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Get started

This guide will walk you through the steps needed to set up your new Home Assistant Glow. You'll go through connecting the hardware, installing the necessary software, and configuring the settings to get everything up and running smoothly.

Step 1: Hardware​

To get started, you need the right hardware first, fill your 🛒 or see if you already have the components in house. Choose between an ESP32 (recommended) or ESP8266.

Nr.ItemShops
1.ESP32 (recommended)AliExpressAliExpressBanggood
1.ESP8266AliExpressAliExpressBanggood
2.Dupont Jumpers (female to female)AliExpressAliExpressBanggood
3.LM393 PhotodiodeAliExpressAliExpressBanggood
4.LED RGB 5mm 4 pin - kathodeAliExpressAliExpressBanggood

If you would like to prototype, I can also recommend the following items:

Nr.ItemShop
1.ESP32 Development Expansion Board (optional)AliExpress
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Keep in mind that besides the photodiode board there are also boards in circulation with an LDR. The expansion board is optional, but makes it easier to connect and prototype with the components.

How everything should be connected can be found on the wiring diagram. Once this is done, you can proceed to step 2.

Step 2: Install firmware​

Use the method below to provide your ESP with the correct firmware.

Make sure this page is opened in a Chromium-based browser on a desktop. The software installation does not work with a tablet or phone.

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If your device does not appear in the list, make sure you are using a USB data cable (i.e., not power-only), and try installing the driver for the serial chip.

  1. Click the blue connect button below, a pop-up window will appear with a list of available USB devices.
  2. Plug the USB cable into the ESP and connect it to your computer.
  3. In the pop-up window, there should now appear a new entry. Select this USB serial port and click Connect.
  4. Choose Install Home Assistant Glow, then click Install.
    • If the installation does not go well, you may need to first hold down the boot button and then click Install.
  5. Once the installation is completed, click Next.
    • Add the Home Assistant Glow to your Wi-Fi network:
      • When prompted, select your network from the list and enter the credentials to your 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network.
      • Click Connect.
      • The Home Assistant Glow is now connected to your network.
  6. Congratulations 🎉 You have successfully installed the firmware on your Home Assistant Glow.

Step 3: Connect to Home Assistant​

You have two options to add the Home Assistant Glow to Home Assistant.

Option 1: During firmware installation​

  1. Immediately after setting up your Wi-Fi network (from step 2), you will see a screen with the option Add to Home Assistant.
    • This opens the My link to Home Assistant (see image below).
      • If you have not used My Home Assistant before, you will need to configure it. If your Home Assistant URL is not accessible on http://homeassistant.local:8123, replace it with the URL to your Home Assistant instance.
  2. Click on Open the link.
  3. It opens your Home Assistant instance and asks you to set up, click OK.
  4. Congratulations 🎉 You have successfully added the Home Assistant Glow to your Home Assistant instance.

Option 2: Auto discovery​

When the Home Assistant Glow is added to a network to which your Home Assistant instance is also connected, your device will automatically be recognized in Home Assistant.

  1. Under Settings > Devices & Services, your Home Assistant Glow should be discovered (see image below).
  2. Click on Configure, at the discovered device.
  3. It asks if you want to add the device and click Submit.
  4. Congratulations 🎉 You have successfully added the Home Assistant Glow to your Home Assistant instance.

Step 4: Configure​

In order for the measurements to run smoothly, it is important to set the correct pulse rate. Each meter with a pulse LED has a marking with an imp/kWh value, for example 1000, 2000, etc. The Home Assistant Glow will use the value 1000 by default, because this is a commonly used value in the Netherlands.

You can adjust the value in 2 ways:

Option 1: Via the web interface​

You open the web server by going to the IP address of your Home Assistant Glow, where you will find the line Pulse rate - imp/kWh in the table and you can then adjust it on the right.

Option 2: In Home Assistant​

  1. Go to the device overview page of the Home Assistant Glow, via Settings > Devices & Services > ESPHome.
  2. Adjust the value for the entity Pulse rate - imp/kWh.

For problems with the measurements, see the FAQ page.

Step 5: Print Enclosure​

The last step is to print a housing, the files for this can be found on the cases page. If you do not have a 3D printer, there are platforms where you could place a print job or mount the Home Assistant Glow in a creative way 🙃 (my first concept was with cardboard).

Step 6: Sit back and relax​

Congratulations 🎉 You have gone successfully through everything to get started with the Home Assistant Glow 🌟 If you have any questions, please check the FAQ page first and if you can't find the answer there, you can always ask your question on the Github.

Disclamer​

Affiliate links are used on this website to support the Home Assistant Glow 🌟 project. Some Ad-blockers might block these links, and thus they seem to appear broken. You will have to temporarily disable ad-blocker to open these links.

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This page contains content derived from the Upsy Desky documentation by TJ Horner. The derived content is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.