Introduction
This project presents a reliable and automated way to monitor and integrate a water-water heat pump (WW HP) from the Czech manufacturer Spirala, specifically model WW10V, with Home Assistant (HA). The approach is based on data scraping via Selenium (Chromium) on Twister OS and sending all critical system parameters via MQTT to HA for visualization and automation.
Motivation
Most Spirala heat pumps do not offer official API access or Modbus control. However, they do provide a web interface (http://vpktc.eu) which, although basic, displays all important metrics. I needed a way to extract this data continuously and reliably, even after system reboots, and have it show up in Home Assistant for real-time overview and automation control.
Hardware and System Setup
- Raspberry Pi 5 running Twister OS (for scraping)
- Raspberry Pi 4 running Home Assistant OS (for smart home control)
- Spirala WW10V Heat Pump from a Czech company with online monitoring (http://vpktc.eu)
- MQTT Broker running on HA (Mosquitto)
- Chromium + Selenium setup for automated login and data scraping
Technical Solution
- Python script with Selenium
- Logs in to http://vpktc.eu with credentials
- Waits for the dynamic data to load
- Scrapes multiple critical metrics from prom.php (e.g. water temperatures, flow rates, valve positions, error states)
- Publishes them to corresponding MQTT topics every 2-3 minutes
- Keeps the session alive by periodically switching between prom.php and ovladani.php
- MQTT Discovery Script
- Sends MQTT discovery messages so that HA automatically creates sensors
- Each sensor has name, unit, device class, and friendly icon
- Home Assistant Integration
- MQTT sensors are displayed in Lovelace
- Automations and alerts (e.g. low input temperature warning, freezing risk at evaporator) run based on the values
Monitored Parameters
- Real-time compressor output (%)
- Inlet/outlet water temperatures (primary and secondary loops)
- Valve opening levels
- Circulation pump performance
- Evaporator temperature (critical for freezing risk)
- Fault states and reason for non-operation (e.g. expensive tariff, no demand)
Benefits
- No hardware modifications to the heat pump
- Complete integration into Home Assistant with automations
- Visual dashboard of system health and performance
- Resilient to reboot: systemd service ensures script runs on boot
Limitations
- Depends on stable internet access and proper behavior of http://vpktc.eu
- Might require updates if web layout changes
Conclusion
This project demonstrates how even a ‘closed’ system like a Spirala WW10V Heat Pump can be tamed and turned into a smart, monitored, and automated part of your smart home. If anyone needs help or would like to build a similar setup, feel free to reach out.
Let’s make our heat pumps smarter!