Feature Request: expose the eddi boost as 1 or more entities

[slymas]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
I have a myenergi eddi and harvi in my house, and I am thinking of ways to enable the eddi boost from inside home assistant. Currently this seems only possible via a service call, according to the answer I found in https://community.home-assistant.io/t/myenergi-eddi-boost-from-home-assistant/426030.

Describe the solution you'd like
Every other piece of data I can think of is already exposed as an entity inside the eddi, the harvi or the "home" devices from this integration, so it's strange the boost is not. I'd like to see it as a simple clickable button for on/off, or as a timer where 0 is off, and non-0 is on.

Describe alternatives you've considered
I will be implementing my first automation using the available service call, but I see this is as a UI issue.

Thanks in advance!

[G6EJD]

No need, you need to use a HA automation.

[AJediIAm]

No need, you need to use a HA automation.

Are there technical limitations why this can't be an entity?

[G6EJD]

There's already an Eddi boost entity with a parameter for duration

myenergi.myenergi_eddi_boost

Details in pyenergi too

[AJediIAm]

I think it's a good feature request. Zappi has actions for start, stop and smart boost. Having an entity to start and stop boost would be a good addition for on a dashboard. My heat pump has the same functionally available via both an action and an entity. It's nice to have choice and it makes it easier to use for beginning users who might not be as familiar with actions.

[G6EJD]

It remains a philosophical point, but in general Home Assistant or an integration are not meant to be an application, rather a set of tools for the HA user to implement their needs.
Someone still needs to do the work, then implement and test it all.
To be honest, I think the days of an active, adventurous user who enthusiastically searches out and develops solutions like this are all but over, but by contrast having a set of basic tools to achieve the same are very much the way forward.
I don't recall the last time a feature request was implemented - just saying...

[LeiChat]

@AJediIAm Your heat pump may offer a simple start/stop toggle that makes sense for that HA integration to expose in that way.

The myenergi API, which the HA integration communicates with, doesn't expose a simple "start" function/command.

https://api-docs.s18.myenergi.net/operations/sendBoost

The API has a "Send Boost" endpoint which asks the device to start a boost for a specified kWh limit or for a number of minutes (in 15 minute increments).

As @G6EJD mentioned, that's already incorporated in this HA integration as an action you can call from a dashboard button, automation, etc.

Because there isn't a simple "start" endpoint in the myenergi API, adding a switch / input_boolean entity does not really make sense for this HA integration.

If someone did attempt to add what's being requested to this integration it would need to be intuitive for users of the HA integration and not have hidden default values for the "smart" / "normal" boost.

This is how I have implemented a couple of "boost" buttons on a dashboard:

My cancel button sends the same action request but sets the time to zero.
The myenergi API has a "Cancel Boost" endpoint but does not confirm if it's compatible with the eddi, it only mentions the zappi. Perhaps that's why the myenergi.myenergi_stop_boost action in this HA integration is only available for the zappi.

[AJediIAm]

@AJediIAm Your heat pump may offer a simple start/stop toggle that makes sense for that HA integration to expose in that way.

The myenergi API, which the HA integration communicates with, doesn't expose a simple "start" function/command.

https://api-docs.s18.myenergi.net/operations/sendBoost

The API has a "Send Boost" endpoint which asks the device to start a boost for a specified kWh limit or for a number of minutes (in 15 minute increments).

As @G6EJD mentioned, that's already incorporated in this HA integration as an action you can call from a dashboard button, automation, etc.

Thanks for the good discussion.

It's not a clear yes or no. There are many opinions within the home assistant community on what is best. My goal is to consider the various perspectives first before dismissing the idea.

There are many integrations which provide entities for these default values. The climate entity is a good example where the actions are commonly provided as (a part of) entities. The temperature and on/off are often entities which can be set independently from each other. There are many more examples like this.

There is also a large user group who discourages the use of devices in automations. Although I think this trend is going too far, the result is that many users will avoid using devices at all cost. Providing entities will give these users the choice they want and since home assistant is all about choice, who are we to deny it to them.

Therefore, I propose to leave this issue open as a valid feature request. If someone comes along who wants to implement it, they can do so. I see no reason why we should reject such a change.

[LeiChat]

Provided the integration documentation for such a feature included a good explanation of the caveats that are relevant for any additional functionality, then I agree, enhancing functionality through HA is a bonus.

But, in the myenergi app, the UI allows the user to start a 'Manual' boost by selecting a slider that has increments from 0h to 4h, not by toggling a switch.

Changing that slider to a value above zero, (presumably) makes a request to the myenergi api "sendBoost" endpoint I mentioned, passing it the time parameter.

In my opinion, replicating that in the integration would be fine but I do not like the idea of adding a 'start/stop' switch entity to control an eddi boost, even if that worked in conjunction with a select or number entity. If a user toggled the switch to stop a boost, but left the select/number on their preferred default value, it would be a different paradigm to how the functionality is provided in the myenergi app, which could lead to confusion and complaints. e.g. In a household, one user might amend the length to 4 hours and another user, assuming the length was still on a lower number, might start a boost, potentially resulting in unwanted peak rate consumption. If complaints were raised with myenergi, rather than on this GitHub, it might result in myenergi being less supportive of 3rd party use of their API.

[LeiChat]

Perhaps what we need is some custom dashboard cards that replicate some of the myenergi app functionality and mask the complexity of the API based entities.

[AJediIAm]

Perhaps what we need is some custom dashboard cards that replicate some of the myenergi app functionality and mask the complexity of the API based entities.

No need.
It's common to have two entities like this:

Almost everybody will understands how to use this.

A bit of documentation will make is clear for everything. Most entities are documented anyway.

[G6EJD]

I have produced a short guide on how to create Buttons to use the MyEnergi Actions.

It is a useful activity for HA users to work through so they can understand how to access the various Actions provided.

When Users have learnt about Actions, this opens the way to creating an Automation that can for example, Start and stop at preset times, and in the case of the Eddi can heat when the water temperature falls, which the Automation can then call an Action.

The file is in this respository 'MyEnergi Buttons, Actions and Automations' as a PDF, but click on it and you can easily read it.