AC Standby power usage 50 Watts

[stevenings]

Thanks for implementing the possiblity to see the power usage of ACs in HA. https://github.com/sampsyo/hass-smartthinq/pull/52

I have set up the template sensor like described:

  climate_wattage:
    friendly_name: 'Klimaanlage `Watt'
    unit_of_measurement: "W"
    entity_id: climate.klimaanlage
    value_template: `"{{states.climate.klimaanlage.attributes.power}}"

But when the AC is in Standby mode, the sensor still shows 50 W power usage:

Am I doing something wrong or is the AC really consuming 50 Watts in Standby mode?

[henfiber]

Am I doing something wrong or is the AC really consuming 50 Watts in Standby mode?

50Watts is also reported in my case. It's unlikely that two different units (I have an LG Ocean 24000btu unit) have the same exact actual idle power usage, so I guess this is a default value returned by their API when the AC is idle. The mobile app just shows "-" (not available) and in the graph it is depicted as zero W. I looked at the wideq library and it seems it just returns what the LG API returns itself without any manipulation.

[stevenings]

Am I doing something wrong or is the AC really consuming 50 Watts in Standby mode?

50Watts is also reported in my case. It's unlikely that two different units (I have an LG Ocean 24000btu unit) have the same exact actual idle power usage, so I guess this is a default value returned by their API when the AC is idle. The mobile app just shows "-" (not available) and in the graph it is depicted as zero W. I looked at the wideq library and it seems it just returns what the LG API returns itself without any manipulation.

Thank you for your reply henfiber. For now I added check to the template sensor to set the W to zero if the reported value is 50.

{% if (float(states.climate.klimaanlage.attributes.power) == 50) %} 0 {% else %} {{states.climate.klimaanlage.attributes.power}} {% endif %}

I will measure the actual standby consumtion if I have time, and report back if anyone is interested.

[henfiber]

Thanks for sharing your workaround @stevenings I would be interested in the actual standby consumption, mine is directly connected to the wall without a socket so I cannot measure it.

[cynicer]

Well, even in standby the power usage is not zero. I guess their way of sensing the power just isn't exact enough on those low ranges so they return a fixed value? I'm running a setup with 4 indoor units and my idle power was always between 10 and 30W when I checked my power meter.

[henfiber]

I found the official datasheet for my own unit (LG Ocean PC24SQ 24.000 btu) and it lists 2.5W as standby power (and 18W as thermostat-off power). So it is consistent with your own findings that the minimum for 4 units is 10W.

My template sensor is as follows:

    - platform: template
      sensors:
          ac_power_sensor:
              friendly_name: AC Power Usage
              value_template: >-
                {% if (is_state('climate.lg_ocean_24', "off") or float(state_attr('climate.lg_ocean_24', "power")) == 50.0) %}
                  {{2.5 | float}}
                {% else %}
                  {{state_attr('climate.lg_ocean_24', "power") | float}}
                {% endif %}
              unit_of_measurement: W

[cynicer]

I guess you need to factor in the standby power from the outdoor unit as well?

[henfiber]

The outdoor unit in my case (single-split AC) is powered by the indoor unit (an electrical cable runs along with the refrigerant pipes between the two units). Therefore, there is no extra power for the outdoor unit. The 2.5W standby is consumed by the microprocessor listening for IR commands and the WiFI.

[stevenings]

Thank you for your replies. I will update my template sensor accordingly.