--- title: "E-Bike Charging During Off-Peak Hours with Home Assistant" description: "Automate your e-bike charging during off-peak hours with Home Assistant and reduce your electricity bill effortlessly." url: "https://www.the-optimization-guy.com/en/blog/automating-ebike-charging-off-peak-hours/" lang: "en" published: "2026-01-03" --- # Automating E-Bike Charging During Off-Peak Hours 22 kg. That’s the weight of my Moustache Lundi 27 with a flat battery. Which means forgetting to charge before a commute turns the bike into an anchor. The problem is, I don’t want to plug in my bike the moment I get home. With a **peak/off-peak tariff**, starting a charge at 6 pm makes zero economic sense. And getting up at 10:01 pm to press a button? No thanks. The goal is simple: plug in the bike whenever it’s convenient, and let Home Assistant handle the optimization. In practice, the automation should: - **Start charging automatically at 10:01 pm** (start of off-peak hours). - **Cut the socket** as soon as charging is complete… or if nothing is drawing power. **Result**: you plug in whenever you like, Home Assistant handles the rest. And crucially, the socket doesn’t stay powered for nothing. ## ❓ Why a simple ON/OFF at 10 pm isn’t enough A socket that turns on at 10 pm is a good start. But in real life, two scenarios cause problems: - **The bike isn’t plugged in** (or the charger isn’t connected properly). The socket turns on… for nothing. - **The battery is already full**. The charger goes to standby, but the socket stays ON. I wanted something smarter: **turn on at the right time**, then **switch off automatically as soon as power draw drops**. ## ✅ The 3 essential elements of the automation ### Power measurement: the sensor that makes all the difference The heart of the system is the **power** measurement in watts (W) from the smart plug, available in Home Assistant via a sensor like: `sensor.smart_plug_ebike_charger_power` - When the charger is actually charging, power is clearly above a few watts. - When it’s not charging (bike absent, charge complete, charger on standby), power drops. *Image: Power sensor history showing charger consumption variations: 0W (standby), 164-178W (active charging), then back to 0W* ### The power threshold: how to decide “charging” / “not charging” I use a simple threshold: **5 W**. - **Above 5 W**: charging is in progress. - **Below 5 W**: not charging, or no longer charging. This threshold depends on your charger. The idea is to find a value that works for you. ### Why “for 2 minutes”? Because power can fluctuate. A brief dip shouldn’t cut the charge. So I require: **power < 5 W for 2 minutes** before cutting. This prevents spurious disconnections. ## 🔌 Equipment used: Sonoff S60ZBTPF Zigbee plug I use a **Sonoff S60ZBTPF Zigbee smart plug**: - **Zigbee**: responsive and stable, and it doesn’t burden the Wi-Fi network. - **Power measurement**: essential to automatically cut when charging is done (or if nothing is charging). Product: [Sonoff S60ZBTPF Zigbee Smart Plug](https://www.domadoo.fr/fr/produits-zigbee/7851-sonoff-prise-connectee-zigbee-16a-mesure-consommation.html?domid=129), From €11 (affiliate link) ## 🤖 The Home Assistant automation (YAML included) *Image: E-bike consumption graph over 24h: spike to 170W at 11pm, then gradual decline to 7W at 2am indicating end of charge* ### What the automation does 1. **At 10:01 pm**, Home Assistant turns on the charger socket. 2. It waits **30 seconds** (time for the charger to actually start). 3. If power is **< 5 W**, it cuts immediately: probably nothing to charge. 4. If charging starts, Home Assistant monitors the power. 5. When power stays **< 5 W for 2 minutes**, it cuts: charge complete. In short: it starts automatically, it stops automatically, and the socket never stays ON “for nothing”. ### The complete YAML ```yaml alias: E-bike charger plug – ON 10:01pm, OFF if nothing or charge complete description: >- Turns on at 22:01. Turns off if power < 5W (immediately after turn on) or for 2 min at night. triggers: - at: "22:01:00" id: start trigger: time - entity_id: sensor.smart_plug_ebike_charger_power below: 5 for: "00:02:00" id: done trigger: numeric_state conditions: [] actions: - choose: - conditions: - condition: trigger id: start sequence: - target: entity_id: switch.smart_plug_ebike_charger action: switch.turn_on data: {} - delay: "00:00:30" - condition: numeric_state entity_id: sensor.smart_plug_ebike_charger_power below: 5 - target: entity_id: switch.smart_plug_ebike_charger action: switch.turn_off data: {} - conditions: - condition: trigger id: done - condition: state entity_id: switch.smart_plug_ebike_charger state: "on" sequence: - target: entity_id: switch.smart_plug_ebike_charger action: switch.turn_off mode: restart ``` ### Three concrete scenarios (what changes day to day) **Scenario 1 — You plug in the bike when you get home** At 10:01 pm, the socket turns on, charging starts, then the socket switches off automatically when done. Nothing to monitor. **Scenario 2 — The bike isn’t actually plugged in** At 10:01 pm, the socket turns on… but power stays < 5 W. 30 seconds later, Home Assistant cuts it. No socket left ON until morning. *Image: Execution trace from Jan 3, 2026: start at 22:01, automatic shutdown at 22:01:30* **Scenario 3 — Battery already full** The socket turns on at 10:01 pm, but consumption stays low (charger on standby). Result: quick cut, no unnecessary power draw. > Tip: if your charger sometimes draws 6–8 W on standby, raise the threshold (e.g. 10 W) and observe one or two complete cycles to validate. ## 🎉 What you gain day to day This automation eliminates a daily annoyance: **benefiting from off-peak hours without thinking about it**. You plug in the bike whenever you like, then Home Assistant handles the rest: - starts at 10:01 pm, - cuts quickly if nothing is charging, - stops automatically when charging is complete. If you want to go further, the logical next step is a small “charge complete” notification (or an alert if the bike wasn’t plugged in). But even without that, you already have autonomous, clean, hassle-free charging. I have since added a charging reminder for the second e-bike in our house: [E-Bike Charging Reminder: My Home Assistant Setup](https://www.the-optimization-guy.com/en/blog/ebike-charging-reminder-home-assistant/). ## ❓ FAQ ### Does a "simple" smart plug suffice, or do I need one with power measurement? To turn on at 10:01 pm, a simple plug is enough. But to automatically cut when charging is done (or if nothing is charging), you need a plug that reports power in watts (W) to Home Assistant. ### How do I choose the right threshold (5W) to decide "charging" / "no longer charging"? 5W is an example that works with one charger, not a universal truth. Quick method: - Check the power history: active charging vs standby (full battery / not plugged in), - Set the threshold above standby but well below active charging, - Test 1-2 complete cycles and adjust (if your charger "idles" at 6-8W, go up to 10W instead). ### My off-peak hours don't start at 10:01 pm: what do I do? You keep the same logic, you just change the time trigger. In this article, the turn-on is at 10:01 pm because that's the start of my off-peak hours. Two simple options: - **Fixed time**: replace 10:01 pm with your own schedule, - **Variable schedule**: trigger the automation on an "off-peak hours" indicator (if you have one in your system), rather than a fixed time.