HA_connection_Xtend

An HowTo article on connecting the Intergas Xtend hybrid heatpump to Home Assistant (HA) via wifi network adapter (multi homed) in three steps:

1. Connect HA to Xtend via Wifi
2. Configure HA templates for Xtend
3. Create a Xtend Dashboard

Hope it helps it in your journey.

Connect HA to Xend via Wifi

The image below illustrates my setup at home. Your setup maybe different but the concepts still apply.

The device where HA is running needs to have at least two network devices:

1. Ethernet adapter - recommended for default HA communication (see HA installation doc)
2. WLAN adapter - to connect to the Xtend Wifi Access point.

In HA network adapters are automatically discovered and available in Settings / System / Network.

Note

• Make sure Home Assistant and the Xtend unit are within Wifi range of each other.
• The IP-range of your LAN cannot overlap with 10.20.30.0/24
• I disabled the auto-config on the HA Network Adapter section, because i suspect it from disabling the IP4 configuration of my wifi adapter. The configuration in the image below provides me with a stable connection with the Xtend.

Follow these steps to connect HA to the Xtend:

• Press the button on the Xtend to activate the Wifi Access point (the LED blinks purple)

• In HA click on Scan for Access points, Select the network Xtend_xxxxxxxxxx

• Select wpa-psk and typ the password (read the Xtend documentation where to locate your password)

  

• Click Save

• When connected succesfully the IP-information (behind the three dots) should look like this.

  

Configure HA templates for Xtend

Next step is to extract the data from the Xtend API. To make it easy (for me) I split my HA configuration in different files. For more information read the article Splitting the Configuration

Note

You can use the files in this repository in the Config folder or you can copy the content into your own HA configuration setup as you prefer.

Sensor configuration

In the folder /config/sensors/ I configured my custom data sources in seperate yaml files. In my configuration.yaml i changed the sensor line with this:

    sensor: !include_dir_merge_list sensors

This line combines all .yaml files in the sensors folder into one configuration for sensors.

The sensor folder contains a .yaml file (e.g. sensor_intergas_Xtend.yaml) with these lines:

- platform: rest
  name: Intergas_Xtend
  unique_id: 71298044-d08d-494c-a415-41a72b4a3aaa
  resource: http://10.20.30.1/api/stats/values?fields=7e7a,77dd,79b3,7940,7921,50f2,503e,5041,5088,5077,63f0,63b3,63df,6a8e,6ac5,71a7,7160,777d,6a53,65b0,6579,7ed3,629c,6280,62e7,7767,65d9,6505,7e51,65c1,6cfb,6c33,65a7,6c8a,6578,6c66,62d1,7e2c,4133,6c53,6c26,6ceb,7ee6,47e0,8e1e,8ecc,8edb,8ecb,8e37,8e7f,8e8f,8ef9,8e00,8e38,8457,8415,841f,848e,841b,8434,84d1,844c
  scan_interval: 120
  value_template: "Ok"
  timeout: 30
  json_attributes:
    - stats

This sensor retrieves every 2 minutes (120 seconds) the specified sensordata from the Xtend API.

Note

• The fields in the URL above are the entities used on the Xtend dashboard described in a paragraph below. No need to request more fields then neccesary.
• If you want to use Opentherm boiler data as well, you also need to add the sensor_intergas_xtreme.yaml to the sensors folder.
• There are a lot more fields available from the Xtend API. See the file Known Xtend Codes or parse-message.js from thomasvt1

Tip

Don't configure a scan interval above 300 (5 min). In my experience the wifi connection will disconnect due to inactivity and you need to repeat the previous paragraph, including climbing the stairs to push the button on the Xtend. Don't configure it too low as well or it will flood your HA database and (maybe) the storage capacity of your HA device.

To activate the sensor follow these steps:

• Copy the sensor_intergas_Xtend.yaml in the config / sensors folder
• change the sensor: line in the configuration.yaml as above
• In HA click on Developer Tools
• Click on Check configuration
• When it reports a green message like Configuration will not prevent Home Assistant from starting! you can continue.
• Load the new configuration with Restart HA (mandatory for changes in configuration.yaml).
• In Developer Tools click on the Tab States and filter on the name of the sensor, in my case intergas_xtend.
• You should get a result like the image below

Template configuration

Now we have the Xtend sensordata in HA we need to make sense of it by seperating the values into seperate entities. This is where the templates come in.

Just like with the sensor configuration, I have the template files seperated by Data Source in a templates folder. In my configuration.yaml the tempate line look like this:

    template: !include_dir_merge_list templates

The templates folder contains a .yaml file (e.g. template_intergas_Xtend.yaml) with lines like below. For the complete list of entities see template_intergas_Xtend.yaml

- sensor:
    - name: xtend_software_version
      unique_id: f2f4dfc0-0c38-4350-8463-7c1809a77dd1
      state: >
        {{ state_attr('sensor.Intergas_Xtend', 'stats')['47e0']}}

    - name: xtend_currentHpPowerThermal
      unique_id: 2d3ec316-ab0e-4e95-b909-2a80110f149b
      unit_of_measurement: "KW"
      state: >
        {{ state_attr('sensor.Intergas_Xtend', 'stats')['503e'] | float / 1000}}

    - name: xtend_currentCop
      unique_id: faa0c93c-5f46-4ff7-b9ce-bb609af880de
      state: >
        {{ state_attr('sensor.Intergas_Xtend', 'stats')['5041'] | float / 10 }}

Note

• If you want to use Opentherm boiler data as well, you also need to add the template_intergas_xtreme.yaml to the templates folder.

To load this template in HA repeat the steps in the Developer Tools like described in the paragraph Sensor configuration. You can also use the Template entities button in the section Developer Tools/YAML/YAML configuration reloading.

When you succesfully load the template file you will see the entities appear in HA. It should look something like the image below.

Create a Xtend Dashboard

So far so good .... it's time to use the obtained data in a dashboard.

Note

• This example dashboard is inspired by the Statistics page on the Xtend webinterface. As noted before it is possible to retrieve other fields from the Xtend API and present these on the Xtend dashboard.
• The dashboard is created on HA 2024.7.x and uses the new (experimental) Section View Type. Read the HA blog for more info.
• This dashboard uses a custom Card from HACS: custom:bignumber-card Install this integration before importing the Dashboard code.
• I haven't got time to get to the boiler information yet.
• The Xtend provide a weird value of 32767 (maximum Integer value) for pressures and temperatures. I suspect these mean Not available but will contact Intergas to make sure.

My Xtend Heatpump dashboard looks like this. The room in the 2nd column is for a hidden notification card, that only appears when there is a notification, other than '-'.

Note

• These screenshots are taken just after the Xtend was installed in Summer!. The CoP of 13 is a result of some test runs and not a realistic value. 😎
• In the config folder I added two dashboards. One with Opentherm boiler data and one with only the Xtend heatpump data.
• The hidden notification card is added in both dashboard. You can view this card in the Edit dashboard mode.

Follow these steps to import this dashboard in your HA.

• Open the Overview page in HA and click on the pencil in the top right corner (Edit Dashboard)
• Click on the plus-sign to add a new dashboard
• In the new window View Configuration click on the three-dot menu in the top right corner and select Edit in YAML
• Copy the text from Xtend_Dashboard.yaml or Xtend_boiler_dashboard.yaml and Paste the yaml code in the View configuration Window
• Click on Save
• Click on Done

I hope this article has helped you monitor your Xtend's performance in a convenient way in Home Assistant.

Background

In july 2024 my Intergas Xtend Hybrid Heat pump was installed. In anticipation off the installation I did some research on the internet on how I could connect the Xtend to Home Assistant. The solution described in Xtend_bridge by thomasvt1 didn't appeal to me because of the added devices and cables required. That said the code in that repository provided a lot of information I used to configure my own, more HA native, setup.

I am by no means a HA expert and gather and borrow information from the internet. This solution may not be as elegant but I lack the skills to develop a proper HA Integration; As the saying goes: Make do with what you have Recommendations and/or improvements are welcome.

My HA setup

I run HA on a refurbished Lenovo Thinkcenter (i3-4160T/8GB/256SSD/W10) with an external USB Wifi adapter. I removed the Windows OS and installed it with HAOS according to this article. HA generic-x86-64 Install.

For the adjusting the config files in HA I installed the VS Code Server Add-On.