Strom Project

Overview

Strom is a free, open-source script that brings smart heating to your home. It uses weather forecasts and electricity price data to fine-tune energy use, finding a cost-effective heating schedule through convex optimization. With a smart plug, Strom quietly takes care of the details, automatically adjusting your heating to save energy. It’s a simple, clever way to make your home more efficient and eco-friendly.

Read the docs here

Requirements

Requires Python 3.12.8

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/Bloodwing1/Strom.git
   cd Strom

2. Create a virtual environment and activate it:

   python -m venv venv
   source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows use `venv\Scripts\activate`

3. Install the required packages:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

4. Create a config folder in the root project directory. This folder is your personal api keys will be saved

5. Place your electricity price and weather API keys in a "price_api_key.txt" "weather_api_Key.txt" file that you create in the config folder.

6. Place your tapo account credentials in a "tapologin.env" file in the config folder. The content of this .env file should look like this:

   EMAIL=myemail@hotmail.com
   PASSWORD=myPassword12

7. You can optionally add your custom house heating parameters to a "house_config.json" file in the config folder.

{
    "C_air": 0.56,
    "C_wall": 3.5,
    "R_interior": 1.0,
    "R_exterior": 6.06,
    "Q_heater": 2.0,
    "Q_cooling": 0.0,
    "T_min": 18.0,
    "T_max": 24.0,
    "T_interior_init": 18.5,
    "T_wall_init": 18.5,
    "P_base": 0.01,
    "freq": "1h"
}

Otherwise the main script will generate and empty json file that will fill the house with the default values we used.

Usage

Technical documentation

To run the main script manually:

python main.py  # python3 main.py for Mac users

Alternatively create a cron job or similar, that activates the main script hourly.

Future Considerations

• Cron job installer
• Standalone executable