ESPAltherma v2!🥳

[raomin]

OK, so for a long time, ESPAltherma has been in a "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" state.
Then last week it reached 500 stars and I thought I would do something... implement everything I always wanted and didn't take time to do.
Today (with the help of Claude) I released the v2 beta of ESPAltherma, and it has super cool new features:

A web installer!!

Plug your ESP32 into your computer (ESP8266 is no longer supported), open the web installer in Chrome or Edge, pick your board, click Install and enter your Wi-Fi. No PlatformIO, no setup.h to edit!

All the defs and languages are included in the firmware so you can just confirm your model and select your language.

Native super cool web interface!!

It has:

• a live drawing of your installation: water temperatures from blue to red, the compressor, the fan, the 3-way valve...;
• a setup wizard;
• the list of values with their current readings, to choose what you publish;
• settings, diagnostics and updates.
• This super cool interface is also available for Home Assistant :)

AUTOMATED MODEL DETECTION!!

Something I had in mind for a LOOOONG time
ESPAltherma reads the identification of your unit (the AS number of the indoor board, among others), compares it with the definitions of 34 models and picks yours. When several models fit (the DA and DJ series, for instance), you just need to confirm the right one.

Easy Home Assistant integration

Home Assistant in one click. "Find my Home Assistant" looks for your MQTT broker, and the sensors appear through discovery.

And there's a dashboard to go with it: the ESPAltherma card brings the live drawing of the web page to Home Assistant, with your thermostat, the key values and their history. Install it with HACS, paste two lines into a new dashboard, done.

Always online!

Wifi stays on the good access point! It moves to the strongest access point when several share the same name, and opens a setup network if the Wifi is gone. It goes back to the previous firmware if an update doesn't come back online. An event history tells you why the board restarted.

Other nice improvements

• Fixed translations for every language (tell me if you see issues)
• Improvements in the decoding of some registries

Want to try it?

Installer: https://espaltherma.pages.dev/
Code and documentation: the beta branch. The README covers the wiring of each board, how the detection works, and how to build it yourself.

---

Remember: It's a beta, the stable version (1.x) stays on main for now.

If your 1.x setup works, nothing forces you to upgrade: it reads the same values. But if you wish to do so, I would love to have some feedback here or new issues for bug reporting. Also when you confirm your model, a box ticked by default offers to share it, so the next owner of the same model is recognised directly. You can see exactly what is sent, or untick it. If you use a translated version of the defs, pay attention to the change of IDs in Home Assistant.

Tell me how it goes in this thread: your board, your heat pump model, and whether it was detected right.
For bugs and feature requests, please open an issue, and when applicable, add the detection report (Diagnostics → Heat pump survey) and the event history.

Thanks to everyone who used and contributed to ESPAltherma over the years. Those 500 stars are what got me going!!

--
Edit: Identified a bug in the autodetection that gave low confidence or potential erroneous model. Fixed in beta.4!

[rossjmccarthy]

Can't wait to test... I only have C6 to replace my old board so raised #600

[raomin]

Thanks! I reviewed #600 and pushed the translations of the board note to your branch. If you can test the web installer flow and an OTA update on your C6, I'll merge it.

[threeplank]

Excellent timing! I just started the heatpump for this season and decided to finally improve the monitoring. I had a half-finished setup from last year, seems this is a great day to pick this up so I can try v2.

[threeplank]

Just spent an evening upgrading from v1 to v2.0.0-beta7, and this was sooo much easier than learning PlatformIO. Thank you @raomin!

I'd like to share my experience as a non-programmer:

• Hardware: the older M5StickC Plus 1.1, upgrading from v1, which I had tried last year.
• Installation via the browser went smoothly, but only after I switched USB cables and located the correct USB drivers. Figuring out what I needed and where to get it actually took most of my time (but this is not specific to ESPAltherma).
• Heat pump: Daikin Altherma 3 with outdoor unit ERGA06EVH and indoor unit EHBH08E6V. Correctly identified as "ERGA E EHV-EHB-EHVZ E_EJ series 04-08kW".
• I'm still learning Home Assistant, but integrating with MQTT worked by just following the docs.
• I used Claude to advise me on which values to include for my goal (deeper monitoring of performance). To be continued and fine-tuned in due course.
• Added the dashboard to Home Assistant as advised. Next step will be to set up more detailed monitoring.

I have a request as well: my setup does not have a DHW tank, so the DHW setpoint, tank temperature and 3-way valve values are not relevant for my system. The same goes for the room thermostat. I disabled these values in ESPAltherma, not a big issue. With these disabled, the GUI now shows a dash for the DHW tank and room temperature, which is already cleaner. But perhaps an option in the GUI to indicate whether a DHW tank is present, which would enable/disable the relevant values and the GUI presentation? That would be useful.

Thanks again.

[raomin]

Thanks @threeplank, great to read, and thanks for taking the time to write it all down! The USB cable and driver hunt is the part I'd most like to make easier: the installer page already points to the CP210x and CH340 drivers, and I'll see if it can be made clearer.

Good idea for the tank and the room. I'd rather not add a setting for it: since you already unselected those values, the drawing can take that as the answer. When none of the hot water values are selected, it will leave out the tank and the 3-way valve, and the same for the room temperature and its target. I'll do that in a coming beta (very soon).

By the way, from beta.7 on, System → Firmware update has a "Check for an update" button, so the next updates won't need the USB cable at all!

[NicoLouis-be]

installed it and wow, how easy was that, the card also works now for me, don't know why it didn't before.
Can imagen that this was not an easy one to do but it was the upgrade that was needed to get more people on this project!

Nice work

[NicoLouis-be]

@raomin
update done from beta1 to beta9-ota on m5Stickcplus2 and went smooth - no issues

heatpump:
Altherma ERGA E EHV-EHB-EHVZ E_EJ series 04-08kW

[alexdelli]

Nice, but one thing is missing for older heat pump like mine: set an external PM to calculate the cop and integrate it in esp32 via mqtt. do you think is possible to integrate it?

[raomin]

Hi @alexdelli, thanks for the feedback. If you have an external PM the best place for this is most certainly Home Assistant rather than the ESP32: your power meter already reports there (or to MQTT), and ESPAltherma gives you the heat side (flow and water temperatures). A template sensor can then combine both, e.g. in configuration.yaml. I've updated the README to cover external PM.

[ivoheiland]

Hi @raomin, cant get run the v2! with my Daikin EPRA18DAW1. Automated Detection doesnt work. Which model should i choose?

[raomin]

The EPRA18DAW1 is the outdoor unit; the definition depends on your indoor unit. With an ETSH/ETSX (the ECH2O tank), pick "EPRA D_D7 ETSH-X 16P30-50 E_E7 series 14-18kW-ECH2O". With an ETV16/ETB16/ETVZ16, pick "EPRA D_D7 ETV16-ETB16-ETVZ16 E_E7 series 14-18kW". Can you tell me your indoor unit model, and the AS number shown in the indoor unit's information menu? Then the next version will detect it directly.

[thehijacker]

I still have first M5StickC. Had it flashed for long time with ESPAltherma using this definition ALTHERMA(LT_CA_CB_04-08KW).h. Today I tried with v2 and after flashing and setting up WiFi I got the new UI. But my heat pump was not autodetected. I have manually selected same model and I got the readings. But they were not visible in the diagram on first page. While configuring browsing my M5StickC stopped pinging. So I tried to reboot it somehow but was unable to do it. It no longer worked and connected to my WiFi.

Any ideas how to make it work and to be stable?

Definition that I have used before:

ALTHERMA(LT_CA_CB_04-08KW).zip

[thehijacker]

Still no luck. Until I opened internal unit, checked all cables again, reflashed. And now... it works. It autotected something. Mine is hybrid. Internal unit also has water storage inside. So my setup looks like this:

And my first page:

All looks ok?

[raomin]

The board shows AS1706406-03, which is a replacement board. Since your indoor unit has the tank inside, I think the right model is the one you used before, LT_CA_CB_04-08kW, not Hybrid (Daikin's Hybrid is heat pump + gas boiler). Can you switch to it in Settings? The newest v2.0.0-beta.2 proposes it too for your AS number.
The leaving water temperatures and the pressure should then show up on the drawing.
About the board dropping off: can you send the Diagnostics → Event history, so I can see why it restarted?

[thehijacker]

This is what I see now:

It was now detected as Altherma LT_CA_CB_04-08kW.

I guess temperature comes from the place where it is located.

[johngouk]

I've been using the original ESPAltherma for my HP since 2023, and it's been great - huge thanks for your efforts, really appreciated. However, I use it with EmonCMS to store/display historical values etc., and that requires 0/1 rather than ON/OFF for various switch/binary values. I've loaded it onto a spare ESP32 just to look at the web interface. Any chance we could have a configuration item for that on the Settings/MQTT Output page? I could then switch over and test, and remove some conversion I'm doing in NodeRed for 3+ years!

I have a friend who has put off installing for his HP, and this is possibly the point at which he might actually take it up.

[raomin]

Thanks for the kind words! Good idea: I'll add an option in Settings → MQTT output to publish the on/off values as 1/0. It is in the v2.0.0-beta.2

[johngouk]

Great thanks! Now I just have to find the time to install it... as usual, it ain't broke, but I really like the display!

[colinpieper]

Just installed the v2.0.0-beta.2. Flawless process and result. Dashboards (built-in and HA dashboard) look great.

Thank you!

[pvodoz]

SO NICE @raomin
Many Thanks!
I also published an idea to deal with bizone system

[johngouk]

Question: I see you use XTaskCreate() from FreeRTOS for hptask() - there is a lot of code which basically handles various tasks in loops of your own construction, wouldn't it be tidier to use FreeRTOS tasks throughout? It's pretty likely the web server uses that, and it would considerably simplify all the different sections and you'd get watchdog timeouts for free?? The Arduino framework uses FreeRTOS anyway to run loop() as a task. The task intercommunication could use the native task queues, so they'd either wakeup on a timer or on a message to process from another task.

Just a thought!

[raomin]

Thanks @johngouk. FreeRTOS tasks are already used where they help. The heat pump polling runs in its own task (hpTask), because one exchange on the serial line can block for seconds. The async web server also runs in its own task.
The rest stays in loop() on purpose. PubSubClient, ArduinoOTA and the WiFi handling aren't thread-safe. With one task touching them, there are no locks to get wrong, and anyone can read the main loop from top to bottom. The watchdog wouldn't come for free either: the core's task watchdog only watches CPU 0's idle task. So there's a small software watchdog instead: the loop and the heat pump task each report progress, and when one stops, the board restarts and logs where it stopped.
More generally, I'm keeping ESPAltherma on Arduino rather than moving to ESP-IDF. Most people who contribute here, or open the code to fix their own model, know Arduino, and it does the job. Splitting everything into tasks and queues would be tidier on paper, but it would make the code harder to approach for the people who keep this project alive...! 🙂

[johngouk]

A great answer, and thanks for taking the time to reply to a speculative question!
Yeah, arguably threading is an abomination beyond the wit of humans to implement correctly... I've used Python's collaborative multitasking (asyncio) on ESP32 rather than threading because it's easier to make correct. And as you say, it's not just your code, there are all the libraries too. Not to mention the Arduino pattern is widely understood.
Thanks again for keeping this project going!

[TungstenE2]

wow, this is great!

Please add to the setup page that after connection to esp wifi the intial IP for config is 192.168.4.1
https://espaltherma.pages.dev/

I have old Rotex with Protocol S, I get values, but several entries in dashboard do not show up:

[TungstenE2]

@raomin

Found why some Rotex (PROTOCOL_S_ROTEX) values don't show on the drawing: the dashboard
(KEYS in web/index.html, FIND in espaltherma-card.js) matches the Altherma names, and the
Rotex definition names two of them differently.

My indoor unit: RKHB008BA9WN

Problem: the unit answers 18 values, but the home page drawing sho

Cause: the drawing finds its values by name (KEYS in web/index.html, FIND in espaltherma-card.js), using the Altherma names. PROTOCOL_S_ROTEX.h names several values differently, so the drawing never finds them.

Values and proposed mapping

Value (PROTOCOL_S_ROTEX)	Now	Proposed	Patch	Confidence
Outlet Water Temp.(C)	–	"Heat pump out" (R1T), pipe colour, Δt	0001	sure
Priority to domestic water	–	3-way valve	0001	very likely
External heater?	–	backup heater filled in the drawing + chip	0002	from the name
Burner inhibit from solaris	–	"Solar inhibit" chip	0002	from the name
Warning Code / Caution Code	–	health line, note colour	0002	sure
Thermo Off Error	–	chip, only when ≠ 0	0002	sure
Circulation pump	"Circulation" chip	main water pump on/off	0003	to confirm
D(C)	–	renamed "Leaving water temp. after BUH (R2T)"	0004	to confirm
Delta-Tr(deg)	–	renamed "LW setpoint (main)"	0004	to confirm
F(C), R/C Setpoint(C), ???? (0x56)	–	unchanged, list only	–	unknown

Outdoor, compressor, flow, pressure and room temperature are not read by this definition at all, so "—" is correct there.

Two bugs found on the way

1. Errors were shown as "No error information" with a green tick. Protocol S units have no error type, only a code like A1 or U4. parseFloat("A1") gives NaN, so the code was ignored. Patch 0002 counts any code other than 0 as an error when there is no error type. Units with an error type behave as before.
2. 0x54 temperatures were read unsigned (converter 153). A refrigerant at −2.5 °C during defrost would show 253.5 °C. Patch 0001 switches to signed (103), as in PROTOCOL_S.h. Nothing changes below 128 °C. A test frame for it is added to test_rotex.

Evidence for the "to confirm" patches

• D(C): in the existing test frames and on my unit it follows Outlet Water Temp within 0.5 K, which is what R2T after the backup heater does while the heater is off.
• Delta-Tr: whole degrees, 0x1B mid-day and 0x24 at night (per the comment in the file), and 36 while the water leaves at 36 °C. That looks like the weather-dependent leaving water target.
• Circulation pump (0x53/0): wrfz/esphome-components calls the same bit "Umwaelzpumpe" (main pump) for these units, not DHW circulation.
• 0x56 = 48.0: possibly the DHW target. No patch yet.

I will compare these with what the RoCon shows and report back. 0003 and 0004 are last in the series, so they can be dropped.

Checked

• All 9 native test suites pass.
• check_i18n.py --check passes (new strings in de/fr/it/es).
• gen_catalog.py --check passes (catalog regenerated).
• The patches apply cleanly to beta (e334b17).
• New mapping run against all 39 definitions: the only change for Altherma models is that the backup heater in the drawing is filled when "BUH Step1" is on.
• Page rendered with webui_mock.py using my unit's values: no JS errors (screenshots attached).

0001-Rotex-protocol-S-show-the-outlet-water-and-the-3-way.patch
0002-Protocol-S-codes-backup-heater-and-solar-inhibit-on-.patch
0003-Rotex-protocol-S-Circulation-pump-as-the-main-water-.patch
0004-Rotex-protocol-S-D-C-as-R2T-Delta-Tr-as-the-leaving-.patch

[raomin]

Thanks @TungstenE2 (and claude? :p), great work, and very well documented!

0001: already on the beta branch. I'd pushed the same fix this morning (signed 0x54 temperatures, "Outlet Water Temp." and "Priority to domestic water" on the drawing). The card v1.0.5 has it too.
0002: merged as it is, under your name. The protocol S error codes were a real bug, thanks for catching it.
0003 and 0004: I'll wait for your comparison with the RoCon, as you suggest. 0004 renames two values, which changes their Home Assistant entity ids, so I'd rather do it once and be sure.

Also, the installer page now also gives http://192.168.4.1/ for when no page opens by itself.
Dont hesitate to make a PR against beta next time! It's easier to review, CI runs on it, and your name stays on the commits. This discussion is read by many people who just want to install the beta.
Thanks again!

[fdr76]

Looks very good!

Can I install the software on a M5StickS3? It's not available in the web installer but will it work with the M5StickC Plus2?

[raomin]

Thanks @fdr76! Not yet: the M5StickS3 has an ESP32-S3, and the M5StickC Plus2 has a plain ESP32, so the Plus2 firmware won't start on it. The generic ESP32-S3 firmware of the installer should run, but without the screen and the buttons. Set RX/TX in Settings to the pins you wire to the X10A before you connect it to the heat pump. A proper StickS3 build needs someone with the board to test it: if you're up for it, tell me and I'll make one.

[fdr76]

Hi, I have ordered a M5StickS3 stick. When he is arriving I wil test it, should me next weekend.

[fdr76]

I have the M5stick S3, after installing the ESP32-s3 firmware I get the message installation completed but after this nothing happend. When I click op OK I come to the screen for install ESP32-S3 firmware again. I don't get the glue where I configure my wifi settings. Do I something wrong?

[raomin]

@fdr76 that's expected on the S3, not something you did wrong: after the flash, the stick comes back on the computer as a new USB device, so the installer can't run its WiFi step and just says "complete".
The board is running: look for the WiFi network ESPAltherma-XXXX (password espaltherma), join it with your phone, and the setup page opens (or go to http://192.168.4.1/).
If no such network shows up within a minute, unplug and replug the stick once; the S3 sometimes needs a power cycle to start after a flash. Before you wire it to the heat pump, set the RX/TX pins you use in Settings: the generic S3 firmware doesn't know the StickS3's Grove pins or screen. One question for a proper StickS3 build: how does the stick appear in your device manager, "USB JTAG/serial debug unit" or a CH9102/CP210x? That tells me how its USB is wired.

[fdr76]

This gives me energy! Thanks for the quick reaction. Problem solved, I had a wifi network ESPAltherma-XXXX and can connect to configure my own wifi settings and this is working. Tomorrow I will connect it to my Daikin ERGA 06 EAV3H / EHBH 08EF9W and boiler EKHWSP250D3V3.

For your information I uploaded the firmware to "USB JTAG/serial debug unit (cu.usbmodem1101) - paired" on a Mac with Edge.

[NicoLouis-be]

could you make the option in the webinstaller to download the Bin without connection.
there is this option in the local webview to update, and in that way i don't need to open up the heatpump

[raomin]

@NicoLouis-be the update file is already there: each release has a -ota.bin per board (for example m5stickcplus2-ota.bin). Upload it in System → Firmware update, no need to open the heat pump. If the new version can't get back online, the board goes back to the previous one by itself. That said, I'm thinking about an update button in the web interface itself, so you won't even need the file...

[thehijacker]

@NicoLouis-be the update file is already there: each release has a -ota.bin per board (for example m5stickcplus2-ota.bin). Upload it in System → Firmware update, no need to open the heat pump. If the new version can't get back online, the board goes back to the previous one by itself. That said, I'm thinking about an update button in the web interface itself, so you won't even need the file...

@raomin I have beta.1 on M5StickC. I wish to update to beta.7, so I took file m5stickc-ota.bin but when I try to flash I always get Update failed message. I was hoping not to dissasemble my heat pump again. Any clue why I might get this error?

[raomin]

@thehijacker the update itself hasn't changed since beta.1, and your board has the room for beta.7, so something stops the upload on the way. Three quick checks:

1. Is ther an admin password set (Settings / This device)?
2. Do you open the board's page directly by its address, or through a proxy?
3. What does System → Events say right after the failure?
   In the meantime, you can stilll update from a PC on the same network without opening the heat pump: python espota.py -i <board IP> -f m5stickc-ota.bin (add -a <admin password> if you set one). In the next beta, the page will also tell why an update fails, and beta.7 has a "Check for an update" button, so you won't need the file anymore.

[thehijacker]

Yes! I have restarted it and right after I uploaded the bin again and pushed Update. It updated and now I am on 2.0.0-beta.8. Thank you! One more question. Where is the "Living room" temperature comming from?

[TungstenE2]

@raomin

Thanks a lot for merging!

One correction first: my unit has no RoCon. It's an older Rotex RKHBH008BA indoor unit with the wired remote controller ARC448A3 (first Altherma generation). So I compared against what this remote can show: the temperature read-out (🌡A held 5 s) and the setpoints.

Results

0004, first half: D(C) is confirmed as the leaving water. The remote showed the leaving water temperature as 21.2 °C. At the same moment ESPAltherma read D(C) 21.22 and Outlet Water Temp. 21.67. So the remote shows 0x54/6, not 0x54/4. I rebased only this rename on top of beta (b48d253) and will send it as a PR. In that commit, D(C) becomes "Leaving water temp. after BUH (R2T)", so the drawing shows it as leaving water and the card finds it. Catalog regenerated, tests and i18n check pass. Only "it's the leaving water the remote shows" is verified; "after BUH (R2T)" follows the protocol I order.

0x56 is not the DHW target. It has stayed at exactly 48.0039 for over 21 hours, while the DHW setpoint on the remote is 45 °C. It looks like a fixed setting or identifier, so I'd leave it as "????".

0004, second half: Delta-Tr is still open. It has read 28 for 21 hours. But space heating isn't running at the moment, so that proves nothing either way. From tomorrow it gets colder and the unit will heat. Then I'll check whether Delta-Tr follows the outdoor temperature along the weather curve (1-00…1-03), and whether it moves by 1 when I change the setpoint by 1 on the remote. Please keep this rename on hold.

0003 is confirmed: "Circulation pump" is the main water pump. When I switch space heating on at the remote, 0x53/0 turns ON at the next poll, with the water still at about 21 °C. A DHW circulation pump wouldn't follow space heating.

0001-Rotex-Circulation-pump-as-the-main-water-pump.patch
0002-Rotex-protocol-S-Circulation-pump-is-the-main-water-.patch

[raomin]

Thanks @TungstenE2, great tests! Circulation pump = main pump, and D(C) = the leaving water on the remote: both convincing. 0x56 stays "????", and Delta-Tr waits for the cold!

The temperatures-as-temperatures fix is right too. Could you put all three (0002, 0003 and the D(C) rename) in the PR you're preparing, plus the card change as a PR on raomin/espaltherma-card? I'll merge them from there.

[TungstenE2]

Comparing during domestic hot water priority process for Rotex S
Target is 45 C DHW tank temperature

[TungstenE2]

btw, what is the meaning of "Delta-Tr(deg)"

If I am right this is the heating target leaving temperature, based on outside temp, right?

So may be renaming to "Vorlauf-Sollwert / Leaving Target" might make sense

[raomin]

I think so too: the note in the definition says it reads 27 mid-day and 36 at night, like a weather curve. Your test will tell: if it follows the outside temperature once heating runs, and goes +1 when you shift +1 on the remote, I'll rename it "LW setpoint (main)" and the drawing will show it as the leaving target. In the next beta it already arrives in HA as a temperature.
Note: please try to keep the messages in a thread, by using the reply function :)

[TungstenE2]

here comes confirmation

[raomin]

That's it @TungstenE2, thanks! 31 when it's cold at night, 28 in the warm afternoon: the output of the heating curve. In the next beta (beta.11) the value is named "LW setpoint (main)" like on the Altherma units, so the drawing shows it as the target next to the leaving water, and the card too. Its Home Assistant entity gets a new id (sensor.espaltherma_lw_setpoint_main), so your "Außentemperatur & Delta T" chart will need the new entity. The Rotex file is now fully named except F(C) and 0x56.

[By-tor]

This is fantastic work - I wish all projects were so easy to set up! Less than an hour from first download of beta.9 to a fully functional Home Assistant dashboard.

• Board: M5Stack Official M5StickC PLUS2Mini32, flashed with the web installer
• Detection: Daikin EBLA-EDLA D series 9-16kW Monobloc correctly identified
• Home Assistant: MQTT discovery worked first time with Home Assistant Mosquitto broker

Just a couple of minor issues I noted:
On version 1 I had a sensor 'Voltage (N-phase) (V)' that I was using for a COP calculation - I don't see this available in version 2
On my Samsung Galaxy A54 phone I can't see the full dashboard in portrait

[raomin]

Thanks @By-tor, great to read! Two answers:
– The cut-off drawing is the Home Assistant card in portrait: it keeps a minimum width and doesn't scroll. Fix coming in the next card version.
– "Voltage (N-phase)": which definition did you use in v1? The 9-16 kW monobloc D file never had that line, so you were probably on another one. If a voltage exists for your unit we'll find it, but I doubt it: the 9-16 monobloc reports the inverter currents only.

[By-tor]

In the previous version I used the definition file Altherma(EBLA-EDLA D series 9-16kW Monobloc).h

line 69 has

{0x21,4,101,2,-1,"Voltage (N-phase) (V)"},

[raomin]

Thanks @By-tor. That line isn't in the 9-16 kW file: in your screenshot it sits after the commented block, as an extra line (the other definitions have it, so it probably came from one of them). On your unit that register slot is the inverter fin temperature as you can see online 65, which is normally what the value should be. In v2 you'll find "INV fin temp." and the inverter currents in Values, but, to my knowledge, there's no mains voltage on the wire for this unit. Do you remember what the value was in v1? Can you tell what it is now?
For a COP, use the currents and set your mains voltage to what it is (eg 250), or better an external power meter...

[By-tor]

I looked at the file again and, as you say, that is an extra line inserted in there. Weird, no idea how it got there. I did get some strange results at times - no wonder!
Thanks for checking.

[raomin]

@By-tor the portrait view is fixed in card 1.0.11.

[rogervdh]

When updating software in Home Assistant with reboot or when the WiFi connection between the ESP32/MQTT and Home Assistant is briefly interrupted, the SG status always seems to revert to "Free Running." For instance, at 16:30, an automation set the SG status to "Forced Off". Approximately 15 minutes later the status is reset to "Free Running" (maybe brief wifi interruption), but the SG contact 2 state remains active/on (so the correct SG status is still "Forced Off" and not "Free Running").

Is it possible to ensure that the correct SG status (e.g., "Forced Off") continues to be sent to Home Assistant, even in the event of an interruption or reboot of HA?

[raomin]

Good catch @rogervdh, that's a bug: when the connection to the broker came back (Home Assistant restart, a WiFi blip), ESPAltherma re-announced the Smart Grid state as "Free Running" whatever it really was, while the relays kept their state. Fixed for beta.11: it reports the real mode, and keeps it retained so Home Assistant shows it after its own restart too. Note that a restart of the ESP32 itself still comes back in Free Running (relays released).

[TungstenE2]

@raomin is there an option to have 1-wire and a 4x relay switch board integrated into this project for Rotex S and make the relay board controllable by mqtt?

In this way I could decomission my ESP32C6 with Tasmota.
Witch the relay I control the heating, connected to the Rotex remote unit and 1-wire has several DS18x20 temp sensors for additional temp values.

[raomin]

Hi @TungstenE2. I'm with @johngouk here. That would be recreating tasmota in ESPAltherma.
I'll give it a though for later, but atm, I prefer to have something that works well and covers 90% of the needs than exploding in features (and bugs) everywhere! Your esp32c6 is fine and you're centralizing the data in HA already! :)

[johngouk]

On the subject of add-ons, you could considerably increase the support burden make it expandable by adding a plug-in module feature to handle just such things as the "collect other sensor data, control something" feature described above. For example, my friend could do with a module that uses Modbus to read electrical energy data and then posts it with MQTT, integrated because a) it would be handy, minimal equipment b) all in the same physical location he would put the ESPAltherma...
And then suddenly you've invented Tasmota! :-)
Thanks for your work, I and many others really appreciate it.
p.s. And of course there's nothing to stop me doing it either!

[raomin]

spot on @johngouk! Development is much faster nowadays; so maybe I'll be done with everything very soon and contemplate this next step!

[raomin]

v2.0.0-beta.11 is out: System → Firmware update → Check for an update, or the files on the release page.

@rogervdh: the Smart Grid state now survives a Home Assistant restart or a WiFi blip: the real mode is reported, retained. A restart of the ESP32 itself still comes back in Free Running, like the relays.
@TungstenE2: "Delta-Tr" is now "LW setpoint (main)", and shows as the target next to the leaving water on the drawing and in the card. New entity id: sensor.espaltherma_lw_setpoint_main.
For everyone: the detection report now includes the software version of the hydro board, the one the hot water / leaving water target control depends on. It tells me which boards to map next; it's part of the opt-in report, and "See exactly what is sent" shows it.
@azsono03: beta.10+ has your board's profile, tell me what the cards show when you get a chance!

[AbeltjeNL]

@raomin, first of all great work and thank you very much for your effort!

Quick question / idea.. I've set an admin password but there is no way (from within the webpage GUI) to remove / clear this admin password.
Is it possible to remove the admin password from the settings menu once the admin user has logged in? I'm curious because I've flashed two identical boards with all the beta's supporting admin password and the board without a password seems to respond quicker / the webpage is loading quicker. This behavior is noticeable in both Chrome and Safari on MacOS and iOS. Not tested on a Windows machine. The board with admin password quite often 'hangs' on loading or refreshing the webpage.

[raomin]

Thanks @AbeltjeNL! You're right, there was no way back: the next beta.12 will have a "Remove the admin password" box under the field (Settings → This device).
On the slowness: with a password: loading the page asks the board for the settings behind the password, which goes through the browser's login challenge at each load, and Safari in particular doesn't keep the credentials long. The readings themselves are fetched without it. I'll make the settings readable without the password (nothing secret is in them, changing them still needs it), so a protected board loads like the other one.

[AbeltjeNL]

Thanks @AbeltjeNL! You're right, there was no way back: the next beta.12 will have a "Remove the admin password" box under the field (Settings → This device).

On the slowness: with a password: loading the page asks the board for the settings behind the password, which goes through the browser's login challenge at each load, and Safari in particular doesn't keep the credentials long. The readings themselves are fetched without it. I'll make the settings readable without the password (nothing secret is in them, changing them still needs it), so a protected board loads like the other one.

You're the best! Thank you 😁

[raomin]

v2.0.0-beta.12 is out: System → Firmware update → Check for an update, or the release page.

• @AbeltjeNL: a "Remove the admin password" box in Settings → This device, and a protected board now loads its page without the login prompt (the settings are readable, changing them still asks for the password).
• @fdr76: the installer explains the missing WiFi step on the ESP32-S3 and C3 boards, and sends to the setup network.
• Home Assistant card 1.0.11 on HACS: the drawing fits a phone in portrait, and the Daikin app's "leaving water offset" entity is no longer taken for the room thermostat (@By-tor, @aashish254).
• And a small sponsor line at the end of the setup 💘🍺

Some news: 53 installations of v2 are running (counted from the reports you share when confirming your model), and the last betas were mostly refinements. I'm considering v2 more or less stable now, and I'll soon merge it to main as the 2.0 release!! So if something still bothers you, this is the time to say it!

Thanks all for the feedback, it made this beta what it is! 🙂

[TungstenE2]

curently the HACS drawing only loads in own dashboard, but drawing can not be intergarted into existing dashboard with other cards.

Can this be enhanced?

Thx

[raomin]

@TungstenE2 Both good points, thanks.

The "(C)": gone in beta.13, freshly released, with the case aligned on the Altherma files: "Refrig. temp. liquid side", "Inlet water temp.", "Outlet water temp.", "DHW tank temp.", "R/C setpoint". I did the same on the plain protocol S definition. The unit comes from the sensor type anyway, Home Assistant shows °C. As with Delta-Tr, the entity ids follow the names (sensor.espaltherma_inlet_water_temp_c → sensor.espaltherma_inlet_water_temp, etc.), so your history graphs and automations need the new ids once more. That's the last rename before 2.0, promised.

The card: it is a regular card, the ready-made dashboard is only a shortcut. On any dashboard: Edit dashboard → Add card → search "ESPAltherma", or paste type: custom:espaltherma-card in the YAML editor. It takes the width of a section; the options (climate, entities, title) are in the README under "Just the card". If it doesn't show up in the picker, tell me what you see.

[TungstenE2]

small finding:

may be you want to write Target in capital T?

[TungstenE2]

[raomin]

@TungstenE2 Fair: "Target" it is, on the web page and in the card, with the next build. The card cropping: in a section spanning several columns, the card asked for the width of one column, and Home Assistant cut the drawing. Card 1.0.12 on HACS takes the full width of its section (you can still narrow it in the card's layout tab), and "Target" has its capital. Until you update, grid_options: columns: full under the card in the section's YAML does the same.

[johngouk]

How do I most easily check the new/changed MQTT topics, if using the One Per Entry setting i.e. 1 MQTT message per topic/value name? Presumably not from the original .h file - mine's altherma 3 9-16kw. I ask because I have software using the current names, beyond HA, and will need to modify settings and change flows before installing this.

[raomin]

@johngouk Nothing to change for you: with "one value per topic" the topic is the prefix followed by the value name, exactly as shown in the Values page (default prefix espaltherma/OneATTR/, as in v1), and the names of the 9-16 kW monobloc definition are the same as in v1. The JSON topic is also unchanged (espaltherma/ATTR with the default base topic). The quickest check is a wildcard subscription, espaltherma/OneATTR/# in MQTT Explorer or mosquitto_sub -v -t 'espaltherma/OneATTR/#'. What did change is the Home Assistant side: the entities now come from MQTT discovery, with ids like sensor.espaltherma_<name>.

[vanleuvenjjvl]

Hi. Not sure which heatpump i need to select. Its not detected automatically. Its an EHSH08P50BB

[raomin]

@vanleuvenjjvl Your EHSH08P50BB is the Altherma R ECH2O (the Rotex HPSU compact 508 with a Daikin ERLQ 6/8 kW outdoor unit). Its hydro board gives no identification number, so the detection could only guess, and it guessed wrong. The report you shared by telemetry shows the water temperatures laid out like the Altherma LT 04-08 kW: at that moment, leaving water 30.8 °C, return 24.9, refrigerant 25.0, tank 44.5. So select "Altherma(LT_CA_CB_04-08kW)" in the list, and tell me whether the drawing matches your RoCon display.
Then I'll add your board's signature so the next owner of this model is recognised at once. The flow rate and pressure are not on this board (the Rotex side has that sensor), so expect no flow reading.

[vanleuvenjjvl]

Yep, that is the one. Tnx

[raomin]

v2.0.0-beta.14 is out: System → Firmware update → Check for an update, or the release page.

TESTERS NEEDED: setting the hot water and leaving water targets on more units. Until now this experimental feature only knew two hydro board softwares. beta.14 adds six more, read from the boards' software but not yet tried on a real unit. Thanks to the reports you share, I know which boards are out there, so here is who can help, by heat pump:

@threeplank, @NicoLouis-be (4-8 kW EHVH/EHBH E series): software 20002203
@pvodoz (EHVZ04 DA): 17014006
@Christian1954 (ETBX12EF9W): 20007904
@ivoheiland (EPRA18 with an ETV/ETB 16 indoor unit): 20017705, the same as @azsono03's
4-8 kW EBLA/EDLA monoblocs and 4-8 kW ECH2O EF/EG: 20017704
12 kW ELVH/ELBH 2026 series: 22009C02
4-8 kW ECH2O D series: 17019A04
Two steps, nothing is written during the first one:

Update to beta.14, tick the box under Settings → Experimental, and tell me what the Hot water target card on the home page shows without asking for anything: the software version, the range (the unit's own limits, 45-55 or the like) and the current target, which must match the curve screen of your interface. If the card says "not available" with your software version, tell me too.

Only if that looks right, and with the hot water setpoint mode set to weather dependent on the interface: ask a target one degree away from the current one, and watch the interface's home screen follow within a few seconds.

@By-tor, @johngouk: your 9-16 kW monoblocs run software 20002202, which I have no way to read yet, so the card will say "not available" on them for now, sorry.

As always, your unit, your call: the option is off by default and the box can be unticked at any time.

Please test and reply here... Thanks!! :)

[NicoLouis-be]

nothing

[raomin]

@NicoLouis-be That "nothing" is exactly the step 1 I was hoping for, thanks! Your board (software 20002203, the first of the six to be seen on a unit) read the leaving water curve back right: 33 °C at low outdoor temperature to 27 °C at high, and "aims for 28 °C", which is the 28.9° target the drawing shows next to the leaving water. So the addresses are the right ones.

The hot water card asks for the weather-dependent mode ("loi d'eau") because your tank is in fixed mode (the 50° target): in that mode the interface owns the setpoint and ESPAltherma cannot touch it, by design. Only if you want to try it, switch the tank setpoint mode to weather dependent on the interface, and the card will show the range and the curve.

For step 2 on the leaving water, if you feel like it while the heating runs: apply 28 (one degree above the 27 of the warm end), then check the leaving water setpoint on the interface's home screen a few seconds later, and the "aims for" line. Applying 27 again puts the curve back where it was. To be clear, that would be the first leaving water write on any unit, mine included (I only tested the hot water one, I'm not heating yet): the value is bounded by the unit's own limits, and switching the mode back to absolute on the interface undoes it in any case. Your call!

[rogervdh]

v2.0.0-beta.14 is out: System → Firmware update → Check for an update, or the release page.

TESTERS NEEDED: setting the hot water and leaving water targets on more units. Until now this experimental feature only knew two hydro board softwares. beta.14 adds six more, read from the boards' software but not yet tried on a real unit. Thanks to the reports you share, I know which boards are out there, so here is who can help, by heat pump:

Adjusting the setpoint is working correctly on the EHBH08E9W. I can see that the setpoint changes by 1 degree. How can I stop writing that value to the hydro board? The setpoint is stuck at 29.0 C and no changes at all.

[NicoLouis-be]

does it take offset settings with it?
i have it set to 27-33 but with an offset off 1 degree so it really is from 28-34

update
I see "aim for" increasing with 1 degree so it does not change the curve only the target

[fdr76]

Just a idea / Feature request: show the current COP in ESPAltherma v2

Almost all the values needed are already available, except the electrical power (in watts) that the heat pump is currently drawing. The heat output can be calculated as ΔT × flow × specific heat capacity, so only the electrical input is missing.

Most users also run Home Assistant, which offers a REST API for reading sensor values. Would it be possible for ESPAltherma v2 to fetch this value periodically (every X seconds), with the URL, token and interval configurable in the settings? The advantage of this approach is that in HA you can add up all the power resources (backup heater/heat element hot water / outdoor unit) to the total power in Watt that the heat pimp is using.

And it will be nice that the calculated COP is also sends its value back in the MQTT message.

this way you have all information in one dashboard!

An example request:

curl -s -X POST
-H "Authorization: Bearer TOKEN"
-H "Content-Type: application/json"
-d '{"template": "{{ states("sensor.heatpump_total_power") }}"}'
http://192.168.178.100:8123/api/template

[By-tor]

Just for confirmation, mine is showing as you described. I guess there is no way to get the firmware updated on the HP?

[Jaegerstefan]

My EHSX08P50DA is detected as "Altherma ERGA D EHSH-X P30-50 D series 04-08kW-ECH2O"
but the correct values are shown with "ERGA E EHSH-X P30-50 E_EF series 04-08kW-ECH2O"

I thought it's a hybrid model but it seems like only the newer version seems works