ESPHome Panasonic Climate WiFi interface

Getting the Panasonic Climate control off the cloud

A little while back I came across a custom esphome component for a esp32 or esp8266 based airconditioning/Climate Wifi interface. A great way to get your Panasonic Climate control off the Panasonic Comfort Cloud and into Home Assistant locally. The horrible Panasonic app and ever failing cloud service had been bothering me for a while now.

How does it work?

Panasonic Climate units are usually connected to Panasonics Comfort Cloud using either a DSNK-P11 or a CZ-TACG1 WiFi interface.

CZ-TACG1

DNSK-P11

If you have one of these interfaces installed, you are unfortunate enough to be using the Panasonic Cloud service which sucks! Repeatedly having to log-in to your app and not not being able to control your Climate unit due to Cloud service outages are common issues. If you do not have one of these interfaces installed, you are likely not able to control your Climate units by anything else then the standard remote control that comes with the unit.

The Solution:

There is a solution to both problems. By using a custom esphome module it is possible to connect your Panasonic Climate Unit to Home Assistant locally. Remote controlling your Climate unit will be instant and no longer cloud dependant. The only thing missing was a drop-in hardware replacement for the original Panasonic DNSK-P11 Wifi-interface so Paul and I started measuring and fiddling around until we came up with this design:

Paul really did a great job on this PCB!

Panasonic Climate Interface with optional CN-CNT cable (no p11 header)

Espthings Panasonic Climate Interface with DNSK-p11 header

Usually we design PCBs with through-hole technology, but since that would not fit within the small footprint of the original PCB’s we had to design this one with SMD components. We will NOT publish the PCB source files as these files tend to end-up in the hands of people who commercially exploit them.

Features:

• 100% drop in replacement for the original DNSK-P11 PCB and a perfect fit for the original enclosure!
• ESP32, so you can also use BLE for location tracking of your phones etc.
• Status LED
• Fits the original Panasonic connector, no soldering, wire cutting or splicing required!
• Option to connect to a CN-CNT connector using a custom cable.
• Micro-USB terminal for installing the firmware (USB chip for auto-programming)
• Pre-programmed with a default esphome configuration with Hotspot, captive portal and web server enabled, so you can upload your own config OTA!
• Option to print or order a great tiny 3D-printable enclosure that exposes the P11 port, CN-CNT wires and USB-port.
• Fully tested

You want one?

UPDATE 3rd of september 2023:
We have a DIY version available now. More information at https://espthings.io/p11

Panasonic DNSK-P11 replacement:

Option 1. The price will be EURO 25,00 for the version that replaces the original Panasonic DNSK-P11 wifi adapter. It has the custom header for the original Panasonic DNSK-P11 cable installed (soldered).

Panasonic CN-CNT version:

There are a few options if you need it to replace the original CZ-TACG1 or if you have no Panasonic Wifi module installed at all. Please first check if your Panasonic Climate control has the CN-CNT connector!

Enclosure:

Shipping:

How to buy or reserve one:

If you would like to buy or reserve one or more espthings Wifi interfaces, please use the contact form and state:

• Amount/option(s).
• Full name
• Full postal address
• If located outside of the Netherlands, your (mobile) phone number as we are required to to enter that for shipping
• The exact preferred shipping method (check above!)

Please save your technical questions for the comments section of this post. Do not use the contact form for that please!

Instructions:

Hardware:

DNSK-P11 replacement:

Original DNSK-P11 enclosure

Our module inside 😉

Below a video on how to install the original CZ-TACG1 interface. The interface is different, but you’ll find clear instructions on how to open and close the unit. After taking off the enclosure, check your Climate unit for the DNSK-P11 enclosure.

Take the DNSK-P11 pcb out of the enclosure carefully, remove the black connector from the PCB and install your espthings P11 interface. Connect the interface using the original DNSK-P11 cable. The connector-lip needs to go downwords in the notch of the PCB, the flat part of the connector up.
Please be careful as the pins are tiny. If you use your brain in stead of brute force, you’ll be ok. 🙂

CZ-TACG1 replacement:

You can eiher replace the original CZ-TACG1interface, or if you have no Wifi interface installed yet and your Panasonic unit has the 5-pin CN-CNT connector, you are good to install the espthings.io Wifi interface.

CN-CNT connector

Below a video on how to install the original CZ-TACG1 interface. The installation of the espthings interface with the cable (option 5), is pretty straight forward.

Software

Each interface has been tested and is pre-flashed with esphome firmware, with the Hotspot, Captive Portal and webserver enabled, so you can install your own esphome configuration (or any other compatible firmware) using OTA (WiFi).

Just connect to the Panasonic Climate Hotspot WiFi network, use password qwe12345 and access the web-interface by entering the IP -address or hostname of the interface in your webbrowser.

In esphome, create your own new configuration, press install, select “manual download”, download and save the file and upload that file in the web-interface of the interface (refer to the screenshot above). Power cycle the interface and it will then appear as “online” in the esphome dashboard.

>> Only needed for the old version: If you need to flash using USB for some reason, do not forget to close the jumper when booting the ESP32.

Config:

Please mind that we supply all modules with a basic test configuration which is the same for every single module. If you use more then one module in the same network, you need to reconfigure your modules with a unique (host)name! (substitutions: devicename: XXXX) and unique entity names (substitutions: long_devicename: Climate living)
More on the basic usage of esphome in this video:

https://youtu.be/yMhC6Or0oTY?t=170

ESPHome secrets:

esphome_wifi_ssid: 'yourssid'
esphome_wifi_password: 'yourpass'
esphome_ap_password: 'yourpass'
esphome_api_password: 'yourpass'
esphome_ota_password: 'yourpass'

Esphome module config:

substitutions:
  devicename: "pana-climate"
  long_devicename: "ESPthings Panasonic Climate Interface"
  pcb_version: "220722-1"
  
esphome:
  name: "${devicename}"
  name_add_mac_suffix: false ## if 'false' use different names/hostnames for each device!
  comment: "${long_devicename} ${pcb_version}"
  platform: ESP32
  board: mhetesp32minikit
  project:
    name: "esphome.pana-climate"
    version: "${pcb_version}"

external_components:
  source: github://DomiStyle/esphome-panasonic-ac
  components: [panasonic_ac]
  
wifi:
  ssid: !secret esphome_wifi_ssid
  password: !secret esphome_wifi_password
  ap:
    ssid: "${devicename} Hotspot"
    password: qwe12345
    
captive_portal:
    
web_server:
  port: 80
  
logger:
  level: DEBUG

api:
## uncomment the line below if you wish to use an api-password
# password: !secret esphome_api_password

ota:
## uncomment the line below if you wish to use an ota-password
# password: !secret esphome_ota_password

uart:
  tx_pin: GPIO17
  rx_pin: GPIO16
  id: ac_uart
  baud_rate: 9600
  parity: EVEN
  
## revisions below 220722-01 use GPIO12
status_led:
  pin: GPIO13
  
## For revisions from 220722-01 and higer the optional temperature sensor is available.
## DS18B20 1-wire Temperature Sensor
#dallas:
#  - pin: GPIO18
#sensor:
#  - platform: dallas
#    # Check the dallas sensor address in the log file
#    # For more info: https://esphome.io/components/sensor/dallas.html
#    address: 0x540000001524be28
#    name: "$long_devicename Temperature"
#    id: temp
  
switch:
  - platform: restart
    name: "$long_devicename Restart"
  
climate:
  - platform: panasonic_ac
    type: cnt   # For CZ-TACG1 use type: cnt / For DNSK-P11 use type: wlan
    name: "${long_devicename}"
    vertical_swing_select:
      name: "${long_devicename} Vertical Swing Mode"
    outside_temperature:
      name: "${long_devicename} Outside Temperature"
## If the ac does not report a current temperature (CZ-TACG1 only) uncomment 
## the line below and point to the appropriate sensor
#
#   current_temperature_sensor: temp
#
## Since Panasonic ACs support different features you can comment out the lines below if applicable:
#
#   eco_switch:
#     name: Panasonic AC Eco Switch
#   nanoex_switch:
#     name: Panasonic AC NanoeX Switch
#   mild_dry_switch:
#     name: Panasonic AC Mild Dry Switch
#   econavi_switch:
#     name: Econavi switch
#   current_power_consumption:
#     name: Panasonic AC Power Consumption

Home Assistant Lovelace yaml example:

type: vertical-stack
cards:
- type: thermostat
entity: climate.panasonic_climate_xx
- type: entities
entities:
- entity: select.panasonic_climate_xx_vertical_swing_mode
- entity: sensor.panasonic_climate_xx_outside_temperature

End result 🙂