I log data from my OPNsense firewall using Telegfaf, but there are some statistics in OPNsense which I’d like to keep track of which aren’t available to be pushed, but are accessible via The API. In particular, I want to keep track of the gateway statistics. Gateway stats come from continuously pinging the gateway, and are used to determine if a gateway is available for routing. Normally, gateway monitoring is used with multi-WAN setups to remove a gateway from a load-balancing group, or fail over to the next tier in a failover group (or both).

A number of years ago, my dad subscribed to Comcast / Xfinity’s security system to get a discount on internet, then un-subscribed when the promotional period ended. Their system relied on a Technicolor touchscreen which acted as a Zigbee hub, connected to a number of Zigbee door switches and a Zigbee wall moounted keypad. They wanted their touchscreen back, but didn’t care about all of the dirt cheap sensors or the keypad, so they’ve been sitting in place in the house for many years now.

After setting up my 1-Wire Temperature Network, my next sensory target was my AC breaker panel. I watched reviews for products such as the Sense energy monitor, The Energy Detective, and a few others, and felt like none of them did what I wanted. I know that big loads in my house use a lot of power (duh), I want to know how much power specific people and rooms in the house use, so I can improve my home energy modeling skills.

I’ve long followed the videos and episodes of Jonathan Oxer of SuperHouse, and decided to design my first true automation system around his design ideas. This project describes the basic setup of the automation system I setup and explored, and replaces the dabblings I’ve had with EmonCMS in the past (See the One-wire Project). Software Stack Jon is big on the use of MQTT for transport, having developed a lot of his own hardware before it was easily available (especially so in Australia where he is located) and standardizing on the protocol for its general and flexible nature.