v1.0.2

Heating & Cooling Degree Days – Persistent Storage and Improved Configuration (v1.0.2)

A new release introducing persistent storage for historical data and improved default configuration settings. This release ensures data survives Home Assistant restarts and provides better default values for a smoother setup experience.

✨ What's New?

Persistent Storage for Historical Data

The integration now saves daily degree days values to persistent storage, ensuring data survives Home Assistant restarts:

• Automatic data persistence using Home Assistant's Store helper
• Historical daily HDD and CDD values are automatically saved after each update cycle
• Data is automatically restored on startup before the first refresh
• Prevents loss of accumulated weekly and monthly degree days calculations after restarts
• Each integration instance uses its own storage file for independent operation

This fixes #57 where monthly and weekly degree days values would reset after a Home Assistant restart.

Improved Default Base Temperature Configuration

The default base temperature has been updated to use more appropriate values:

• Changed default for Celsius: From 65.0°C to 18.0°C (standard reference for heating degree days in metric systems)
• Kept default for Fahrenheit: Remains 65.0°F (standard reference for imperial systems)
• Automatic unit detection: Temperature unit is now automatically detected from Home Assistant preferences
• Simplified configuration: Removed temperature unit field from configuration flow
• Better UI guidance: Added field descriptions in configuration UI

🔧 Technical Details

• Storage location: .storage/heating_cooling_degree_days_data_{entry_id}.json
• Data format: JSON with ISO date strings as keys and float values
• Data retention: 60 days (existing cleanup logic preserved)
• Error handling: Graceful fallback to empty dictionaries if storage operations fail

📝 Important Notes

• No breaking changes: This release is fully backward compatible. Existing setups continue to work seamlessly.
• Existing installations: Will automatically get persistent storage enabled. Historical data will start accumulating from the upgrade date.
• Temperature unit: Existing configurations continue to use their current setting. New installations benefit from automatic detection.

🧪 Testing Needed

We would appreciate feedback on:

• Data Persistence: Verify that weekly and monthly degree days values are preserved after Home Assistant restarts.
• Historical Accuracy: Confirm that calculations immediately after restart use the full historical data (no reset to zero or loss of previous days).
• Multiple Instances: Test that multiple integration instances store data independently without conflicts.
• Storage Behavior: Monitor storage file creation and verify data is being saved correctly (check .storage/ directory).
• Default Configuration: Verify that default base temperature is correctly set (18°C for Celsius, 65°F for Fahrenheit) and that temperature unit is auto-detected.
• Configuration Flow: Test the simplified configuration flow and verify field descriptions appear correctly.

🐛 Bug Reports

If you encounter any issues, please open a GitHub issue and include:

• Your Home Assistant version.
• Your integration configuration (temperature sensor, base temperature, enabled periods).
• Debug-level logs showing data loading and saving operations.
• A clear description of the problem, including:
  • Whether data persists after restart or if values reset to zero.
  • Which sensors are affected (daily, weekly, monthly, HDD, CDD).
  • When the issue occurs (first startup after upgrade, after restart, during operation).
  • Whether storage files are created in .storage/ directory.
• Storage file contents (if safe to share, with any sensitive data redacted).

📋 Compatibility

• Minimum required versions:
  • Home Assistant Core: 2024.1.0
  • HACS: 1.32.0

🔧 Installation / Update

Via HACS (recommended)

1. Open HACS
2. Go to Integrations
3. Click the three dots menu on "Heating & Cooling Degree Days"
4. Select "Update"
5. Restart Home Assistant

Manual Installation

1. Download the latest release from the releases page
2. Extract the custom_components folder to your Home Assistant configuration directory
3. Restart Home Assistant