Hildebrand Glow (DCC) Integration

Home Assistant integration for energy consumption data from UK SMETS (Smart) meters using the Hildebrand Glow API. The original from (HandyHat) of this project is now declared as abandoned, so after the local tweaks Ive been making over the last 24 months, and into the future, I decided to create my own fork, and release it. The idea is that this new Repo will be a place where the community of users can contribute, and collectively we can improve this Integration.

Note: in order to create debugging information as the integration is setup, then you need to configure the logger (for debug) as defined below - ie BEFORE, you 'Add Integration'. Please Note: in this version of the Integration, the devices and sensors are defined once the integration is setup (the part where you have added the integration, and then entered your Glow username and Password).
The sensors will immediately appear as 'unavailable' for about five second whilst the Glow API is polled for your first set of data - the next poll is set at 15 minutes, and 60 minutes for the Tarrif data (see below on Integration Settings).

Installation

Note: if you had the previous Integration (by HandyHat, and now abandoned) installed, it is strongly advised to remove it, and ensure you perform a full Home Assistant reboot before installing this, to avoid orphaned devices and sensors.

Automated installation through HACS

You can install this component through HACS to easily receive updates. Once HACS is installed, click this link:

Manually add to HACS

Visit the HACS Integrations pane and go to Explore and download repositories. Search for Hildebrand Glow (DCC), and then hit Download. You'll then be able to install it through the Integrations pane.

Manual installation

Copy the custom_components/hildebrandglow_dcc/ directory and all of its files to your config/custom_components/ directory.

Configuration

Once downloaded, restart Home Assistant:

Then, add the integration:

Manually add the Integration

Visit the Integrations section in Home Assistant and click the Add button in the bottom right corner. Search for Hildebrand Glow (DCC) and input your credentials. You may need to clear your browser cache before the integration appears in the list.

Once added, the integration will attempt to setup by taking your BRIGHT credentials, and two parameters on how frequently to update the sensors:

• Daily_refresh: This is the usage data from your meter (ie readings) - is updated at most every 30 mins on the DCC
• Tarrif_refresh: This is the daily standing charge, and tarrif data - Unless you are on a complex tarrif, this will be mainly static for days.

Please note: Do not set these parameters too frequently, as the data is only updated on the DCC (about) every 30 minutes or so. If you set the 'refresh intervals' too high, you will overload the API, but will not obtain higher refresh rates in your Home Assistant.

Upgrading

If upgrading from a an older version of this integration, e.g when pushed from HACS, you may need to delete the integration, and then re add it to update the configurations (which get cached). To do this, let HACS download the new version, and then restart Home Assistant (as HACS does for you). Then in Settings/Integrations, open this Integration, and if there are errors reported, select 'Delete' from the three dots next to the 'Hildebrand Glow (DCC)' Hub. Then do a restart of Home Assistant. Then go back into Integrations, and 'Add Integration' and add this integration again. That will prompt HA to re-setup everything.

Sensors

Once you've authenticated, the integration will automatically set up the following sensors for each of the smart meters on your account:

• Usage (Today) - Consumption today (kWh)
• Cost (Today) - Total cost of today's consumption (GBP)
• Standing Charge - Current standing charge (GBP)
• Rate - Current tariff (GBP/kWh)

The usage and cost sensors will still show the previous day's data until shortly after 01:00 to ensure that all of the previous day's data is collected.

The standing charge and rate sensors are disabled by default as they are less commonly used. Before enabling them, ensure the data is visible in the Bright app.

If the data being shown is wrong, check the Bright app first. If it is also wrong there, you will need to contact your supplier and tell them to fix the data being provided to DCC Other Users, as Bright is one of these.

Integration Settings

Once the integration is running, there is an options (settings 'cog') next to the 'Hildebrand Glow (DCC)' Hub - this lets you change the frequency at which the integration pulls the data. Values less than five minutes are not allowed.

Energy Management

The sensors created were originally designed to integrate directly into Home Assistant's Home Energy Management. However, with HA since (roughly 2024), the energy dashboard does not handle the daily resetting of the sensors.
It is NOT recommended you use the daily usage and cost sensors in the Energy integration, and consider using the Utility Meter Integration (built into HA), and define you own total usage and Cost sensors. A later release of this integration will update on suggestions on what and how to do this - but it is currently believed to be NOT something this integration can resolve directly.

Be aware also that due to the lower refresh rate of this Integration, you will need to wait until the sensors have data - so wait an hour or two.

Debugging

To debug the integration, add the following to your configuration.yaml, and if you want to see the debug information as the Integration is setup, you will need to add this BEFORE clicking 'add integration'.

logger:
  default: warning
  logs:
    custom_components.hildebrandglow_dcc: debug

Please Note: This Integration uses a (recent in 2025) best practice to Setup the Integration, ensuring the first call to the API verifying the resources, and creating the sensors, but does not then wait for the data in the sensors to be populated. The first call of the data population is delayed for five seconds after successful Integration Setup.

Development

To begin, it is recommended to create a virtual environment to install dependencies:

python -m venv dev-venv
. dev-venv\Scripts\activate

You can then install the dependencies that will allow you to develop: pip3 install -r requirements-dev.txt

This will install black, homeassistant, isort, pyglowmarkt and pylint.

Code Style

This project makes use of black, isort and pylint to enforce a consistent code style across the codebase.

Credits

Thanks go to:

• The Hildebrand API documentation and Swagger UI.

• The original project from which this project is forked.

• All of the contributors and users, without whom this integration wouldn't be where it is today.