Equipments¶
Equipments are the core concept in Sowel. An equipment is a functional unit that you interact with daily -- "Living Room Spots", "Bedroom Shutters", "Kitchen Sensor".
A Device is what's on the network, an Equipment is what's in the room. You never think about the Zigbee dimmer module installed behind the wall -- you think about your living room lights.
Creating an equipment¶
Go to Administration > Equipments and click Add Equipment.
Step 1: Basic information¶
| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Yes | The equipment category (see Equipment types below) |
| Name | Yes | A meaningful name like "Living Room Spots" or "Kitchen Sensor" |
| Zone | Yes | Which room or area this equipment belongs to |
| Description | No | A note for yourself |
Type cannot be changed after creation
Choose the type carefully -- it determines which devices are compatible and how the equipment is displayed.
Step 2: Select devices¶
Click Next: Select devices to see a list of compatible devices. Sowel filters devices automatically based on the equipment type.
- Select one or more devices
- Click Create
That's it. Sowel automatically creates all the data and command bindings. Every value the device exposes (temperature, humidity, battery...) becomes immediately available on the equipment.
You can skip device selection
You can create an equipment without a device and bind one later from the detail page.
Multi-device binding¶
A single equipment can bind to multiple devices. This is one of Sowel's most powerful features.
Example: Three separate IKEA dimmer modules power the spotlights in your living room. Create one "Living Room Spots" equipment and bind all three. A single toggle turns all three on. A single slider dims all three.
Equipment types¶
Lights¶
Light (On/Off)¶
Simple on/off light control.
- Controls: Toggle ON/OFF
- Expected data: state (on/off)
Light (Dimmable)¶
Brightness-controllable light.
- Controls: Toggle ON/OFF + brightness slider
- Expected data: state, brightness level
Light (Color)¶
Color-capable light with optional color temperature.
- Controls: Toggle + brightness slider + color controls
- Expected data: state, brightness, color, color temperature
Shutters¶
Shutter¶
Motorized roller blind, cover, or shutter.
- Controls: Open / Stop / Close buttons, position display
- Expected data: position (0% = closed, 100% = open)
Climate¶
Thermostat¶
Heating or cooling control -- air conditioning, pellet stove, heat pump.
- Controls: Temperature display, setpoint adjustment (+/-), power on/off
- Expected data: current temperature, target setpoint, power state
- Additional data (depends on device): operating mode, fan speed, eco mode
Heater¶
Individual electric heater controlled via fil pilote relay.
- Controls: Comfort / Eco toggle
- Expected data: relay state (ON = eco, OFF = comfort)
Access¶
Gate¶
Gate, sliding gate, or garage door.
- Controls: Open/Close button with state indicator
- Expected data: gate state (open, closed, opening, closing)
Dashboard icon
You can choose a specific icon for gates on the dashboard: standard gate, sliding gate, or garage door.
Sensors¶
Sensor¶
Generic sensor that displays one or more measured values. Sowel adapts the display automatically based on what the device exposes.
- Controls: Read-only value display with appropriate icons and units
- Typical data: temperature, humidity, pressure, CO2, VOC, luminosity, noise, battery
- Boolean sensors: motion (Movement/Calm), contact (Open/Closed), water leak, smoke
Weather Station¶
Outdoor weather sensor providing current conditions.
- Controls: Multi-value display
- Typical data: temperature, humidity, pressure, rain, wind, noise, battery
Weather Forecast¶
Multi-day weather forecast from an API integration (e.g., Open-Meteo plugin).
- Controls: Day-by-day forecast cards with condition icons
- Data per day (J+1 to J+5): weather condition, temperature min/max, rain probability, wind gusts
Button / Remote¶
Physical button or remote control. Not directly controlled -- used as a trigger for automations.
Energy¶
Energy Meter¶
Tracks energy consumption for a specific circuit or device.
- Controls: Power (W) and daily energy (Wh/kWh) display
- Expected data: instantaneous power, cumulative energy
Main Energy Meter¶
Your home's main grid meter. Only one allowed per system.
- Controls: Same as energy meter, plus feeds the Energy monitoring page
- Expected data: power, energy (with HP/HC tariff classification)
Energy Production Meter¶
Solar panel or other production source. Only one allowed per system.
- Controls: Production display with autoconsumption calculation
- Expected data: production power, cumulative production
Media¶
Media Player¶
TV, soundbar, or media device (e.g., Samsung SmartThings TV).
- Controls: Power on/off, volume, mute, input source selector
- Expected data: power state, volume level, mute, current input source, picture mode
- Orders: power on/off, set volume, toggle mute, change input source
Appliances¶
Appliance¶
Smart home appliance such as a washing machine, dryer, or dishwasher (e.g., Samsung SmartThings Washer).
- Controls: Read-only status display
- Expected data: power state, operating state (ready/running/paused), current phase (wash/rinse/spin), progress (%), remaining time, energy consumption
End-of-cycle notification
Use a state-watch recipe to get notified when the operating state changes from running to ready.
Other¶
Switch / Plug¶
Simple on/off switch or smart plug.
- Controls: Toggle ON/OFF with state badge
- Expected data: state (on/off)
Managing equipments¶
Detail page¶
Click on any equipment to see its detail page:
- Live data -- all values updated in real-time via WebSocket
- Controls -- interactive controls adapted to the equipment type
- History chart -- data trends over time (if historization is enabled)
- Configuration -- bound devices, data bindings, order bindings
Changing the device¶
From the detail page, click Change device to rebind the equipment to different devices. Sowel removes all existing bindings and recreates them automatically from the new device(s).
Historization¶
Each data value is historized to InfluxDB by default based on its category (temperature, humidity, power...). From the detail page, you can override this per binding:
- Default -- follows the category rule
- Force ON -- always historize this value
- Force OFF -- never historize this value
Disabling an equipment¶
A disabled equipment:
- Does not appear in the Home view
- Is excluded from zone aggregation
- Does not trigger recipes or mode impacts
- Can still be viewed and edited
Deleting an equipment¶
Deleting removes the equipment from Sowel. The underlying devices are not affected -- they remain available for new equipments.
Warning
Deleting an equipment also removes any recipe instances and mode impacts that reference it.