Utility meters don't show up when created in yaml but do when created in ui

Configuration
1

I’ve created some utility meters in UI (helper). As the number is growing and there is much copy & paste, I want to make it easier and more (human) readable so I decided to continue by defining new ones in yaml.
My preferred way: subfolders and topic related yaml files:
config/entities/utility_meters/electricity.yaml (water.yaml… you name it)

The problem:

  1. utility meters create in UI (helper) are shown and usable immediately (as expected)
  2. utility meters from a custom component (I think it’s a Solaredge addon/integration), defined in yamls, included via
homeassistant:
  packages: !include_dir_named packages

→ OK (shown as entities and usable)

  1. MY new utility meters like this one
utility_meter:
  ###### Eigenverbrauch ######
  eigenverbrauch_hourly_valid:
    source: sensor.eigenverbrauch_strom
    name: Eigenverbrauch (hourly)
    cycle: hourly
    periodically_resetting: false

don’t show up at all. Yes, I restarted in different ways:

  • dev-tools → reload yaml
  • dev-tools → all yamls
  • dev-tools → restart HA
  • reboot the whole PC

again and again.

I have tried different ways either:

  • use the utility meter in configuration.yaml directly → NOK
  • move the strom.yaml to /config and include like template: !include templates.yaml (templates work fine) → NOK
  • define the utility meter in existing yaml from packages folder (see above: UMs from the solaredge component work fine) → NOK
  • move strom.yaml to packages folder → NOK
  • move strom.yaml to my preferred folder structure (see above) and include with different approaches (dir_named, merge, …) → NOK

current version of HA 2023.12.4.

Do you have any idea how to create and include my yamls to get it work?

Thanks a lot!
Andi

2

have you looked in the homeassistant.log file to see if there are related errors?

if you want to use !include then you need to do this (using your example structure):

in configuration.yaml (assuming you have a folder ‘entities/utility_meters/’ in your config folder)

utility_meter: !include_dir_merge_list entities/utility_meters/

then put the strom.yaml file in the above folder and put this in that file

  eigenverbrauch_hourly_valid:
    source: sensor.eigenverbrauch_strom
    name: Eigenverbrauch (hourly)
    cycle: hourly
    periodically_resetting: false

and I think it should work after restarting HA

3

thanks for your reply. Unfortunately no entry in the log(s). merge_list doesn’t work. I have tried all options for include, without success.
Any other logs I could look into?

4

Yeah, my bad I used the wrong include.

try this instead:

utility_meter: !include_dir_merge_named entities/utility_meters/

those aren’t lists they are dictionaries so you need to use “named” and not “list”.

I just tested it on my config and it works.

5

Is there any way to get a log of the loading of this config? I have a similar symptom but I’ve just placed the utility_meter: section directly in my configuration.yaml. It loads fine and there is nothing in the system log. None of the utility meter sensors gets created. I can create these through the UI, except I can’t use the cron: syntax there. I’m trying to use this to track the run times of some sump pit pumps. I have a working on duration calculation and a cycle count. Then I am trying to do the following:

utility_meter:
  pit_pump_hourly_runtime:
    source: sensor.pit_pump_on_duration
    name: Pit Pump Hourly Run Time
    cycle: hourly
  pit_pump_hourly_cycle_count:
    source: sensor.pit_pump_cycle_count
    name: Pit Pump Hourly Cycle Count
    cycle: hourly

The underlying sensors seem fine, but the utility meters don’t create.

Any suggestions for troubleshooting appreciated

6

Apparently this is user error. Utility Meters only load when you completely restart HA, they are not responsive to YAML reload. I’m not sure if that’s documented, I never found it, but I found some others with the same issue.

2 Likes
7

Hi there - I found this thread because of the exact same issue - I tried putting quotes around the name and then did a Dev Tools → All YAML Configuration, and all of a sudden it appeared in my entities