Collecting Power and Gas Meter Data for Home Assistant using Raspberry Pi and SDR

[@Rickmakes]

If you found this video helpful and would like to support my channel, check out my Home Assistant Idea List on Amazon: amzn.to/3tyTzeD (Amazon Affiliate) Thank you!

[@7null]

Fantastic thanks for the demo. Just 1 of 1000 projects I want to tackle

[@rakonod]

Thank you for putting together an easy to follow guide. I never worked in YAML before but your tutorial made it simple!

[@caffeinatedw-w]

Thank you, this helped me set up the Itron gas meter, appreciate your videos!

[@Rickmakes]

Glad to hear! I know this isn't going to work for everyone but I'm glad to hear that it is helping at least some people.

[@-someone-.]

Awesome. Thanks!

[@bradmesserle999]

Very nice video.. only gap I would like filled is setting up mqtt on ha. Other than that very good instructional video.

[@terryevans1976]

Great video. Thanks!

[@chadbeebe2561]

Is there a way to filter out a specific id from the data? I was able to see water meter data, but being in a subdivision there are a lot of water meters broadcasting their data.

[@deutschland09]

At the end of minute 5:29 you entered 912M for 912 megahertz and said that it was for this frequency. If I enter this number, will it also find devices below this frequency? I come from Europe, Germany to be precise, and here we have most devices with 868 MHz. Or do I have to enter "sudo rtl_433 -f 868M" so that the correct frequency is set?

[@Rickmakes]

You can enter different frequencies. I think it scans above and below the frequency you enter. I often use 433M to find sensors.

[@scubabeme]

@@Rickmakes Helpful video, even if the path to rtl_433 you show in the .service file doesn't exist. I found it and got it working (/usr/bin, not /usr/local/bin on my system). Also, I believe the program actually listens on the frequency specified, and occasionally/randomly the meter actually transmits on (or at least close enough) that frequency. I do know the meters are frequency agile. That has been presented in other YT videos.

[@louisviciedo]

out curiosity what power company/meter do you use? Trying to ascertain if AEP would be compatible

[@Rickmakes]

The power meter says "Schlumberger CENTRON" and the gas meter says "Itron". I have a water meter that says Aclara. It shows the frequencies on the box but from what I understand, it is encrypted. If you are tech savvy or just want to learn, it might be worth getting an SDR just to play around with.

[@fjleon]

my meter physically is showing "05985" however MQTT is showing "589555". Do i need to do something special like dividing between 100 or just use a different unit instead of kWh?

[@That3DPrintLife]

I get all the way to creating the service and start getting error codes. I was able to pull data before, however there is something with the service that will not allow me to move forward. I get a (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE) error. I have verified everything is correct too. Any ideas?

[@Rickmakes]

Can you past your service config as a comment (removing the username and password parameters)?

[@johnarensberg3121]

I found that rtl_433 was in /usr/bin instead of /usr/local/bin so.I made that change to the service config and it started with no problem.

[@KyleRogers0]

My services are encrypted. I'm assuming this the end of the road for my HA's dreams?

[@Rickmakes]

It is probably the end using this method. There are other methods using things like light sensors, hall effect sensors and cameras to read the meter.

[@GregDePasse]

Great video - thank you!!