Energy Tracking¶

Track power consumption from your 3D printers and calculate electricity costs per print or cumulatively.

Overview¶

Energy tracking helps you understand:

• Power consumption per print
• Electricity costs over time
• Most efficient printers and settings
• Total energy usage

Requirements¶

Energy tracking requires a smart plug with power monitoring:

Supported Smart Plugs¶

Configuration¶

Setting Up Energy Tracking¶

1. Configure a smart plug for your printer (Tasmota or Home Assistant)
2. Go to Settings > Smart Plugs
3. Assign the plug to a printer
4. For HA plugs: Configure energy sensor entities if needed
5. Energy tracking starts automatically

Tracking Mode¶

Choose how energy is tracked:

Configure in Settings > General.

Energy Data¶

Per-Print Tracking¶

When enabled, each print records:

Archive Display¶

Energy data appears on archive cards:

⚡ 245 Wh • $0.04

Energy Statistics¶

Dashboard Widget¶

The Energy widget shows:

• Total consumption for period
• Cost breakdown by printer
• Trend over time
• Comparison between printers

Energy by Printer¶

Cost Calculation¶

Setting Electricity Rate¶

1. Go to Settings > General
2. Find Electricity Cost
3. Enter your rate per kWh
4. Choose currency

Cost Formula¶

Print Cost = (Energy in Wh / 1000) × Rate per kWh

Example:

245 Wh at $0.15/kWh = 0.245 × 0.15 = $0.037

When Energy is Tracked¶

Energy tracking records:

Per-Print Mode¶

Only tracks during active print:

• Starts when print begins
• Ends when print completes
• Includes preheating and cooling

Total Mode¶

Tracks all energy when printer is on:

• Cumulative total
• Includes idle time
• Resets on demand

Energy Export¶

Export energy data:

1. Go to Statistics
2. Click Export
3. Energy data included in CSV/Excel

Export includes:

• Per-print energy consumption
• Cost calculations
• Printer comparison data

Energy Analysis¶

Efficient Settings¶

Compare energy usage across prints to find efficient settings:

Printer Efficiency¶

Compare printers:

• Some are more efficient than others
• Consider energy when choosing which printer to use
• Factor into total cost of ownership

Total Cost of Printing¶

Combine energy costs with filament costs:

Total Print Cost = Filament Cost + Electricity Cost

Example:

Filament: 45g at $25/kg = $1.13
Electricity: 245 Wh at $0.15/kWh = $0.04
───────────────────────────────────
Total: $1.17

Tips¶

Dynamic Electricity Rates¶

If you have a dynamic electricity tariff (e.g., Tibber, Octopus Energy), you can automatically update the electricity rate from Home Assistant.

How It Works¶

Home Assistant pushes the current electricity price to Bambuddy's API whenever it changes. This ensures cost calculations always use the current rate.

Setup¶

1. Add REST Command to Home Assistant¶

Add to your configuration.yaml:

rest_command:
  bambuddy_electricity_price:
    url: "http://YOUR_BAMBUDDY_IP:8000/api/settings"
    method: PATCH
    content_type: "application/json"
    payload: '{"energy_cost_per_kwh": {{ states("sensor.electricity_price") }}}'

Replace:

• YOUR_BAMBUDDY_IP with your Bambuddy server address
• sensor.electricity_price with your energy provider's price sensor

2. Create Automation¶

automation:
  id: 'bambuddy_push_electricity_price'
  alias: "Update Bambuddy Electricity Price"
  mode: restart
  trigger:
    - platform: state
      entity_id: sensor.electricity_price
      for: "00:00:05"
  condition:
    - condition: template
      value_template: >
        {{ states('sensor.electricity_price')|float(none) is not none }}
  action:
    - delay: "00:00:01"
    - service: rest_command.bambuddy_electricity_price

This updates the price in Bambuddy whenever your electricity rate changes.

Common Energy Provider Sensors¶