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¶
Sowel ships a closed catalogue of equipment types. Every equipment in your home is one of these, and the type drives both the UI controls and the expected data shape.
Lights¶
| Type | Controls | Expected data |
|---|---|---|
| Light (On/Off) | Toggle ON/OFF | state (on/off) |
| Light (Dimmable) | Toggle + brightness slider | state, brightness |
| Light (Color) | Toggle + brightness + color controls | state, brightness, color, color temperature |
Shutters¶
| Type | Controls | Expected data |
|---|---|---|
| Shutter | Open / Stop / Close + position display | position (0% = closed, 100% = open) |
Climate¶
| Type | Controls | Expected data |
|---|---|---|
| Thermostat | Temperature display, setpoint +/-, power on/off | current temperature, target setpoint, power state, optional mode/fan/eco |
| Heater | Comfort / Eco toggle | relay state (fil pilote: ON = eco, OFF = comfort) |
Thermostat covers air conditioning, pellet stoves, and heat pumps. Heater covers individual electric heaters wired through a fil-pilote relay.
Access¶
| Type | Controls | Expected data |
|---|---|---|
| Gate | Open/Close button + state indicator | 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¶
| Type | Controls / Display | Expected data |
|---|---|---|
| Sensor | Read-only multi-value display, auto-adapted | temperature, humidity, pressure, CO2, VOC, luminosity, noise, battery, motion, contact, water leak, smoke |
| Weather Station | Multi-value display | temperature, humidity, pressure, rain, wind, noise, battery |
| Weather Forecast | Day-by-day forecast cards (J+1 to J+5) | weather condition, temperature min/max, rain probability, wind gusts |
| Button / Remote | Not directly controlled (used as trigger) | action events (single press, double press, long press) |
The generic Sensor type adapts its display automatically. Boolean sensors (motion, contact, water leak, smoke) get appropriate badges; numeric sensors get values with the right unit and icon.
Buttons are inputs only — bind them to a recipe action or a mode toggle through Administration > Buttons.
Energy¶
| Type | Controls / Display | Expected data | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy Meter | Power (W) and daily energy (Wh/kWh) | cumulative energy (Wh) | Submeter for a circuit (heat pump, pool, EV charger). Feeds the by-usage breakdown. |
| Main Energy Meter | Same + drives the Energy monitoring page | power, energy (with HP/HC tariff classification) | One allowed per system. |
| Energy Production Meter | Production display + autoconsumption calculation | production power, cumulative production | One allowed per system. |
Media¶
| Type | Controls | Expected data |
|---|---|---|
| Media Player | Power on/off, volume, mute, input source | power state, volume level, mute, current input, picture mode |
Appliances¶
| Type | Controls / Display | Expected data |
|---|---|---|
| Appliance | Read-only status display | power state, operating state (ready/running/paused), current phase, progress (%), remaining time, energy used |
End-of-cycle notification
Use a state-watch recipe to get notified when the operating state changes from running to ready.
Water¶
| Type | Controls | Expected data |
|---|---|---|
| Water Valve | Toggle ON/OFF, "Water for X min" timed action (firmware-side auto-close) | state, flow rate (m³/h), battery, device status (normal / water shortage / leak) |
Designed for devices like the SONOFF SWV. Standard aliases: state, flow, battery, status, duration, cycles, interval, capacity, autoCloseOnShortage. Only state is required — the UI adapts to whichever are bound. Zones aggregate open/total valves and sum live flow across the tree.
Pool¶
| Type | Controls | Expected data |
|---|---|---|
| Pool Pump | Toggle ON/OFF + daily runtime display | pump state, daily runtime |
| Pool Cover | Open / Stop / Close + position display | cover position (0% = closed, 100% = open) |
| Pool Heat Pump | Power on/off, target water temperature | water temperature, target setpoint, power state |
Pool equipments work with the Pool Pump Schedule recipe (daily runtime tied to water temperature) and feed the pool widgets on the dashboard.
Other¶
| Type | Controls | Expected data |
|---|---|---|
| Switch / Plug | Toggle ON/OFF + state badge | 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:
| Setting | Effect |
|---|---|
| Default | Follows the category rule |
| Force ON | Always historize this value |
| Force OFF | Never historize this value |
Disabling an equipment¶
A disabled equipment behaves as if it weren't there for the engine, while staying visible in the admin UI:
| Where | Disabled equipment |
|---|---|
| Home view | Hidden |
| Zone aggregation | Excluded |
| Recipes | Not triggered |
| Mode impacts | Skipped |
| Administration > Equipments | Still visible and editable |
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.