add ignore_unavailable_state as global option

[Mariusthvdb]

as title, please add this so we only have to set it once, and not on all individual entities.

especially useful on eg groups, consisting of bulbs which actually get switched off from power.

btw, currently, this does not make the group show 0 watt, but it shows the standby_power registered on the bulbs (Hue ambiance lamp (LTW010)) ....

      - create_group: Dining table
        entities:
          - entity_id: light.dining_table_lamp_1
          - entity_id: light.dining_table_lamp_2
          - entity_id: light.dining_table_lamp_3
        ignore_unavailable_state: true

I had hoped the integration would translate the previous 'unavailable' to 0, and not the standby_power value

[bramstroker]

Related to FR #1197, also want to set the power to another value than the standby power when it is unavailable.
I'm considering adding unavailable_power setting to define that. You can set that to 0 for your case. But need to give this some more thought.

Btw the example you were including, is this working correctly already (i.e. applying the ignore_unavailable_state to all group members) or are you asking to support this?
Or were you askin to add this on "global" level?

powercalc:
    ignore_unavailable_state: true

[Mariusthvdb]

ask is to use that on global level.

Ive got it working on the group, but, as said, it then shows the 'wrong' power....

[bramstroker]

It's not really 'wrong` atm, but this is by design.
I won't change the default behaviour to be 0 when unavailable, because there are numerous reasons a device could be unavailable. It's not always a power cut, but could also be API connection problems, zigbee/zwave connectivity etc. In the last scenario standby power will still apply.

Don't really understand why you are using smart bulbs with manual switches anyway. Because the light will become unavailable to HA to be controlled, and it's the sole reason to have smart lights. I have put blind plates or replaced with battery dimmer / scene controller on all switches where a smart bulb is connected so the power will never be cut.

[Mariusthvdb]

Doing so to cut power, and power usage obviously...

So I am 100% it's using 0 watt

I have a lot of bulbs, and together that adds up . No use using power during many hours a day or night for certain light (groups)

Id be very happy with that option for unavailable_power

[bramstroker]

global ignore_unavailable_state added with #1199. Will be in next release.
Will add unavailable_power soon.

[Mariusthvdb]

have to get back to this, please forgive me if you already answered above, I just cant find it in the docs.

using global ignore_unavailable_state: true I want the lights (groups in most cases, but that is nt relevant I guess) to show 0 when wall switch is turned off.

your new documentation says this:

but how do I set it to show 0? currently is it still showing the 1.17 as in the opening screenshot...

I tried adding

unavailable_power: 0

to the global config, but that returned an error. Given the amount of entities, it would be very efficient if we could though.

anyways, it is not the proper way to do it apparently, because even with my global ignore, and individual:

sensor:

  - platform: powercalc
    entities:

      - create_group: Plafond spots
        unique_id: powercalc_group_plafond_spots
        unavailable_power: 0

I still see it being reported to use 1.17 watts

[bramstroker]

I see, this is not implemented for group sensors yet, only for individual power sensors.
Could you please create a bug report for this. I will resolve this soon.

[Mariusthvdb]

sure, thanks.

can you confirm how we need to set the 'ignore_unavailable_state' price to be one of the 3 mentioned in the docs I screens hotted above?
there is no apparent setting we can use?

other than the unavailable_power setting. Also, it is not clear if we need to set ignore_unavailable_state in the first place, to use the unavailable_power, or that it can be used as stand alone setting....

[bramstroker]

I think the unavailable_power setting only applies when you also have set ignore_unavailable_state to true, but I need to verify that in the code. Would make sense to add that to the docs for clarity.

[Mariusthvdb]

yeah, something like:

if you ignore_unavailable_state, and want to set a specific unavailable_power value, use:

ignore_unavailable_state: true
unavailable_power: [value]

If you use ignore_unavailable_state: true without setting the unavailable_power, the entity state will return the configured standby value of that individual entity.

? (if I understand things correctly now ) ;-)

what I am uncertain of, is whether we can use unavailable_power without setting ignore_unavailable_state: true, and if yes, what the actual difference would be...

[bramstroker]

Yes it should work exactly like this.

what I am uncertain of, is whether we can use unavailable_power without setting ignore_unavailable_state: true, and if yes, what the actual difference would be...

Than unavailable_power would just be ignored, and the power sensor will stay unavailable.

[Mariusthvdb]

so this can now be closed! thanks for implementing it