Home Assistant Sensors

Home Assistant Sensors

After each block finalises, EMT updates four cumulative sensors in Home Assistant. These are compatible with the HA Energy dashboard and Utility Meter integrations.

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Published sensors

Sensor	Description
sensor.energy_meter_import_kwh	Cumulative grid import (kWh) since first block
sensor.energy_meter_export_kwh	Cumulative grid export (kWh) since first block
sensor.energy_meter_import_cost	Cumulative import cost (£ or local currency)
sensor.energy_meter_export_credit	Cumulative export credit (£ or local currency)

These sensors are created by EMT automatically — you do not need to configure them.

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When they update

Sensors are updated at the end of every block finalisation — every 5, 15 or 30 minutes depending on your block size. They are not updated in real time between blocks.

The values represent cumulative totals from the first recorded block. They always increase (or stay the same) — they never decrease.

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Using with the HA Energy Dashboard

The import and export kWh sensors can be added to the HA Energy dashboard as grid consumption and return-to-grid sources. They have the correct device_class: energy and state_class: total_increasing attributes.

ℹ️ The HA Energy dashboard works best with sensors that update at regular intervals. At 30-minute block size, updates are frequent enough for the Energy dashboard's hourly and daily views to be accurate. At 5-minute block size, the resolution exceeds the Energy dashboard's display granularity.

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Using with Utility Meter

The kWh sensors can be used as sources for HA Utility Meter helpers — for example, to create daily or monthly consumption sensors that reset on a schedule.

utility_meter:
  monthly_import:
    source: sensor.energy_meter_import_kwh
    cycle: monthly

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After restore or deletion

After restoring a backup or deleting blocks, the sensors will reflect the cumulative total as of the last completed block in the restored database. They update at the next block finalise after the restore completes.

If you restore an older backup, the sensors will show lower values than before the restore — this is correct and reflects the actual recorded data.