twrecked/hass-virtual v0.10.0-alpha.4

version 0.10.0-alpha.4

on GitHub

🌟 What's New in v0.10.0-alpha.4

1. Appliance Load Simulation & Power Profiling

Virtual power sensors can now simulate realistic appliance loads coupled to a controlling smart plug or relay switch:

• Switch Coupling & Power Invariants:
  • The power sensor monitors its linked_switch.
  • When the switch is turned off, power immediately drops to 0.0 W.
  • When the switch is turned on, power immediately restores to the current appliance state (standby_power vs active_power).
• Recurring Scheduled Duty Cycles (Water Heaters, Compressors, Heat Pumps):
  • Configure cycle_duration (e.g. 600 for 10 minutes) and cycle_interval (e.g. 3600 for 1 hour).
  • Configure cycle_align: "hour" to synchronize with the clock (e.g. heating for the first 10 minutes past every hour).
• Realistic Jitter / Variance:
  • Optional variance parameter (e.g. ±1.5 W) introduces small fluctuations so energy dashboard graphs look natural.
• Rich Introspection for AppDaemon & Automation Testing:
  • Exposes load_state (active, standby, off), control_mode (auto, override), cycle_active, cycle_remaining, and next_cycle_start in extra_state_attributes.

2. New Services

• virtual.set_load: Set the operating state (active, standby, off, or auto to resume schedule) or inject custom power wattage.
• virtual.run_cycle: Trigger an active appliance cycle for a specified duration in seconds, automatically reverting to standby or scheduled mode when complete.
• virtual.set_light: Pre-stage brightness, color (HS), color temperature (Kelvin), or effect without turning the light on (attribution: @Perlmint / PR #182).
• virtual.set_sim_speed: Dynamically accelerate or decelerate thermal HVAC simulation time for test suites.

3. Closed-Loop Thermal HVAC & House Simulation Engine

Added physical thermal modeling to climate entities:

• House Thermal Dynamics & Weather Sync:
  • Links to an outdoor_sensor to track ambient weather.
  • Models passive heat leakage (house_leakage_rate): the house naturally loses or gains heat towards outdoor ambient temperature.
  • Physical boundary: Without active heating/cooling, the house cannot drift past outdoor ambient temperature.
• Intelligent Staging & Electrical Power Draw:
  • Stage 2 Heat (3.0°C/hr, ~3800W) in freezing conditions (<0°C) or large setpoint gaps (>1.5°C).
  • Stage 1 Heat (1.5°C/hr, ~1800W) in moderate cold.
  • Stage 2 Cool (-3.0°C/hr, ~2800W) in heatwaves (>30°C) or large setpoint gaps (>1.5°C).
  • Stage 1 Cool (-1.5°C/hr, ~1400W) in mild heat.
  • Fan (-0.2°C/hr, ~120W) in fan_only mode.
  • Idle/Standby (~10W) and Off (0W).
• Automatic Sensor Synchronization:
  • Updates indoor_sensor with the computed room temperature in real-time.
  • Updates power_sensor with active electrical wattage.
• Simulation Speed Control:
  • Configurable sim_speed multiplier and virtual.set_sim_speed service (e.g. sim_speed: 10.0 for 10x fast forward during testing).

4. Binary Sensor Brains: Auto-Off Timeouts & Device Gating

Added intelligent simulation capabilities to binary_sensor (motion, sound, occupancy, etc.):

• Auto-Off Timeouts (off_delay):
  • Automatically resets the sensor back to off after off_delay seconds.
  • Re-triggering the sensor while active resets and extends the countdown timer.
  • Enhanced virtual.turn_on service with an optional duration field (e.g. duration: 10) to pulse the sensor for testing.
• Device Gating (linked_entity):
  • Link motion or sound sensors to cameras, switches, or other devices.
  • Sensors can only trigger when the linked device is powered on.
  • If the linked camera/device powers off while motion is active, the binary sensor immediately clears to off.
• Introspection:
  • Exposes off_delay, linked_entity, and time_remaining in extra_state_attributes.

5. Virtual Device Editor Updates

• Added appliance load simulation settings directly to the Sensor card in the visual editor.
• Added a pre-configured Water Heater device template with scheduled 10-minute hourly heating cycles.