I am in the process of building this in my system. I want to add a couple of extra features. such as minimum run time, the ability to run a few minutes each hour over night (for skimming) and some other bits an pieces.
I did something like this. I buy my electricity at wholesale prices, and the supplier has an API with price predictions, so I used node-red to compare insolation forecasts, and price forecasts to work out what time-blocks to run the pool pump (when solar high, or price low, or cheapest forecast times to achieve a minimum number of hours per day).
Not quite the same as home automation, but there’s a home-made renewable energy system community too:
I gotta say… Your documentation is really good. You definitely have more experience with node red than myself so I am not sure how one would improve upon your work so far. Plus most of my improvements would probably be a little advanced for the aim of your project as I tend to go down a rabbit hole whenever I automate something lol.
Mostly, my two cents are for if you want to go further towards a smart pump and getting more data into home assistant:
- Look for a way to track the flow of water through the pump to watch for signs of blockage or pump failure.
- Look at what options would you have for water quality sampling/intervention (if you do any maintenance for that).
i need to say, this is not mine! i actually posted it as i didnt want to lose the page :-/
For pump flow, i would use power draw as a proxy for flow. if the power is really low, it equates to a low flow. I already have them on Athom smart plugs, which have power monitoring. I actually use this to auto-prime my bore pump, which will turn on-off as needed to get the flow through. I’ll post it at some point.
I have at atlas scientific wifi pool monitor which does auto-sampling but there is a bunch of maths and a lack of motivation/time to implement! one day maybe!
