Setting up Home Assistant on the RPi5

Home Assitant installation:

Here's the RPi5 with the Compact M.2 hat alongside it. This "hat" is designed to fit inside that official RPi5 case without modification.

This is it all installed and ready to go. That M.2 SSD is a "2230" size ie 30mm length (many are 80mm), so that it fits in the case. The capacity is "only" 256GB, which is more than adequate for Home Assistant.

I used the Raspberry Pi Imager tool to load the correct image for Home Assistant 18.3 and after a bit of inevitable buggerage it installed and is up and running. But now what? I need to install some devices etc for it to monitor and possibly even control....

EMS gateway installation:

This gateway ECU connects to the Worcester Bosch boiler control board and the Home Assistant (RPi), translating the messages from their proprietary format to something HA can understand and vice versa.

As mentioned previously, I ordered this BBQKees ECU a week ago and it arrived (from Holland) soon enough. 

As for installation, it has Wifi, so I don't need to run a network cable to it from the RPi, which is situated under the stairs next to the main modem/router/mesh stuff. But it needs its own PSU (supplied) and has to wire into the WB controller.

The PSU is routed in through the side of the cabinet.

There's limited space (depth) behind the pull-down panel on the front of the boiler, so I've removed this dummy panel to gain a few more mm of depth. This must have been provided for an optional programming unit or somesuch.

The 2-wire serial bus connects to the 2 wires at the bottom of that green 7-way connector block. There's already some twin-and-earth cable that an unknown cowboy (not me for a change) has used to wire the original wall-mounted thermostat to the boiler.

Done - and the orange connector is where it plugs into the gateway. I've actually mounted the ECU with its back facing outwards in the hope it will be slightly better ventilated, having noticed the cooling slots.

There - you can't see the vandalism unless you open that cover panel.

Zigbee gateway:

In order to control the radiator TRVs, I need a Zigbee interface and aerial. This looks like some form of witchcraft - or possibly a form of bedroom aid. It glows blue when you plug it in (fnaaaar) but once it's installed (it was seamless), it has no light.

This is the original WB "Easycontrol" CT200 thermostat. It has wifi and talks to the external WB website to acquire stuff like the time and local weather. Now that I've also wired the gateway into the boiler, it's about to find that it has been elbowed aside by the Home Assistant.

I've chosen the Sonoff TRVs. These are the Gen 2 version. They communicate with the Home Assistant using that Zigbee aerial. The power is provided by 3 AAA batteries (provided) that are said to last about a year in typical operation.

Here's the TRV I fitted to the dining room radiator. It comes with a variety of adaptors to suit most of the common TRV bodies. This one was a Danfoss "TV" model before I replaced the mechanical (wax) head.

Setup was quite simple if you had read the included instructions (ahem). You connect up the batteries (by pulling out a slip of plastic), then turn the set temperature down until it reads OFF. It then searches for Zigbee contacts. Similarly, in HA, you open the Zigbee card in the settings area and it finds and sets up any new devices it finds.

So now that I have (initially) got the boiler, thermostat, Zigbee aerial and 2 TRVs connected up, I have the basis of a home automation system.

Next I may need to make them do something vaguely useful:

• Set up the TRVS and room thermostat to regulate their local temperatures.
• Bugger about with the boiler settings eg mess with set temperatures, max power levels etc.
• Create some dashboards to show metrics such as water and gas used, boiler duty cycles etc.
• Allow thermostats to be set from the dashboard (for the TRVs and the CT200)
• Install the TV remote control so I can control the LG smart TV (only because I can).
• Install Music Assistant so I can use a music streamer box to stream music from my NAS, Google Music and internet radio to the workshop audio system.
• Set up some schedules for the thermostats eg turn the heating in the office and kitchen off (or down) during the night and the bedroom heating on (or up) at night.
• ...and so on.