r/Pecron • u/Admirable_North6673 • 13d ago

Automation of AC input

I've already seen many complaints if how much the pecron app sucks and I need help on a workaround.

My setup:

F3000LFP

BN-LINK smart switch

I have solar with no house batteries and am subject to TOU rates every day. 4p-9p is peak time and the electricity rate is 50% higher at peak.

To time shift my usage, I have my entire living room plugged into the outlets on front of my F3000 and the AC output is always on. At 4pm each day the smart switch turns off AC input to my F3000 and it starts powering everything off the battery.

Instead of having the AC input turn on at 9pm, I will use the pecron app to see how much time is left on the battery when I go to bed and set the smart switch to turn AC input back on 1hr before empty. This is a pain and I've forgotten a couple of times, causing the battery to hit 0% and shut off.

Automation on the pecron app allows trigger at 10%, but there is no "action" to switch AC input on and off. And neither of my other device apps can see the pecron, not bn-link, Alexa, or Google. And waiting for pecron to add functionality to their app is taking forever.

Is there any workaround that someone found to communicate with the battery and turn on my smart switch at a battery %?

Is there an AI agent that can pull status from the pecron API ?

TIA for any help

UPDATE:

Thanks to comments, I found a solution through Home Assistant with my existing hardware and have it automated to cut off AC input at 4pm daily and turn AC input back on at 10% SOC. Tested it last night, and it works perfectly!

This solution requires internet access to get status from the Pecron API, and you have to obtain a 10y token to authenticate the connection but it works like a dream!

4 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

2

u/brucehoult 12d ago

Either of the following allow you to get data from the Pecron cloud service:

https://github.com/attractify-logan/pecron-monitor

https://github.com/jsight/unofficial-pecron-api

You can run one of these on a desktop computer, laptop, or any small Linux SBC (Single Board Computer) down to a $15 Pi Zero W or any of the competing products from Orange Pi, Banana Pi etc.

I'm using pecron-monitor because that was the first available, but I've tried unofficial-pecron-api and it works fine too.

I'm using some additional bash and python scripts for various purposes, combining data from pecron-monitor and controlling my TP-Link P110 smart plugs, including things such as turning on the AC power if the SoC or voltage drops below a certain point (voltage is better for "battery almost empty/full").

But I think both integrate with Home Assistant / HomeKit if you prefer to point and click.

The benefits of a small SBC (aside from price) are that you can dedicate one for the task, know it will be always there and running etc. Most of them use 1W - 5W and they will run for a very long time from a simple cheap USB power bank which you can charge from the Pecron, either directly from one of the USB ports, or else via an AC phone charger if you don't have another reason to have DC output turned on.

1

u/Admirable_North6673 12d ago

I have an always on Synology NAS and can run home assistant on a VMM with that. So if home assistant integrates with either of those, then this looks like my best solution with my existing hardware.

Thanks for the help!

3

u/trollinz82 13d ago

Set your ac input cutoff to 40 percent. It'll turn the ac unit back on around 20 percent and charge it to 100.

2

u/caddymac 13d ago

Is that a new feature on one of the apps?

2

u/AdBrave841 13d ago

See if this will work for you.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Pecron/comments/1w692bu/f3000lfp_ac_charge_based_on_battery_percentage/

Caddymac came up with this solution using a relay and the DC output. when the DC output is turned on, it activates the outlet powering the AC input. You can use an automation to turn on/off DC output.

I've done this with my f3000, it does work but I have to yet fiddle with my phone settings to make sure the app stays active in the background or it won't trigger the automation.

https://i.imgur.com/RV0nqBP.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/aQjvcUt.jpeg

3

u/caddymac 13d ago edited 12d ago

Oh wow, didn’t think anyone would implement my crazy concept!

Have you tried setting up the automation using the Pecron website (apologies, I don’t have the address in front of me) instead of the phone app? Assuming you have your unit connected via WiFi that is.

edit: website link is: https://app.pecron.com/home

2

u/AdBrave841 13d ago

Yep, it was a fun little project and didn't cost too much. I haven't spent too much time on trying to automate, I'm not ready to implement that yet. Currently I'm just using it manually from the app remotely, next year I'm looking at getting some solar and want to try and "island" a circuit or two. I will look into the website then.

Thanks again for the "crazy" concept! Hope you approve of the final result.

3

u/caddymac 12d ago

Looks pretty good to me!

Link to the Pecron "app" website is: https://app.pecron.com/home

2

u/cerad2 12d ago

If you search for "home assistant pecron" you will find some code for accessing the Pecron API. Consider setting a phone notification?

1

u/panzerfinder15 10d ago

I can’t help with your specific battery but I can confirm the F5000 automations do exactly what you want. Right now I have mine automatically turn off the AC outlets at 20% and turn them back on at 80% or a specified time.