⚡ simple-energy-dash

Smart meter monitoring without the smart home overhead.

A lightweight, self-hosted energy dashboard. One Flask app, one SQLite database, zero complexity. No Grafana, no Home Assistant, no InfluxDB – just plug in your IR reading head and go. Runs on any Linux system, ideal for Raspberry Pi.

Desktop View – Real-time gauge, historical charts, cost tracking

Mobile View – Responsive dark UI

Why this?

Most energy monitoring solutions require a complex stack (Home Assistant + Grafana + InfluxDB + Prometheus) or expensive proprietary hardware. This project is a single Python app that does one thing well: show your energy usage in a clean, responsive dashboard.

Features

• Real-time power gauge – Auto-scaling based on 7-day peak, color-coded zones
• Historical charts – Hours, days, months view with custom date range picker
• Cost tracking – Configurable electricity price, monthly forecast
• Baseload detection – Identifies minimum standby power (2:00–5:00 AM)
• Smart aggregation – Raw → Minute → Hour → Day data compression via cron job
• Responsive design – Dark theme, works on desktop, tablet, and mobile
• Period comparison – Automatic percentage change vs. previous period
• Multi-language – English and German included, easily extensible
• Offline-capable – Local SQLite database, no cloud dependency

Architecture

IR Reading Head → Smart Meter (SML/OBIS)
        ↓
   Tasmota / ESP
        ↓ MQTT
   Mosquitto Broker
        ↓ paho-mqtt
   Flask Backend → SQLite DB
        ↓ REST API
   Browser Dashboard (Vanilla JS + Chart.js + Canvas Gauges)

Requirements

• Any Linux system (Raspberry Pi 3B+ or newer recommended)
• Python 3.9+
• Smart meter with SML/OBIS protocol
• MQTT-capable smart meter reader, for example:
  • SHRDZM Smartmeter Module – Plug & play module for Austrian/German smart meters (M-Bus, P1, IR). Decryption onboard, MQTT output, no additional hardware needed.
  • Tasmota-flashed ESP8266/ESP32 with IR reading head (e.g. Hichi TTL, Bitshake)
  • Any device that publishes OBIS data as JSON via MQTT
• Mosquitto MQTT broker

Quick Start

git clone https://github.com/hl9020/simple-energy-dash.git
cd simple-energy-dash
python3 -m venv venv && source venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
cp .env.example .env    # edit to match your setup
python app.py

Open http://<your-pi-ip>:5000 in your browser.

Configuration

Edit .env to match your setup:

Variable	Default	Description
APP_LANG	en	UI language (en, de)
PRICE_KWH	0.226	Electricity price per kWh (all-in)
CURRENCY_SYMBOL	€	Currency symbol (€, $, £, CHF...)
MQTT_HOST	127.0.0.1	MQTT broker address
MQTT_PORT	1883	MQTT broker port
MQTT_TOPIC	sensor	MQTT topic your smartmeter publishes to
OBIS_POWER	1.7.0	OBIS code for current power (Watt)
OBIS_ENERGY	1.8.0	OBIS code for total energy (Wh)
OBIS_ENERGY_DIVISOR	1000	Divisor for energy value (1000 = Wh→kWh)
FLASK_HOST	0.0.0.0	Flask bind address
FLASK_PORT	5000	Flask port
DB_PATH	instance/energy.db	SQLite database path
BASELOAD_HOUR_START	2	Baseload detection start hour
BASELOAD_HOUR_END	5	Baseload detection end hour

Installation

System Dependencies

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y python3 python3-pip python3-venv mosquitto mosquitto-clients

Aggregation Cron Job

Compresses raw data over time to keep the database small:

crontab -e

Add (runs every hour):

0 * * * * cd /home/$USER/simple-energy-dash && ./venv/bin/python aggregate.py >> /var/log/energy-aggregate.log 2>&1

Autostart with systemd

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/simple-energy-dash.service

[Unit]
Description=Simple Energy Dash
After=network.target mosquitto.service

[Service]
Type=simple
User=pi
WorkingDirectory=/home/pi/simple-energy-dash
ExecStart=/home/pi/simple-energy-dash/venv/bin/python app.py
Restart=always
RestartSec=5

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable simple-energy-dash
sudo systemctl start simple-energy-dash

Smart Meter Setup

This dashboard receives data via MQTT from a smart meter reader. Common setups:

1. SHRDZM Smartmeter Module – Austrian-made module with onboard decryption. Supports M-Bus, P1, and IR interfaces. Outputs via MQTT, no additional ESP or Tasmota needed. See shrdzm.com.
2. Tasmota + ESP8266/ESP32 – Flash an ESP with Tasmota, configure SML scripting. See Tasmota Smart Meter Interface.
3. Hichi IR Reader – USB/WiFi IR reading heads for Austrian/German smart meters.

Any device that publishes OBIS codes as JSON via MQTT will work:

{
  "1.7.0": 350.5,
  "1.8.0": 12345678
}

Project Structure

simple-energy-dash/
├── app.py              # Flask backend, MQTT subscriber, REST API
├── aggregate.py        # Cron job for data aggregation
├── requirements.txt    # Python dependencies
├── lang/
│   ├── en.json         # English translations (default)
│   └── de.json         # German translations
├── .env.example        # Configuration template
├── static/
│   ├── css/style.css   # Dark theme responsive styling
│   └── js/app.js       # Dashboard frontend
├── templates/
│   └── index.html      # Single page HTML template
└── docs/
    ├── dashboard.png   # Desktop screenshot
    └── mobile.png      # Mobile screenshot

Language

Set APP_LANG=de in .env for German. Add your own language by creating a new JSON file in lang/.

Tech Stack

• Backend: Python 3, Flask, Flask-SQLAlchemy, paho-mqtt
• Database: SQLite (zero-config, file-based)
• Frontend: Vanilla JavaScript, Chart.js, Canvas Gauges
• Messaging: MQTT via Mosquitto
• Styling: Custom CSS, dark theme, responsive grid

License

MIT