Relatively new to HA still. I’m quickly realizing how powerful it is, in that it collects so much data from my home automation. I’d like to start making some dashboards to be able to review that data, to analyze and solve problems.
When I worked in a manufacturing environment, we did this all the time, to view data from around the plant. Used an application called PI Processbook. It was relatively easy and all done through a GUI. Everything was intuitive through the GUI - add multiple data points, change scaling, scroll, set time periods, etc.
Why is it so complicated and un-intuitive to create graphs in HA? I’ve tried all of the integrations: Apex Charts, Plotly, Mini Graph, etc., and it seems I need to know how to code to create anything useful. I’m not a coder. To create a simple line graph which shows power consumption and two temperatures, on the same chart, with two axes, which can be scaled to different time periods and scrolled backwards in time has been impossible. I’ve spent DAYS trying to learn the code for each, only to find out each of them has slightly different inadequacies. Some of the chart integrations don’t scroll across time periods. Some don’t allow multiple data points on the same chart, or don’t allow multiple axes.
I would have thought with the power of data in this platform, this would be much, much easier to accomplish through a GUI.
Is it possible I’m just missing something? Interested in your thoughts as I continue to learn.
I agree that the chart options aren’t ideal (I’ve found Apex to be the most powerful, but there were still some basic things I was surprised it couldn’t do). I suspect part of it, is that the folks that really geek out on it play with the data outside of Home Assistant with their tool of choice.
I agree with Ben above, yes one have to learn about the specific Choice one go for, i also ended up for some cases Apex Charts, common is, Read the Docs for that specific, And even the ORIG Apex-Chart web-site https://apexcharts.com/ .
Another Option for specific purpose i use “custom:history-explorer-card” which could be something you could use
probably has something to do with extreme price difference between PI Processbook and HA. Most of the code that makes HA great is written and supported by volunteers and the payed employees can only do so much.
Feel free to purchase HA cloud or any of their hardware products (https://www.nabucasa.com/). This will allow HA to employ more people to make their product better for everyone.
Also, If there are any integrations that provide value to you that have a “buy me a coffee” link… use it. Time = $$$, it takes both to make good software.
Thanks - and I apologize if my post came off as critical. I see data and analytics as one of the most powerful features of HA, and I wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing a more convenient method as a new user.
True, Another aspect is they can’t simply not incorporate how much Resource depending features as Ones own specific needs can emagine, The HA Default software would be humongous and nothing for i.e a small PI/Green etc, nor less for a specific end Devices/Browsers capabilities over i.e WIFI or Phoneline/internet
Some desires to request huge amount of datas, is “someone” own choice/decisions, which requires sufficient Hardware/Software and Connections
Yes i was about to suggest that to, but OP has not provided information of his Hardware, and beside “relative new to HA” could also mean that Grafana with it’s “needs” might be to overwhelming , depending upon how much data he intends to store and show
Was just about to say the exact thing. i use basic graphs for every day things and always jump to grafana to analyze the data fully. there is a grafana addon, and i think you need influxdb too to log the data for grafana to work… but its my go-to for anything “graphy”
I’m not accusing you of anything, just reminding that context matters.
To most people, even with the right tools this graph is not simple. You’ve had training with a VERY expensive tool to make it simple to you. This is awesome and i’m very happy you’ve had this opportunity… but it’s not reflective of most tools capabilities.
HA absolutely has a room for improvements, but it will take contributions from people like me and you and everybody else who use the product to get there. Till then you can easily display all this data right now, just maybe not all on the same chart.
I’m guilty of overthinking stuff myself, sometimes the “easier way” is KISS. It’s a lesson i keep having to relearn
I’ll need to review Grafana as an option, will take me some time to understand the architecture and if I can manage it.
Right now HA is running on a TrueNAS server which also serves as my media server and runs a few other applications. It’s a 9th gen i7 with 22TB of storage. Fairly basic. I have multiple other servers in operation for surveillance and backups, and I also have some hardware to configure more as needed.
I use PI Vision at work too… Grafana is much the same… is kinda one where you can just click around till you figure it out. watch a couple of videos and you can make some pretty good dashboards…
the best part is the averaging, filtering and combining data. with influxdb you can save years of data… i have 12months of high res data for all sensors… useful when monitoring seasonal changes in power generations and usage.
With Grafana, you can choose optional DB, i.e as Add-On or standalone, which you also can do for HA ( Using i.e Maria DB, as Add-On or stand alone , both HA and Grafana )
No reason why not to set them up individual , Difference you need to know howto get in into HA, in short “last time i bordered” it was actually a “stand alone” integration in HA, as it was “difficult” to use i.e tress-holds in Grafana as triggers i HA, as you need Webhooks or other ways to communicate with HA, so this goes either ways, unless the Add-On now have made it easier
NOTE: If you only are after the Views of Statistics the Add-On could be an easy choice, however it will LOAD HA, depending upon how much DATA you store/record/Views
And this load will be on the “price” of other HA tasks , so it might be a benefit for your use-case, if you install in Outside HA
As a standalone Grafana, you can also “ADD” i.e VIEWs in either WebPage-Dashboards or “Markup/iframe” Cards in HA
