Hey everyone, I wanted to share my journey with setting up an energy monitoring system using the Power by the Hour App and some clever automation techniques. It’s been a fun project that’s not only helped me track energy prices but also visualize them in a clear and customizable way. Let me walk you through how I did it!
The Goal
I wanted to create a daily energy price chart that updates automatically and sends me a notification. This way, I can plan my energy usage more efficiently, especially during peak hours.
How It Works
- Power by the Hour App: This app fetches the latest energy prices and tags them as “Prijzen.”
- HomeyScript Automation: I wrote a script that converts the price data into a URL-encoded format compatible with Image Charts, a free online tool for generating charts.
- Image Grabber App: This app fetches the generated chart image from the URL.
- Notification: Finally, the chart is sent to me via a notification.
Challenges and Solutions
Initially, I struggled with encoding the data correctly for Image Charts. After some trial and error, I realized that parsing the data properly was key. I also had to tweak the chart colors to make it more intuitive—using purple for free energy, green for cheap rates, and orange for high prices.
Another hurdle was ensuring the image loaded correctly within notifications. I discovered that viewing the image directly from the notification on iOS required a long press, which wasn’t ideal. However, it’s still functional and serves its purpose!
Tips for Others
- Customization: Play around with the chart settings in Image Charts. You can adjust colors, labels, and even add data points for the cheapest and most expensive hours.
- Automation: If you’re using Homey, consider setting up similar flows for other data visualizations. It’s incredibly versatile!
- Troubleshooting: If your chart isn’t loading, check the URL encoding and ensure all tags are correctly referenced in your flows.
Final Thoughts
This project has been a great learning experience, and I’m excited to see how I can expand it further. Maybe adding more interactive elements or integrating it with my smart home devices to automate energy usage based on price trends!
If anyone has suggestions or improvements, I’d love to hear them. Happy automating! 