Demand Control

Energy
1

Hello I am new to this site. I am trying to control loads during on peak times for my customers by disabling certain loads if there is too much coming from the grid (demand management) So im looking at using the shelly pro 3EM Energy meter and some of the shelly plus 1 with contactors to control loads like the water heater ect. I want to prioritize the loads to keep under a certain threshold.Thanks.

2

What’s your question?

3

I am not aware of any generalized solution for electric demand control in HA. There is a forecasting/optimization add-on called EMHass, but it seems to be for advanced users, and I doubt it addresses your need precisely.

I developed my own very-specific automation for controlling heat pump power demand by comparing total consumed power to solar generation. I’m saving 50-60% on my annual power costs. But it’s only for my situation and power pricing plan.

There are home load/demand controllers that cut power to designated loads based on net power draw from the grid and time of day. There is also “Smart Home Power Management”, which is similar but more flexible. Here is an article from a vendor: Residential Load Controller

You might imagine developing a solution on your own for a customer or two, but if you want to cover many customers and individual needs it could get quite complex.

4

Here is a tread on a blueprint that may be of interest to you.

Using excess solar

5

Thanks for the help. I was trying to use shelly devices to create a system like the lumin product hoping to save on the cost for the customer. Do you think this would be easy to do using shelly and Node red?

6

Hi @BCIsolar (Adam),

I did not investigate the blueprint for you. Node Red is very powerful, so if you are (like me) willing to learn just a little javascript then you can do almost anything you want, as long as your devices function as you desire.

I did my own Node Red project for controlling electric demand for two heat pumps, but the application is very specific to my case. The link to the original summary post is below. I’m in the process of porting everything to Home Assistant and expect to be finished within the next month or two.

Electric Savings with Solar and Load Control