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Getting Started

Power Profiler is a Homey app that monitors your appliances through smart plugs, learns their power consumption patterns, and uses day-ahead energy prices to find the cheapest time to run them. If you have solar panels, it can also factor in your expected solar production to schedule appliances when your own energy is available.

What you need

  • Homey Pro with firmware 12.2.0 or newer
  • A smart plug that reports power consumption (measure_power capability) — for example a Fibaro Wall Plug, TP-Link Kasa, Shelly Plug, or Nous smart plug
  • At least one appliance you want to schedule — washing machine (wasmachine), dryer (droger), or dishwasher (vaatwasser)
  • For solar features (optional): a Solcast account (free Hobbyist plan) and a PV inverter that reports power

Installation

Search for Power Profiler in the Homey App Store and install it. After installation, go to the app settings to select your energy price provider.

Tip

Most Dutch users choose a dynamic energy contract from providers like Tibber, ANWB Energie, or Zonneplan. Power Profiler works with any provider that offers day-ahead prices through Homey. See App Settings for details.

Adding your first device

  1. In the Homey app, go to Devices → + (Add Device)
  2. Select Power Profiler from the app list
  3. Choose Scheduler as the device type
  4. You'll see a list of all your devices that report power consumption — select the smart plug connected to your appliance
  5. Give the device a name (e.g., "Wasmachine Profiler")
  6. The device appears on your dashboard showing No Profile status

Note

The smart plug must already be paired with Homey and actively reporting power readings before you can select it.

Building a profile

The app automatically monitors your smart plug's power readings. When your appliance runs, the app detects the cycle and records the consumption pattern.

After 3 completed cycles, the status changes from "No Profile" to Idle and scheduling becomes available.

Tip

Just run your appliance normally a few times — the app does the rest. There is nothing to configure during the learning phase.

Your first flow

Once the profile is ready, create two flows to automate scheduling:

Flow 1: Schedule

WHEN   Time is 22:00
THEN   "Schedule cheapest start" (Wasmachine Profiler) — deadline: 8 hours

This tells the scheduler: find the cheapest window to run the appliance before 06:00 the next morning.

Flow 2: Start the appliance

WHEN   "Cheapest start time reached" (Wasmachine Profiler)
THEN   "Turn on" (wasmachine smart plug)

The scheduler finds the cheapest window that fits your appliance's cycle duration (say 90 minutes for a washing machine) within the 8-hour deadline. When that window arrives, it fires the trigger so your flow turns on the smart plug.

How it works

flowchart LR
    A["🔌 Smart Plug\n(measure_power)"] --> B["📊 Power Profiler\n(learns profile)"]
    C["💰 Energy Prices\n(day-ahead)"] --> D["⏰ Scheduler\n(finds cheapest window)"]
    B --> D
    D --> E["▶️ Flow Trigger\n(turn on appliance)"]

What's next