it would if I tried your route...to say nothing of my mental state if I tried !!!

 

[Guigsy]

I've been using HA for several years at home. I connected my Victron solar charger to it via an ESP board a couple of years ago as a quick experiment.

How did you get the data from the battery?

 

[dpsuk999]

Goo job .beyond my computer literacy, I'll stick with Alexa and apps whole house runs on her( about 60ish ltems from curtains to fans)van next ...it all works which is more than it would if I tried your route...to say nothing of my mental state if I tried !!!

Alexa runs alongside HA, I too have lots and lots of smart items in the motorhome and the integration is great, the amount of automations you can do in HA compared to Alexa is enormous.

The best thing is you can do what is called actionable notifications with Alexa so instead of asking Alexa to do something, she asks you and depending on the response she will run a routine

 

[dpsuk999]

I've been using HA for several years at home. I connected my Victron solar charger to it via an ESP board a couple of years ago as a quick experiment.

How did you get the data from the battery?

It took me a while to get the coding right and set up the MQTT Broker but basically install Mosquitto Broker and Batmon on the HA, then set up the broker and Batmon. I can write some detailed notes at some point if you get stuck?

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[Guigsy]

It took me a while to get the coding right and set up the MQTT Broker but basically install Mosquitto Broker and Batmon on the HA, then set up the broker and Batmon. I can write some detailed notes at some point if you get stuck?

But how is it communicating? Bluetooth to the Pi?

 

[dpsuk999]

But how is it communicating? Bluetooth to the Pi?

Yes

 

[Guigsy]

I've got a Pi Zero W running an air quality station in the back garden. It's been running for 5 years, it's just hot glued into a couple of drainpipe angles to keep the water off. Powered with an extra long USB cable out through the seals on a window. I really didn't think it'd last this long. I had to write my own code to get the data from the modules and send it back to my HA server over MQTT. So I'm reasonably familiar with the messaging.

 

[Mark McG]

I have HA running the home. Must admit I would be very interested in hearing about a Motorhome set up, what devices you use for temp tracking etc.

 

[fredthechippy]

I was bought a Rasperry Pi for Christmas so decided to use it as a Home Assistant server in the motorhome to pull together and harmonise many smart switches and sensors I’ve got in the motorhome into one dashboard. It’s taken a while to get to grips with the coding (yaml) but I’ve got a simple multi level dashboard on my phone which I can access and control from wherever iam. I’ve also integrated via MQTT my 2 Fogstar batteries which allow access to a multitude of info to utilize in automation’s. I’ll be adding the info too from various Victron MPPT’s via MQTT too once I return home and buy the various cables etc.

Just thought I’d share this info for anyone interested. Here are a few screen shots but every information button leads into another level of data and switches to control. I’ll be installing a 7” touch screen and developing a front end to easy access the info in the motorhome.

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Hi @

It took me a while to get the coding right and set up the MQTT Broker but basically install Mosquitto Broker and Batmon on the HA, then set up the broker and Batmon. I can write some detailed notes at some point if you get stuck?

dpsuk999 do you need to set up an MQTT broker running separately to HA, or is just enabling the integration on HA sufficient? I also have a couple of Fogstar batts I want to hook up. Appreciate if you can share any code you’ve built…!

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[Guigsy]

Hi @

dpsuk999 do you need to set up an MQTT broker running separately to HA, or is just enabling the integration on HA sufficient? I also have a couple of Fogstar batts I want to hook up. Appreciate if you can share any code you’ve built…!

HA OS installs on the Pi come with the ability to install an MQTT broker with a couple of clicks as one of the supported Add Ons.

 

[TravellingSmurff]

dpsuk999 This is awesome. I would love this in my van as someone who has dabbled in HA at home. The wife may not, but hay
1 - This deserves a tutorial / video etc, therefore if you have the time, a "buy me a coffee" link would get smashed by me
2 - 920Ah worth of lithium I think that has to be a van record right?
3 - What wifi relay switches are you using?
Thanks
Danny

 

[fredthechippy]

HA OS installs on the Pi come with the ability to install an MQTT broker with a couple of clicks as one of the supported Add Ons.

Got it. My PI isn’t seeing my Fogstar batteries though. Bluetooth is enabled. Did you have to do anything special…?

 

[Guigsy]

Got it. My PI isn’t seeing my Fogstar batteries though. Bluetooth is enabled. Did you have to do anything special…?

I think dpsuk999 is using Batmon to suck the Bluetooth data from the Fogstar battery and turn it into MQTT messages.

This add-on I'm guessing?

GitHub - fl4p/batmon-ha: Add-on for Home Assistant to connect JK, JBD, Daly, ANT, SOK and Supervolt BMS via Bluetooth

Add-on for Home Assistant to connect JK, JBD, Daly, ANT, SOK and Supervolt BMS via Bluetooth - fl4p/batmon-ha

github.com

 

[Barriesimpson]

I have dabbled a lot in programming as it fascinates me. I love Python and also Django for web stuff. However, I started this passion late in life and do not see myself as a proficient programmer. I have a Raspberry Pi from more than 10 years ago and never really did much with it. Would it still be valid for a project like this or is it too outdated. I would love to have all that information at hand.

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[fredthechippy]

HA OS installs on the Pi come with the ability to install an MQTT broker with a couple of clicks as one of the supported Add Ons.

Got it! Had to get Batmon running properly then the battery comes up under devices. Brilliant!

 

[Guigsy]

I have dabbled a lot in programming as it fascinates me. I love Python and also Django for web stuff. However, I started this passion late in life and do not see myself as a proficient programmer. I have a Raspberry Pi from more than 10 years ago and never really did much with it. Would it still be valid for a project like this or is it too outdated. I would love to have all that information at hand.

I think a Pi 2 can just about run Home Assistant, but it'll take several minutes to boot. They recommend a Pi 3.

Home Assistant is a very simple framework that says there are devices that have data, can trigger events and accept inputs. And it provides a basic user interface, so increasingly you don't even need to configure stuff with yaml text files. There are literally thousands of integrations that make it very easy to plug random devices together, suck the data out and get them to talk to each other. There's a bit of a learning curve, but once you've got the pattern of how stuff works, it becomes a bit nuts as to how many things you can chain together.

My 15 year old washing machine in the garage now announces across the house when it's finished its cycle. I plugged it into a smart plug that gave me energy useage data in home assistant. So when the power goes above 50 watts for a minute, I know the cycle has started. And then it waits until it's dropped below 50 watts for 10 minutes. No more forgetting about the wet washing in the machine and finding it's gone stanky the next day!

 

[Barriesimpson]

I think a Pi 2 can just about run Home Assistant, but it'll take several minutes to boot. They recommend a Pi 3.

Home Assistant is a very simple framework that says there are devices that have data, can trigger events and accept inputs. And it provides a basic user interface, so increasingly you don't even need to configure stuff with yaml text files. There are literally thousands of integrations that make it very easy to plug random devices together, suck the data out and get them to talk to each other. There's a bit of a learning curve, but once you've got the pattern of how stuff works, it becomes a bit nuts as to how many things you can chain together.

My 15 year old washing machine in the garage now announces across the house when it's finished its cycle. I plugged it into a smart plug that gave me energy useage data in home assistant. So when the power goes above 50 watts for a minute, I know the cycle has started. And then it waits until it's dropped below 50 watts for 10 minutes. No more forgetting about the wet washing in the machine and finding it's gone stanky the next day!

That's very cool. I might just dig out the Pi and see what I can do. Thank you for your reply.

 

[yorkiebar]

Pi 2 might just be too painful!

Raspberry Pi

Install Home Assistant on a Raspberry Pi

www.home-assistant.io

I'm using a Pi 4 with 4GB RAM and that works well.

 

[EssexBoy]

I'm using a Pi with Aqara zigbee window door and temperature sensors. I use alarmo as an add-on to monitor the windows doors and send text message alerts. I also have a zigbee smoke sensor and a zigbee water leak sensor

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[OldAgeTravellers]

dpsuk999 Thanks for this I set up VenusOS on an old Pi-2 quickly to monitor my Lithium Instalation for this holiday but hate the clunky interface and it’s limitations. So am anxious to set up an HA server in the van. My whole house and solar system is running on it at home but as Paul Hibbert says “My virginity is beginning to grow back” with no HA projects to do. I have my pi-3 that used to run the house ( I now use a refurb Wise Thin Client) so you have inspired me to get started on the VAN. If you can share any code I and I am sure many others would be very grateful. I struggle a bit with the coding but have found that ChatGTP is great for getting the basic code down quickly. She often gets it wrong so ask her to check her own code.
Do you have Victron Batteries or does BatMon work with Fogstar?

 

[OldAgeTravellers]

Pi 2 might just be too painful!

Raspberry Pi

Install Home Assistant on a Raspberry Pi

www.home-assistant.io

I'm using a Pi 4 with 4GB RAM and that works well.

I found the Pi-2 was a bit flakey with HA (it’s ok with venusOS though) but my Pi-3b was rock solid even with about 200 devices and about 30 automations. But it needs an SSD as it burns through SD cards quite quickly. Very easy to boot from a SSD. Essential to set up daily backups though using the GoogleDrive Backup integration. I have had to re-load my instalation twice from backup.
I now have it running on a refurb thin client that I got from eBay for £20 been running non stop for three years now.

 

[EssexBoy]

I'm using a Pi with Aqara zigbee window door and temperature sensors. I use alarmo as an add-on to monitor the windows doors and send text message alerts. I also have a zigbee smoke sensor and a zigbee water leak sensor

If it helps too, I also use these BT battery monitors (one Hab and one Cab) via an ESP32/ESPHome in HA...

Amazon.co.uk

 

[yorkiebar]

I found the Pi-2 was a bit flakey with HA (it’s ok with venusOS though) but my Pi-3b was rock solid even with about 200 devices and about 30 automations. But it needs an SSD as it burns through SD cards quite quickly. Very easy to boot from a SSD. Essential to set up daily backups though using the GoogleDrive Backup integration. I have had to re-load my instalation twice from backup.
I now have it running on a refurb thin client that I got from eBay for £20 been running non stop for three years now.

Yes, I trialled HA using a SD card to see how I got on with it. After a few weeks I migrated the system to a SSD, I've also got daily backups going to google drive.

 

[Guigsy]

If it helps too, I also use these BT battery monitors (one Hab and one Cab) via an ESP32/ESPHome in HA...

Amazon.co.uk

So you've got a cheap ESP board picking up the Bluetooth from the battery monitor, and forwarding it on to Home Assistant?

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[dpsuk999]

Just out and about today but will read and reply later

 

[matbic]

Realy good and thanks for sharing. How do you get the fridge and freezer temperatures?

 

[dpsuk999]

Incidentally I’ve now integrated water monitoring into HA so now I can see what I’m putting in and what I’m taking out and it’s calibrated exactly to the litre, just done it a couple of days ago

 

[dpsuk999]

dpsuk999 This is awesome. I would love this in my van as someone who has dabbled in HA at home. The wife may not, but hay
1 - This deserves a tutorial / video etc, therefore if you have the time, a "buy me a coffee" link would get smashed by me
2 - 920Ah worth of lithium I think that has to be a van record right?
3 - What wifi relay switches are you using?
Thanks
Danny

Hi TravellingSmurff, thanks, I have a lot of lithium and solar as charge my Smart Fortwo which is also electric from the motorhome so needs lots
Currently I use a collection of different WiFi switches and relays depending on if I’m switching 12v or 230v. For 12v I use eWeLink ones and for 230v I use the ones in the picture below. Iam slowly migrating them over to using D1 Mini’s ESP32 along with the corresponding 5v relay modules and using ESPHome (part of HA).

 

[dpsuk999]

I think dpsuk999 is using Batmon to suck the Bluetooth data from the Fogstar battery and turn it into MQTT messages.

This add-on I'm guessing?

GitHub - fl4p/batmon-ha: Add-on for Home Assistant to connect JK, JBD, Daly, ANT, SOK and Supervolt BMS via Bluetooth

Add-on for Home Assistant to connect JK, JBD, Daly, ANT, SOK and Supervolt BMS via Bluetooth - fl4p/batmon-ha

github.com

Yes Guigsy thats correct

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