EMHASS Blueprint Control Suite

This repository provides a set of Home Assistant Blueprints designed to simplify the configuration and control of the EMHASS (Energy Management Optimization for Home Assistant) add-on.

Important

Please note that this code is provided by me as a private individual and is not an official product. This project is offered on an "AS IS" basis, without warranty of any kind, express or implied. I cannot guarantee that this code will function as intended on your system. Adaptations and customizations for your specific environment may be necessary. I am in no way affiliated with the official EMHASS project or its developers. By using this code, you agree that you are doing so entirely at your own risk. The author assumes no liability for any potential damages, data loss, or other issues that may arise from its use.

This project is built around two core blueprints that work together:

1. EMHASS Basic Automation Controller: The central "brain." This blueprint manages all core EMHASS settings, timers, and API communication.
2. EMHASS Deferrable Load Controller: The "satellite." You create one automation from this blueprint for each deferrable load (e.g., dishwasher, EV charger) you want EMHASS to control.

Everything in the main branch is in use on my personal system. The develop branch is my testing ground, but feel free to explore it.

Architecture Overview

graph TD
    subgraph Home Assistant Control
        HA["🏠 Home Assistant Core"]
        BASIC["⚙️ Basic Automation Controller"]
        LOAD_C["🔌 Deferrable Load Controller(s)"]
    end

    EMHASS["🧠 EMHASS Add-on"]

    subgraph Deferrable Loads
        DW["🧺 Dishwasher"]
        WH["💧 Water Heater"]
        BAT["🔋 Battery Storage"]
    end

    HA --> BASIC
    BASIC -- Calls API --> EMHASS
    EMHASS -- Writes optimized plan to HA --> HA

    LOAD_C -- Controls --> DW
    LOAD_C -- Controls --> WH
    LOAD_C -- Controls --> BAT

    LOAD_C -- Requests needed power --> BASIC

    BASIC -.- EMHASS

    style EMHASS fill:#00AA00,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px,color:#fff
    style LOAD_C fill:#ffc,stroke:#333

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Features

• Centralized Configuration: Manage all EMHASS parameters from a single automation in the HA UI.
• Dynamic Deferrable Loads: Easily add or remove deferrable loads by simply adding their input_text helper.
• Automated Control: Manages all EMHASS timers for saving configs, running optimizations, publishing data, and training ML models.
• Clear State Management: The Deferrable Load Controller provides robust, strategy-based logic to manage the state (wait, running, done) of your devices.

Support

Please understand that I can only provide support for my own blueprints and their functionality. I cannot provide general support for the Energy Management Optimization for Home Assistant (EMHASS) add-on itself.

If you have questions about EMHASS, please refer to the official EMHASS documentation or its community forums. Tip: Always check the EMHASS add-on logs for errors!

Found a Bug or Missing a Feature?

Please open an issue on my GitHub repository

Terminology

• HA: Home Assistant
• EMHASS: Energy Management Optimization for Home Assistant
• Deferrable Loads: Devices that are managed by EMHASS, which decides the optimal time to turn them on.

Installation & Setup Guide

Prerequisites

Before you begin, you must have the following installed and configured:

1. Home Assistant Core: Your basic HA configuration.yaml must include:
   • latitude
   • longitude
   • unit_system: metric
   • time_zone: Europe/Berlin (or your local timezone)
2. EMHASS Add-on: Install the EMHASS Addon.
   • In the add-on configuration, set:
     • Set folder path where EMHASS data will be stored -> /share
     • The port opened by the add-on on your host -> 5000
   • (See Image for a visual guide)
3. Required Sensors: EMHASS needs several sensors to function. You must provide:
   • A PV Forecast sensor (I use Solcast).
   • A Battery SOC sensor (if you have a battery, i get this from my Kostal integration).
   • A PV Power sensor (in W) (I get this from my Kostal integration).
   • A Base Load sensor (in W). This is your total house consumption minus all deferrable loads. (See my example sensor config).

Step 1: Configure Home Assistant (REST Command)

For the blueprints to communicate with the EMHASS add-on, you must add the following rest_command to your HA configuration.yaml:

rest_command:
  emhass_rest_command:
    url: '{{ protocol }}://{{ host }}:{{ port }}/{{ api }}'
    method: POST
    content_type: 'application/json'
    payload: '{{ payload }}'

Step 2: Create Initial Helpers

Before installing the blueprints, you must create two HA Helpers (Go to Settings > Devices & Services > Helpers). These will be used for your first deferrable load, but they are required to save the Basic Controller automation.

1. Input Text:
   • Name: (e.g., Dishwasher EMHASS JSON)
   • Max Length: 255
   • Initial value: {"po":500,"ho":0.5,"st":0,"et":6,"se":false,"si":true,"mp":200,"pe":0,"us":"done","ss":0}
     • po = Nominal Load Power (W)
     • ho = Total Operating Hours (h)
     • st = Initial Start Timestep
     • et = Final End Timestep
     • se = Semi-Continuous Load (Bool)
     • si = Single Constant Block (Bool)
     • mp = Minimum Load Power (W)
     • pe = Startup Penalty Score
     • us = Status
     • ss = Plan start timestamp
2. Input Select:
   • Name: (e.g., Dishwasher EMHASS Status)
   • Options:
     • done
     • wait
     • running
     • force
   • Ensure the initial state is set to done.

Step 3: Install the 'EMHASS Basic Automation Controller'

This is the main controller.

1. Click the "Import Blueprint" button above.
2. Create a new automation from the blueprint.
3. Fill out all required sections. If you are unsure, leave the default settings and only fill in the blank fields. (You can find my configuration).
   • EMHASS Deferrable Loads Configuration: Add the input_text helper you created in Step 2.
   • EMHASS Runtime Overwrites
   • EMHASS Connection Settings (IP, Port and APIs)
   • EMHASS Global Configuration
   • EMHASS System Configuration
   • EMHASS Tariff Configuration
   • EMHASS Solar System Configuration
   • EMHASS Battery Configuration
4. IMPORTANT: In the Timer Settings section, leave all timers DISABLED for now.
5. Save the automation.

Step 4: Activate & Test the Basic Controller

This one-by-one activation process is critical for debugging. Check the EMHASS add-on logs after each step.

1. Enable Save-Config Timer (daily):
   • Edit your new automation.
   • Go to "Timer Settings," enable this timer, and set the time to 5 minutes from now.
   • Save the automation.
   • Go to the EMHASS add-on and watch the logs. At the specified time, it should save the config without any errors.
2. Enable Publish & Optimization Timer (5 min interval):
   • Enable this timer and save.
   • Check the logs again. You should see no errors, and the log should eventually show that a sensor for your first load has been created: Successfully posted to sensor.p_deferrable0 = 0.0.
3. Enable ML Forecast Timer (daily):
   • Only enable this if your "Base Load" sensor has at least 9 days of history (per the EMHASS defaults).
   • You must also set the "load_forecast_method" in the "EMHASS System Configuration" section to mlforecaster.
   • Enable the timer, set a time, and save. Check the logs at that time for any errors.

Step 5: Install the 'EMHASS Deferrable Load Controller'

Once the Basic Controller is running without errors, you can install your first load controller.

1. Import the blueprint using the button above.
2. Create a new automation.
3. Configure all the inputs. This blueprint links your physical device (like a switch) to the HA helpers and the EMHASS sensor.
   • Status Helper: Select the input_select you created in Step 2.
   • EMHASS JSON Helper: Select the input_text you created in Step 2.
   • EMHASS Deferrable Sensor: Select sensor.p_deferrable0 (this was created by EMHASS / Basic Controller).
   • ...fill out the rest of the settings according to your device's needs (power, runtime, control entity, etc.).
4. Save the automation.

Your first load is now fully managed by EMHASS!

Step 6: Add More Loads

To add more devices (e.g., a washing machine, EV charger):

1. Create a new pair of input_text and input_select helpers for the new device.
2. Go to your EMHASS Basic Automation Controller and add the new input_text helper to the "List of Deferrable Load Helpers."
3. Save the Basic Controller automation.
4. Run the "Save-Config Timer".
5. Run the "Enable Publish & Optimization Timer".
6. Create another automation using the EMHASS Deferrable Load Controller blueprint, filling in the details for the new device. (This will watch sensor.p_deferrable1, sensor.p_deferrable2, etc.)
7. Save the Load Controller automation.

Manual Control (Forcing a Load)

Sometimes you can't wait for the EMHASS optimization (e.g., you need the dishwasher to run now). This is why the force status exists.

You can manually start any load by:

1. Going to Settings > Devices & Services > Helpers
2. Finding the input_select helper for your load (e.g., `input_select.dishwasher_emhass_status)
3. Changing its state from wait directly to force

The EMHASS Deferrable Load Controller automation will detect this change and immediately start the device.

Dashboard Tip: You can create a button on your dashboard that calls the input_select.select_option service to set the status to force for a user-friendly "Start Now" button.

type: entity
show_name: true
show_state: true
show_icon: true
entity: input_select.dishwasher_emhass_status
name: Geschirrspüler
icon: mdi:dishwasher
tap_action:
  action: perform-action
  perform_action: input_select.select_option
  target:
    entity_id: input_select.dishwasher_emhass_status
  data:
    option: force
visibility:
  - condition: state
    entity: input_select.dishwasher_emhass_status
    state: wait
color: yellow

Basic Controller Examples

You can find my complete automation configurations here:

• Dishwasher
  • Configuration
  • Start Trigger Sensor is my Zigbee device
  • Stop Trigger is a 10-minute statistic sensor for this Zigbee device
• Tumble Dryer
  • Configuration
  • Start Trigger Sensor is my Zigbee device
  • Stop Trigger is a 10-minute statistic sensor for this Zigbee device
• Washing Machine
  • Configuration
  • Start Trigger Sensor is my Zigbee device
  • Stop Trigger is a 10-minute statistic sensor for this Zigbee device
• PV Battery

  • Configuration

  • Start Trigger Cron

  • Stop Trigger EMHASS or sensor

  • To charge my BYD battery with my Kostal inverter via the grid, I need another blueprint to enable charging via Modbus

    

    • Configuration
    • Start and Stop Trigger the Status from the main Basic Controller "PV Battery"
• Water Boiler (only for PV surplus)
  • Configuration
  • Start and Stop Trigger are my Battery SoC Sensor from the Kostel integration

Modified controllers

All modified controllers build upon the BASIC controller, then have additional inputs and actions.

---

• go-e Charger 11kW (Wallbox)
  • Controller
  • Configuration
  • Trigger Sensor

References

• https://emhass.readthedocs.io/