Home Assistant releases its own hardware for reading smart meters. The device works on firmware based on ESPHome. The smart home platform is also getting more integrations for energy management at home, for example via solar panels.
The device is called Smart Reader and costs 27.50 euros. SmartReader is an ESP board that runs on ESPHome. Users can connect it to the P1 port of smart meters via an included RJ12 cable. The firmware can then be linked to Home Assistant. On DSMR 5 meters, the reader can be controlled via the P1 port only. Older meters such as DSMR 2, 3 or 4 require a separate power supply via micro-usb. The port was developed together with tweaker iMars, says Home Assistant.
The makers have also designed hardware for smart meters that do not have a P1 port. That’s Glow, a device also works based on ESPHome. Glow reads the light on those meters, which pulses when using a certain amount of energy. Firmware is also available for that tool via GitHub so that users can build it themselves.
The firmware of Smart Reader can be read via Home Assistant itself. From version 2021.8, the smarthome platform will receive a new energy dashboard. In it, parameters can be kept up to date via various entities and integrations about how much energy a user consumes or saves. For example, it is possible to see where the power in a house comes from or how much power solar panels are expected to generate that day. Home Assistant uses open source data sources such as electricityMap and Forecast.Solar to calculate that. Users then have to configure their own energy sources in the house. It is also possible to read that data via smart plugs with a built-in consumption meter. That data can then also be used in automations, for example when users want to switch certain devices on and off.
Until now it was only possible to measure power consumption via third parties in Home Assistant. For example, there were integrations for reading smart meters, but then via external platforms and services such as P1 Monitor or Domoticz.