Expected group inclusion behaviour

[gribber]

I need some clarification on how entities are included
I'm using nested groups, which include entities based on area, like:

- platform: powercalc
  create_group: "indoor lights"
  unique_id: 0259ae80-3fd3-40fe-9cf9-1857f2e28fc0
  entities:
    - create_group: "conservatory"
      unique_id: 5d77adcf-200f-4111-b1a7-eee8ea1e2a0e
      include:
        area: uterum
    - create_group: "kitchen"
      unique_id: 24069df6-d3f6-443a-9cc2-ea50b2f1d064
      include:
        area: kitchen

Which are working just fine!

The question is, I want to make sure it just includes lights (domain light), and not anything else even if it's in the same area, like smart speakers
It seems like it does not include those, which is what I want, but I don't see why/any documentation if this is the expected behavior, I don't want my statistics to be screwed up in the future by random adding other non-light devices :-)

So, is it by design and will it only and always just include lights?
If now, Is there a way to make sure it only includes that domain?

[bramstroker]

It's not limited to lights only. All devices which can be matched by manufacturer and model on the power profile library of powercalc will be included. Currently the library consists mostly off lights, but could also be smart speakers or smart switches.

Currently there is no way to exclude certain domains from the include functionality, and this will be quite a development effort.
So I would suggest to define the entities manually or use light groups (which you also can refer in the include option).

[gribber]

Ok, I see
After thinking for a while, I guess I could do something like the following then:

- platform: powercalc
  create_group: "indoor lights"
  unique_id: 0259ae80-3fd3-40fe-9cf9-1857f2e28fc0
  entities:
    - create_group: "conservatory"
      unique_id: 5d77adcf-200f-4111-b1a7-eee8ea1e2a0e
      include:
        template: >
          {{ 
            expand(area_entities('uterum')) 
            | selectattr( 'domain' , 'eq' , 'light' )
            | map(attribute='entity_id')
            | list 
          }}
    - create_group: "kitchen"
      unique_id: 24069df6-d3f6-443a-9cc2-ea50b2f1d064
      include:
        template: >
          {{ 
            expand(area_entities('kitchen')) 
            | selectattr( 'domain' , 'eq' , 'light' )
            | map(attribute='entity_id')
            | list 
          }}

Untested so far, but should give the result I want
That way, I can add lamps where ever I need and the only thing I need to do, to start measure is to make sure it is in the correct area

[bramstroker]

Yes, that should work. You'll need to double check if all lights are found, because I remember there was an issue with the template option in the past.
The template is rendered during powercalc setup, and it is dependend on loading order of other components whether their entities are already available during template evaluation. This is not something I can influence unfortunately.

[gribber]

Indeed there is a problem, no entities resolved using the template method above :(

[bramstroker]

@gribber I might need to add a warning in the readme that template does not work correctly in some circumstances.

Anyway don't worry as I am working on an extension to define filters.
Also when digging through the code I noticed that the area option is currently limited to only lights. https://github.com/bramstroker/homeassistant-powercalc/blob/master/custom_components/powercalc/sensor.py#L780
But I don't want to leave it that way as this is unlogical behaviour.

When I'm finished with the development you can do the following:

- platform: powercalc
  create_group: "indoor lights"
  unique_id: 0259ae80-3fd3-40fe-9cf9-1857f2e28fc0
  entities:
    - create_group: "conservatory"
      unique_id: 5d77adcf-200f-4111-b1a7-eee8ea1e2a0e
      include:
        area: uterum
        filter: {
          domain: light
        }

Which will include everything from area uterum and than filter that entity list by domain light.
I might extend this with other filters in the future, but for now we'll start with domain.

[gribber]

Awesome! That would be perfect

Explains why it didn't include my smart speakers at the moment as well, I'll keep an eye on future updates, great work!

[bramstroker]

Work in progress: #1576.
Will finish this probably today.