I was working on calculation of “efficiency” formula of my ventilation unit today and I’ve come to following idea.
openHAB currently have no way to “propose” new things (or rather items) which could be added to runtime based on other available items and their metadata (called semantics as far I understand). For example a very basic electricity meter or water meter or pulse converter can report always increasing value such as “water consumption”. It is possible to calculate “water flow”, “power consumption” and so on based on updates on this thing. Yet there is no easy way to let user know that there is applicable formula available for him. We do have rule templates, however I haven’t seen many examples of their use.
For me, a (very) lazy user such thing would be a very good addon which would allow to tune my setup quickly and provide useful insights into my house. More over making such formulas somewhat available at public index allows to advice users on what kind of input they might add in their homes to get more useful insights.
A prime example could be a recuperation unit where it is possible to calculate temperature efficiency. Some units have only supply temperature sensor and lack “efficiency” report from controller. Adding two additional sensors on pipes (return from building, intake) allows to measure temperature efficiency. With air flow sensor (built-in or additional) it is possible to calculate reclaimed power.
On top of above a basic power meter of the ventilation unit circuit it is possible to calculate power efficiency of the machine (reclaimed/consumed power).
I believe there is even more generic examples which could add a “gamification” factor to OH, increase user experience (let say), let users optimize their properties easier, tune Wife Acceptance Factor and promote re-use of most common computation logic. Do you see above conversation happening:
- My dear, could you please pick up next optimization or finding we look for in our house?
Remember that acceptance factor depends on person who made decision about investment, so let them decide!
Cheers,
Łukasz