Air conditioning with HA support: what's the status quo?

[cidra]

Hi all, I’m looking for air conditioners for my house but I’m struggling to figure out what are the home automation capabilities of these devices. What I got so far is that:

1. Some advanced models allow control over smartphone and automation, but that occurs through their proprietary app and requires internet access
2. It is of course possible to programatically shut on/off through a smart relay, although it may be not advisable
3. It is also of course possible to control it using a Zigbee IR blaster

But besides the 3 points I’ve just addressed, all other ways I’ve found around look confusing and would like to have some clarification about this. How can I control an AC through home assistant without relying on IR blasters or smart relays? What do I need to check on an AC specsheet beforehand?

I’ve seen that some Midea ACs (for example MSAGBU-12HRFN8) do have Wi-Fi. Are they compatible with Home Assistant?

Thank you in advance

[mhoogenbosch (Martijn Hoogenbosch)]

I’d suggest to search for esp home together with airco and home assistant. For example a commodity used airco such as Mitsubishi heavy industries is supported with esp.

[jeffcrum]

All I did was replace my thermostat with a GoControl GC-TBZ48 Z-Wave Thermostat.

Works great.

[vreihen]

I believe that this question is asking about window-mounted AC units, not central AC or ductless units…

[Karosm]

1. Depending on model, you might have local access to your AC even if it uses proprietary app.
2. correct
3. You don’t need zigbee ir blaster, you can control almost any AC just with esphome and ir-led.

[cidra]

Thank you all for sharing your knowledge and experiences in this regard.

@vreihen

I believe that this question is asking about window-mounted AC units, not central AC or ductless units…

I may not be familiar with these english names, but I guess I’m talking with ductless units. One such example - to avoid ambiguities - is the MSAGBU-12HRFN8 from Midea.

@Karosm

You don’t need zigbee ir blaster, you can control almost any AC just with esphome and ir-led.

@mhoogenbosch

For example a commodity used airco such as Mitsubishi heavy industries is supported with esp.

Sorry if I ask such a trivial question, but is such module plug and play or does it require some soldering and hardware tweaking knowledge? I know this is a forum of hardware experts, but I’d rather go for the path of least resistance on such a delicate and important purchase.

[TH3xR34P3R (Robert Koganov)]

I currently have a Fujitsu AC unit that came with a WiFi module option and I use This integration to control it (just swapped to it now that its more official to be able to install it as I was using a more manual install version for it, had to restart HA every so often when it would not respond to commands so will update if this one does the same):

GitHub - bigmoby/fglair_for_homeassistant: ❄️ FGLair heat pump controller...

I have the following automation setup with mine at this time based on my energy provider cost times via schedule helpers and I have cooling/heating and fan controls mapped to my streamdeck xl for quick access to manual controls when at my desk:

alias: "AC: Electricity Peak, Off Peak, Shoulder Usage"
description: ""
trigger:
  - platform: state
    entity_id:
      - schedule.electricity_peak_time
    from: "off"
    to: "on"
    for:
      hours: 0
      minutes: 0
      seconds: 30
    id: "Electricity Peak Time: 2p-8p Mon-Fri - 48c"
  - platform: state
    entity_id:
      - schedule.electricity_off_peak_times
    from: "off"
    to: "on"
    for:
      hours: 0
      minutes: 0
      seconds: 30
    id: "Electricity Off Peak Times: 10p-7a All Week - 21.5c"
  - platform: state
    entity_id:
      - schedule.electricity_shoulder_times
    from: "off"
    to: "on"
    for:
      hours: 0
      minutes: 0
      seconds: 30
    id: "Electricity Shoulder Times: 7a-10p Sat-Sun, 7a-2p & 8p-10p Mon-Fri - 31c"
  - platform: zone
    entity_id: device_tracker.myphone
    zone: zone.home
    event: leave
    id: Leave Home
condition: []
action:
  - choose:
      - conditions:
          - condition: trigger
            id:
              - "Electricity Off Peak Times: 10p-7a All Week"
              - >-
                Electricity Shoulder Times: 7a-10p Sat-Sun, 7a-2p & 8p-10p
                Mon-Fri - 31c
          - condition: and
            conditions:
              - type: is_temperature
                condition: device
                device_id: 
                entity_id: 
                domain: sensor
                below: 20
              - condition: device
                device_id: 
                domain: device_tracker
                entity_id: 
                type: is_home
        sequence:
          - service: climate.turn_on
            metadata: {}
            data: {}
            target:
              entity_id: climate.home_ac
          - service: climate.set_temperature
            target:
              entity_id: climate.home_ac
            data:
              temperature: 25
              hvac_mode: heat
          - service: climate.set_fan_mode
            metadata: {}
            data:
              fan_mode: Diffuse
        alias: Heating in Winter
      - conditions:
          - condition: trigger
            id:
              - "Electricity Off Peak Times: 10p-7a All Week - 21.5c"
              - >-
                Electricity Shoulder Times: 7a-10p Sat-Sun, 7a-2p & 8p-10p
                Mon-Fri - 31c
          - condition: and
            conditions:
              - type: is_temperature
                condition: device
                device_id:
                entity_id:
                domain: sensor
                above: 30
              - condition: device
                device_id:
                domain: device_tracker
                entity_id:
                type: is_home
        sequence:
          - service: climate.turn_on
            metadata: {}
            data: {}
            target:
              entity_id: climate.home_ac
          - service: climate.set_temperature
            target:
              entity_id: climate.home_ac
            data:
              temperature: 25
              hvac_mode: cool
          - service: climate.set_fan_mode
            metadata: {}
            data:
              fan_mode: Diffuse
        alias: Cooling in Summer
      - conditions:
          - condition: trigger
            id:
              - "Electricity Peak Time: 2p-8p Mon-Fri - 48c"
              - Leave Home
        sequence:
          - service: climate.turn_off
            target:
              entity_id:
                - climate.home_ac
            data: {}
        alias: Turn off AC when Peak Cost/Leave Home
mode: single

Yes if your model does not have an integration at the time then you can use an IR blaster hub to control it, you just need to program it with the remote codes for your model if a profile does not already exist at the time to use (I prefer the integration route as I don’t have to listen to the beeps lol and I don’t want to damage it trying to rip out the speaker that handles that).

[Karosm]

@cidra

is the MSAGBU-12HRFN8 from Midea.

It should be compatible with wifi dongle SLWF-01.

There is long thread about Midea:

Which Aircondition (Heat/Cool) can be controlled by HA

Nope, this is not the one you want. This is some kind of a “hub”, that you don’t need, and I don’t know if this is usable aka is to flash with ESPHome. EDIT: I’m so sorry, I accidentally confused the Wifi-Kit for this A/C unit with the ESP-dongle model name! I’m so sorry! What I wrote underneath is still valid, but doesn’t fit to your question, sorry! What you “need” is a model, where you won’t get the dongle with it. That would be the cheapest…

[paddy0174 (Patrick)]

For what I know, there are only two manufacturers, where you can replace the cloud based service with a local only option - Midea and Mitsubishi (I don’t know, which one, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries or Mitsubishi Airco?).

All others seem to require some kind of internet connection to work. As I wanted to be independent from internet and cloud, I chose a Midea A/C and can’t report any problems in five years. Neither with the unit itself, nor with the ESPHome dongle to control it. It just runs smoothly and makes my life much easier (and colder )!

As Midea is a very big manufacturer of A/Cs, they do produce for different brands and label the units. That’s why we started a list to see, what brands and models are known working with the ESPHome dongle (self built or bought) locally:

Midea A/C and ESPHome component - list of all known working models and manufacturers

As an addition to the thread “Support for Midea A/C” this thread is intended to setup a (hopefully) complete list of all working models from different manufacturers. Please add your data in a new post to this thread, I’ll update the first post accordingly. If you want to discuss the component or have any questions, please use the above mentioned thread! This thread is only for listing the different models, where the ESPHome component is working. I’ll setup a note in the telegram…

In that topic you will also find the link to the support topic, where you can find a few links to plug&play dongles as well as guides to built it yourself (no soldering necessary). Have fun!

[Karosm]

@paddy0174

For what I know, there are only two manufacturers, where you can replace the cloud based service with a local only option - Midea and Mitsubishi

I have Daikin with local HTTP api.

[paddy0174 (Patrick)]

Someone got that working? That’s great to hear! Does that work without the need for the cloud in the beginning or do you have to use the cloud at least once? Nevermind, I’ll go and check that topic myself, sounds interesting!

Thanks for the tip, I’ll keep that in mind!

[Karosm]

@paddy0174

Does that work without the need for the cloud in the beginning or do you have to use the cloud at least once?

I don’t know, because I was using the cloud already before I decided to integrate it to my PV power diversion setup.