Ecosoft Ecoswitch plus uk User manual

EcoSwitch

Manual

V2.6

VC2318

EcoSwitch Plus

EcoSwitch

Ecosoft

Ecosoft BV

Blauw-roodlaan 140

2718 SK Zoetermeer

Netherlands

Telephone

+31(0)79 3471000

Fax

+31(0)79 3618092

info@ecosoftenergie.nl

Website

www.ecosoftenergy.com

EcoSwitch Manual EN 2.6 © 2022 Ecosoft BV 
 
2 
Contents 
 
1Introduction.................................................................. 3 
2Installing the EcoSwitch................................................ 5 
3Getting started with the EcoSwitch .............................. 9 
3.1 Access the EcoSwitch web interface ...............................9 
3.2 The EcoSwitch Energy Planner ......................................10 
3.3 Switch the EcoSwitch on and off manually..................10 
3.4 Change the network name of the EcoSwitch after 
installation..................................................................................11 
3.5 Change the EcoSwitch device name .............................11 
3.6 Change the login credentials of the EcoSwitch ...........12 
3.7 Install a new version of the firmware ..........................12 
4Using the EcoSwitch Energy Planner............................13 
4.1 Configure Energy planning based on price data .........13 
4.2 Random variation in the planning ................................17 
4.3 Configuring time blocks .................................................17 
4.4 Electrical power price data.............................................19 
5Information Pages .......................................................21 
5.1 Events ..............................................................................21 
5.2 Energy Use ......................................................................21 
6Problem Solving...........................................................23 
7Ecosoft Energy app ......................................................24 
7.1 Introduction ....................................................................24 
7.2 Ecosoft Energy App –The menu ...................................25 
7.3 Ecosoft Energy App –Hourly Prices ..............................26 
7.4 Ecosoft Energy App –Free Energy Planner ..................26 
7.5 Ecosoft Energy App –My EcoSwitches .........................28 
8Other information .......................................................30 
8.1 Built-in power limiter .....................................................30 
8.2 Switching currents > 10 A ..............................................30 
8.3 Access to open-source code ...........................................30 

1Introduction

The EcoSwitch is a smart switch you can plug into the wall outlet. Plug

the cable of your electrical device into the switch.

The EcoSwitch retrieves energy prices via WiFi from the internet and

switches on when the price is lowest. In the web interface you can

create a schedule, which determines during which hours (and for how

long) the EcoSwitch is allowed to be switched on. The EcoSwitch will

then calculate a plan that suits your needs.

You can use this switch for, among others:

• Electrical boilers

• Close-in boilers (kitchen boilers)

• Electrical vehicles and PHEV’s

• Waterbeds

• Swimming pools

• Aquaria

Why is the EcoSwitch useful?

Even without reducing your energy consumption, you can reduce

greenhouse gas emission if you choose the best moment to use energy.

If your have a flexible contract with your energy supplier (when pricing

depends on the hour of the day you are consuming energy), you will not

only protect the environment, you will save money as well.

At certain times during the day, there is more electrical power available

from sustainable energy sources, for example solar panels and wind

turbines. This results in less CO2emissions per kilowatt hour. If you

consume power during those hours, the environment will be taxed less.

The EcoSwitch can carry up to 10 Ampères. At 230 Volts this is 2300

Watts electrical power of the connected device.

It is possible to switch currents greater than 10A, but only indirectly,

because 10 A is the maximum for the EcoSwitch. It can be done using

an external relay, an electrical contactor.

2Installing the EcoSwitch

EcoSwitch can access the internet via your WiFi network to retrieve the

current electrical power price data.

The procedure to install the EcoSwitch is this:

●Plug the EcoSwitch into the wall socket.

When the EcoSwitch is used for the first time, it will now become a WiFi

Access Point automatically. If you want to make this happen at any

other moment, do the following:

●Press the ON/OFF-button (quickly) 6 times. This button has the

symbol. It is important to do this quickly. If you hear the EcoSwitch

switching on or off, it wasn’t fast enough. Please note it has to be

exactly 6 times.

When the EcoSwitch has become a temporarily WiFi Access Point, a LED

will blink, and then you can connect to the switch directly using your

mobile phone.

●On your phone, go to the WiFi settings and search for new

networks.

●Connect to the network called “EcoSwitch”. It may take a few

seconds up to a couple of minutes before this network appears in

the list. Otherwise, restart the procedure (click the ON/OFF-button 6

times).

When the connection is established, your phone may warn you that

internet is not available. This is normal; choose to keep the WiFi

connection. Then your smartphone is connected to the WiFi

network with the name “EcoSwitch”.

●In the browser on your phone, go to http://192.168.4.1. This is a

temporarily address; after configuration the EcoSwitch will no

longer be reachable at this address.

●When prompted to log on, use these credentials:

Username = eco

Password = power

●The EcoSwitch shows a list of detected WiFi networks. Select your

own WiFi network.

The web page shows:

-WiFi network edit box

-WiFi password edit box

-Hostname edit box

-Save button

-Other buttons (for configuration and reboot)

●Fill in the WiFi password that belongs to your WiFi network.

●Optionally, choose a hostname for the EcoSwitch in the network.

The default name is “EcoSwitch”. If you have more than one

EcoSwitch devices in your network, it is important to give each of

them a unique name. You can use this name later to access the

switch via the browser. If the hostname remains “EcoSwitch”, the

switch will be accessible via http://ecoswitch.local.

Note: It is not possible to use space or special characters (except the

minus sign -) in this name.

The hostname will be registered via mDNS and is only valid within

your network. If your smartphone does not support mDNS you

cannot access the EcoSwitch from your smartphone by using an

address that ends with .local. In that case, the EcoSwitch is only

accessible from your phone via the new IP address that has been

assigned to it.

On any device supporting mDNS, for example your PC, you can use

a .local address to access the EcoSwitch.

●Press Save

It might take a minute before the EcoSwitch establishes a connection to

your WiFi network. When a connection is successfully made, the browser

will show you the new IP address that your network has assigned to the

EcoSwitch, for example “Redirecting to new IP address 192.168.1.7”.

Within a few seconds, the browser will open this address.

Your phone should be reconnected to your own WiFi network; generally

this will happen automatically. If the EcoSwitch prompts you to log on

again, fill in eco and power, as you did previously.

Maybe the browser cannot establish a connection to the new IP address.

Wait a few seconds and try to reload the page. Even after a failed

attempt to connect, the browser will probably show the new IP address

in the address bar. Use this new IP address to access the EcoSwitch, or

use a .local address like (in this example) http://ecoswitch.local.

3Getting started with the EcoSwitch

3.1 Access the EcoSwitch web interface

Advice: Settings and tools which are not described in this manual

shouldn’t be changed or used, because it may cause the system to

malfunction.

The EcoSwitch is accessible via the

assigned IP address or –if your phone

supports mDNS –via the hostname of

the switch (e.g.

http://ecoswitch.local). The IP address

may change if your WiFi network

assigns another IP address to the

switch, for example when the switch

has been disconnected from the

outlet for some time, and reboots.

The hostname however will remain

the same, and might be more

convenient to use.

When opening the web interface, you

will be prompted to log on. The

default credentials are:

Username: eco

Password: power

Note: You cannot perform a password reset yourself.

If you change the password, don’t forget it, or store it

somewhere. Without the correct password it is not

possible to access the web interface of the EcoSwitch.

3.2 The EcoSwitch Energy Planner

Energy Planning means that the

lowest-priced energy will be

used during a time block. This

time block is specified by start-

time and end-time. For example,

if the time block is 12 hours and

you need energy for 4 hours, the

EcoSwitch will be switched on

during the cheapest 4 hours

within the 12-hour time block.

The EcoSwitch fetches energy

price data from our server to

determine when consuming

power is cheapest. Based on this

information the EcoSwitch

schedules when to switch on, for

example at 12 o’clock.

In the chapter Using the

EcoSwitch Energy Planner you

can read how to configure it

according to your wishes.

3.3 Switch the EcoSwitch on and off manually

You can switch the EcoSwitch on and off manually.

Procedure A (in the web interface):

●Log on to the web interface

●The web interface will show if the switch is turned on or not

●Press “Switch on / off” to manually turn the electrical power on or

off.

Procedure B (on the device):

●The led of the switch indicates if it’s switched on or off.

●Click once on the button on the device to switch it on or off.

After manually switching the device on or off, the switch will remain in

that state (on or off) until the next automatic switching event

performed by the built-in Energy Planner.

3.4 Change the network name of the

EcoSwitch after installation

The network name will determine at which address you can access the

switch via a browser.

●Go to the web interface

●Press Configuration

●Press Configure WiFi

●Fill in another Hostname.

●Press Save

3.5 Change the EcoSwitch device name

In addition to changing the network name (see previous) you can also

change the device name. The device name will be shown at the top of

the web interface.

●Press Configure

●Press Configure Other

●Adjust the Device name. Unlike the network name, this device name

may contain spaces.

●Press Save

3.6 Change the login credentials of the

EcoSwitch

It is recommended to change the default password (power) of the web

interface. It is not possible to change the username (eco).

●Press Configuration

●Press Configure Other

●Adjust the Web Admin Password. If you want to make the password

visible, tick the checkbox.

●Press Save

Note: You cannot perform a password reset yourself.

If you change the password, don’t forget it, or store it

somewhere. Without the correct password it is not

possible to access the web interface of the EcoSwitch.

3.7 Install a new version of the firmware

●Go to the web interface of the EcoSwitch

●Press System

●Press Firmware Upgrade

●At “Upgrade by file upload”, choose the file containing the new

version

●Press Start Upgrade.

4Using the EcoSwitch Energy Planner

4.1 Configure Energy planning based on price

data

●Go to the web interface of the EcoSwitch

●Click on Energy Planner

●Fill in the license key if this is not done already.

●At Location, fill in the region or country where the EcoSwitch is

located.

●Set Type of Planning to Lowest Price.

●Fill in the parameters that suit your needs. How to do this will be

explained below.

●Press Save

Number of time blocks: Do you want to switch on the EcoSwitch 1x per

24 hours? Leave the number of time blocks at 1. If you want to switch

more often during a day, see the section “Configuring Time blocks”.

You can set the length of every time block in minutes. The time blocks

add up to exactly 24 hours. For every time block, you can set how long

the EcoSwitch should be switch on during that time block: this is the so-

called “Duration switched on during time block”.

Duration switched on: Here you can fill in how long the electrical power

must be switched on during a time block. For example, if your car’s

battery needs a maximum of 4 hours to charge, fill in 4. Then EcoSwitch

will (within the time block) switch on power for 4 hours. During the rest

of the time (during the time block) the power will be switched off. The

power will be switched on during the cheapest hours, based on the

available energy price data.

You can fill in the duration in hours or in the format h:mm. For example,

if you need one and a half hour of power, fill in 1:30. Fill in 0:15 for a

quarter of an hour.

Do not switch off when the device is still in use:

This option only applies to the EcoSwitch Plus

When it is uncertain for how long electrical power

should be supplied to a device, this option can prevent

that a device is switched off too early. For example, if a

device must be switched on for 2 hours, according to the setup, but

after 2 hours it is still consuming energy (for example a laundry machine

that is still running), the EcoSwitch will not be switched off when you

use this option. The EcoSwitch will only switch off when it has detected

that connected device has stopped. To detect of this has happened, the

EcoSwitch Plus measures the consumed power.

Apart from that, while a device is running, there are sometimes episodes

of very low power consumption. During these episodes it should not be

switched off. So, the EcoSwitch will consider a device as “not running” if

the power is lower than a certain value (in Watts) during a certain time

span (in minutes). You can configure these two values as shown below.

Automatic determination of “Duration switched on”:

This option only applies to the EcoSwitch Plus

When this option is enabled, the EcoSwitch Plus will

measure how long a device has been used during a

time block. Based on that, the EcoSwitch will (for the

same time block) adjust the “Duration switched on” automatically to a

new value. This is the expected duration that is necessary in the future.

This new duration will be applied when the next planning is made (for

the same time block). The duration can only be measured after the time

block has been completed and there haven’t been any changes made to

the settings in the mean time. This option is only available when the

option “Do not switch off when the device is still in use” is enabled.

This option may be useful when it is unknown beforehand how long a

device needs electrical power. With this option, benefitting from cheap

hours will improve, because the “automatic determination” of the real

duration creates the possibility to plan more accurately.

Switched-on contiguously (per time block): Prices may vary within a time

block, and to benefit from this EcoSwitch may turn on and off multiple

times during the time block. This is not always desired, and therefore

this option is available. Enable the setting by checking the box.

This may be necessary for your electrical device to work properly. For

example, a washing machine probably can’t handle a switch-off during

the washing process. For this kind of electrical appliances it is necessary

to plan a contiguous period in which power is supplied. In such cases,

the option has to be enabled by checking the box.

On the other hand, heating a waterbed or the charging a battery may

work fine if power is supplied with one or more breaks in between.

If power is not necessarily supplied contiguously, you can benefit more

lower energy prices.

So, if your electrical devices can handle it, it might be good to leave this

option disabled.

Maximum price: If you don’t want to pay more for electrical energy than

a certain amount of money, fill in this amount in the “Maximum price”

edit box. The EcoSwitch compares the electrical energy price of a specific

hour, exclusive of VAT and other surcharges, to the amount you fill in

here. The amount should be in Eurocents per kilo watt hour. For

example, if you fill in 25, the EcoSwitch will be switched off if the price

is more than 25 eurocents per kWh. The consequence of this setting can

be that the switch is not switched on at all during a certain time block.

Current plan: The actual current plan is shown here. The plan holds the

exact times when the switch will be switch on and off. There can be a

series of on- and off times, when you allow the EcoSwitch to switch on

and off during a time block multiple times. The planning for the next

time block will be made just before these next time block starts, and is

not visible yet.

Keep current plan / Create new plan:

When you have changed a setting on the Energy Planner page, you may

want to replace the current plan by a new plan. This is a dropdown

menu with the options:

Option 1: Keep current plan

Unless you choose otherwise, this option will be used. The current plan

(e.g. switch on at 14:19 and off at 14:39) will be kept when you press the

Save button.

Result when you press save: the plan for the current time block is kept,

but for the next time blocks, the current settings are used to calculate

the plans for these next time blocks.

Option 2: Create new plan (without current time block)

You can opt to only create new plans for next time plans that will start

in the future. A reason for not replanning the current time block is that

the cheapest hours to consume power (e.g. during the night) may have

already passed, and optimalisation for this time block is no longer

possible.

Result when you press save: the plan for the current time block is

deleted (emptied), and for the next time blocks, the current settings are

used to calculate the plans for these next time blocks.

Option 3: Create new plan (including current time block)

Result when you press save: for the current time block and all following

time blocks, the current settings are used to calculate the plans for these

time blocks.

4.2 Random variation in the planning

The EcoSwitch planner will add (or subtract) a random variation of a few

minutes to the start times and end times of the plan. As a result,

electrical power will be consumed a little earlier or later. This is to

prevent the switch to behave too predictable, and a number of switches

to switch too synchronously.

4.3 Configuring time blocks

On default there is one time block of 24 hours, from 0:00 to 0:00 the

next day. In many occasions, one time block is enough. If you’re satisfied

with that, you can skip configuring time blocks.

Example: charging the battery of an electric car

Assume you want to charge the battery of your electric vehicle, at home.

You arrive before 19:00h and leave the next day after 6:00h. The

charging therefore should take place between 19:00 and 6:00.

Set the Number of time blocks to 2.

1. from 06:00 to 19:00

2. from 19:00 to 06:00 the next day

Assume that charging the vehicle takes 4 hours. In the EcoSwitch

settings, we call this “Duration switched on”.

At “Duration switched on”you can fill in a duration for each time block.

In the first time block the car is not present. The duration is 0. For the

second time block, fill in 4 hours. Like this:

During time block 1: 0:00

During time block 2: 4:00

Example: switching on a device three time per day

Let’s assume you divide the 24 hours in three parts of equal length. In

each part (of 8 hours) you want to EcoSwitch to be switched on for 30

minutes, when energy prices are lowest.

In that case, configure 3 time blocks (0-8, 8-16, 16-0):

1. from 00:00 to 08:00

2. from 08:00 to 16:00

3. from 16:00 to 00:00 the next day.

At "Duration switched on " fill in 0:30 for each time block. Like this:

During time block 1: 0:30

During time block 2: 0:30

During time block 3: 0:30

Maximum number of six time blocks

The maximum number of time blocks you can use is 6. Currently, it is

only possible to specify whole hours to set the start times and end times

of time blocks. (Durations however can be specified in minutes.)

Note:

Make sure that a time block that extents into the next day (for example

from 16:00 to 5:00) always starts after 14:00. This is because the energy

prices of the next day will be available after 14:00. If a time block starts

after 14:00, the EcoSwitch will have the prices of the next day at its

disposal, and will be able to create a correct plan or schedule.

4.4 Electrical power price data

The EcoSwitch can assist you to use power when the energy price is

lowest. The energy prices vary per day and hour, depending on the

weather (solar radiation and wind) and other circumstances. The switch

retrieves the expected energy prices from the Ecosoft server, to create a

power consumption plan based on these numbers. If this server cannot

be reached, or if the price data is unavailable for another reason, the

average values will be used, based on historical price data. In that case,

an optimal planning is not possible. Therefore it is important that the

switch can connect to the Ecosoft server via a WiFi connection.

In the web interface of the EcoSwitch you can see if price data has been

retrieved from the Ecosoft server. Press Energy Planner.

In the Energy Planner you will see the price data is available, for

example “Price data available for today and tomorrow”.

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