As nice as at least an IR connection is, this can’t be recommended. It is really only if nothing else works good.
IR has the big disadvantage, that you only have an uni-directional component. You never know the actual state of the device, it is always only an assumption. That is not really the way to go, especially not, if you buy new. In this case you should always prefer an A/C unit, that is connectable via some kind of bi-directional communication. 
Indeed, no feedback.
However, the IR control does allow additional sensors to be configured (f.e. power measurement as power on/off)
My Mitsubishi has power (i mean kWh used) measurent already as factory default, with original wifi module and cloud integration. Although i didn’t find yet how (if possible at all) to reset power to zero. But, honestly, i didn’t look much yet…
There is I have all my mitsubishi connected with a 2 euro wemos d1 mini on the cn105 with tasmota firmware. Rock solid, cheap and it works with mqtt on my lan. No cloud.
How do you control A/C? With IR commands?
No, connected to TX/RX on the CN105 port. Google is your friend
Aha… well, since i now have original wifi module, and since it works quite nicely well, i’ll stick with that for now. But, i will do some digging, just in case…thanks for the tip.
it works till mitsubishi cloud or your internet work Integrating Mitsubishi Air-Con (HVAC) with Home Assistant via NodeMCU running Tasmota – isaiahchia (but I prefer to use a wemos d1 mini, add a logic level shifter because the AC operates at 5V and the esp at 3,3V, a capacitor to smooth the 5V from the AC and finally test your CN105 because my connector is in reverse order).
Well, a year or two ago when i bought A/C their cloud was pretty slow. When i sent any command (via HA or via Cloud app) i’ve got a message like “command will be executed at … (time)” this time was usually aprrox. 30 seconds after i gave command, so execution was pretty laggy. Now execution is immediate, so i guess they corrected this lag.
Also my internet is stable, melcloud also, so i haven’t any problems. If they’ll appear i’ll think about oging direct, sure.
I’m planning to buy A/C and lookig to C&H as one of the local suppliers I trust recomend exactly C&H (not sure how they are reliable ac A/C to be honest)
But as you mentioned that C&H works with HA maybe can give some advises on AC models or maybe what feature shloud have AC to be controlled via HA. Or it is some extention module that is supported just by limited models.
Thanks for any info
i asked to have all models with Wifi, and that pretty much does the trick. You have to use HA with local connect because if you use the app on the phone (which is horrible behind imagination) if you share that with some then they log the other person out. That doesn’t happen with local control. You do need the app to do the wifi (use 2.4ghz not 5) and so far seems to be ok, make sure you give them a static ip too since i did have some issues that they would loose connection since HA thinks it another ip and they tend to talk to dhcp every now and then (they loose connection in between)
Model wise, if they support wifi, your good. But some higher models have some more options like swing left/right where the cheaper models only swing up and down. Keep in mind that if you want to use them to heat your house if they say 3.5kw is fine for cooling, then 5kw might be best to also allow heating in the winter. I’ve seen C&H also abroad in places and they also fall under the name “gree” which the integration uses. There is an app called ewpa i think out of my head, also horrible they might give you that but if you download the gree app it uses the SAME credentials. Go figure out whats the deai with that right?
Thanks a lot for so detailed explanation. Mainly I use HA to controll all devices localy without cloud and have build separate solution to access HA from the internet (Cloud Flare tunnel initiated by HA) so it fits to what I want to achieve - HA or physical remote controll only. You mentioned one more interesting thing - Its Gree protocol, I’ve seen Gree A/C too. Do you aware if they are kind of simlar devices or just using the same controll protocoll?
C&H is powered by gree as far as i am aware so under the hood uses the same things. I have seen “gree” A/C abroad too. Was looking for C&H integration only to find out that anything gree works with them too.
Great post and information here!
Does someone know a mobil AC which can also heat and is compatible with homeassistant?
Would be very happy for any hint!
Awesome, will this work for other brands?
as far as I know, only with Mitsubishi Elettric (connection with tx-rx) and mitsubishi heavy industries (connection with ic2 o spi, I don’t remember exactly). The problem is to reverse engineering the communication between the AC and the original microcontroller.
Living in a hot climate, and renting , I went through more types of AC and their attempt to automate. Some notes:
Hi there, just planning my AC setup over here in Vienna and wondering whether you went with the Mitsubishi and whether things went smooth and you are still happy with the setup? Thanks
Just for info: I connected my AC on esphome these days. I’ve had original mitsubishi wifi module a couple of years and never had problems so far, but lately there were quite a few problems, so i wanted to try local version. For now (a couple of days) works like a charm. Indoor unit is MZS-AP25MGK. I used pretty much sample yaml from github page (just changed names, added fixed IP and connection monitor led)
Samsung ACs can be locally integrated via ESPHome and they are sold everywhere in Europe: AC Units with Local Support as of February 2024 - #2 by kotrfa