Switching from Passive Systems monitor to Open Energy Monitor

Getting Started
21

Nice @TrystanLea :slight_smile:

22

Is the Passive system controlling the heat pump.

I fitted one a Samsung years ago, found it a right faff, fortunately things have moved on abit.

Just interested.

Ken

23

Hi

I have the same USB RS485 sticking out of my wall where it used to be connected to the PassivSystems hub. I would love to get all the heat pump data into openenergymonitor and if possible also to home assistant. I do have a Raspberry Pi at home already, do I need any additional hardware for the RPi to become emonBase or emonPi2 or would stock RPi be sufficient? Does the guide you mentioned already exist please?

Thank you!

24

Ondrej,

Good afternoon.

Does the guide you mentioned already exist please?

I don’t think so. I am still persisting with the PassivLiving system which is in adequate in many ways, but I just don’t have a clue how switch to open energy systems. Every time some one tells me it’s simple I am lost in their first sentence of “explanation”.

Sorry.

Michael

25

The problem I have is the PassivLiving system was part of a government scheme, so I did not get to see the data. Now it has been disconnected for some time as I am told there is no way to use this hub to collect and see the data locally.

26

You can use an existing RPi to install EmonCMS, there are instructions for that here. For what it’s worth, I installed emoncms on a RPi 4 that was running various things including HA, and it all went ok, other than it started calling itself emonpi because the scripts change the hostname, which I didn’t have a problem with. Everything still runs.

As @TrystanLea says, the USB can be connected and then some configuration is required for the emonCMS to access the data on the heat meter and I assume the electricity meter. This will require details on the ModBus registers for these devices, which may or may not correspond to those used in the OEM package, but they can be configured. It’s probably easiest to buy and use emonTH for the temperature sensor, but if you wanted to use the PL Zigbee device, it could in principle be attached with an additional Zigbee adapter etc.

27

They delete data day-by day after two years.

28

This is not a criticism, just a comment on my ignorance. I do have a PhD in Physics and make complex calculations every day. I sort of understand how heat pumps work and how heat flow works. But these comments are completely impenetrable to me.

Rpi4?

HA?

emoncms, emonpi, emonCMS. emonTH?

PL Zigbee?

As I said, this is not a criticism - clearly this post is not aimed at me or people like me. But it does affect me nonetheless. I like the idea of the Open Energy Monitor System and products - but every single thing about this post and many many others communicates one simple message

ABSOLUTELY never install this product.

In any case, best wishes.

Michael

29

Hi Michael @MdeP

Apologies, my reply was directed at the other guy @AppelO, who mentioned RPi, HA etc. The Zigbee stuff came from the PL document you posted above in this thread, just looking at the diagrams that show the interconnection between the components.

I think you’re being a bit hard on this product, to be honest. If you were to have purchased the OEM HP monitoring stuff, apart from the actual plumbing and possibly wiring, which require tradespeople, it’s completely turnkey. Obviously, if one wants to use it as a set of software and optional hardware components, and adapt it to other inputs etc., it requires anything from very little to loads of extra effort.

In the PL case, I actually think it wouldn’t take very much, and it would work extremely well, and provide you with both a local data store and optionally, a link to the OEM “cloud”. I’m sure I could do it, but it’s time and access to the sensor parts of the PL stuff, the energy monitor and the heat meter, and I don’t know the details but could work them out. @TrystanLea or someone who’s worked with the comms protocol (Modbus) used by the PL sensors would be quicker.

As @TrystanLea said

There are some configuration bits involved and we are writing a guide to make it as easy as possible. If you’re happy to wait a week, I can update this thread with all the details as soon as it’s ready.

I guess he’s been busy!

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