Documentation
Everything about BoilerBuddy
Read how to connect the BoilerBuddy Alpo and what you see in the portal. Installers find how to work with customers and technicians, developers how to connect their own hardware.
- At homeConnecting and pairing the Alpo, setting up your system, and seeing what your solar water heater does: charts, alerts and savings.Get started
- For installersApplying with your company, working with technicians and customers, giving customers access, and what it costs.Read more
- For developersConnecting your own hardware through the API, with examples in curl, Python and for the ESP32.Go to the API
Getting started
- Getting startedWhat you need and the steps to take, from creating an account to the first readings in your portal.
- Connecting the AlpoConnecting the BoilerBuddy Alpo to your controller, your router and power, and checking that it works.
- Pairing with a codeLinking the BoilerBuddy Alpo to your account with its pairing code, and a new Alpo to an existing device.
- Circuit and installation detailsTell BoilerBuddy what your installation looks like, with your controller's circuit and the details for your savings.
The portal
- Dashboard and chartsWhat you see on the dashboard, from the values right now to charts over any period, and how to read it.
- AlertsWhich alerts BoilerBuddy sends, what they mean and what to check.
- SavingsWhat the sun gives you in heat, gas, money and CO₂, and how we estimate it.
- Sharing and locationsGiving someone access to your device, grouping your devices by place, and handing a device over when you move.
- SubscriptionWhat BoilerBuddy costs, how the trial works, how you pay and cancel, and what happens if you don't pay.
For installers
- Becoming an installerRegister your company as an installer. Which details we ask for, and what happens before and after approval.
- Organization and techniciansYour company owns the devices. Who may do what, inviting colleagues, switching between your own account and the installer, and alerts per member.
- All your devices at a glanceSee at a glance how all your customers' installations are doing, which ones need attention, and quickly find the right device.
- Customers and locationsKeep a customer's devices together, and track which branch each device is at and where in the building.
- Customer accessGive a customer access to their devices, even if they don't have an account yet. What they see, alerts, and stopping access.
- Handing over to the customerLet the customer pay for themselves: hand their devices over. They become the owner, and you keep managing them.
- Billing and subscriptionWhat BoilerBuddy costs an installer, the trial, paying, and what happens when a payment doesn't come in.
- Listing in the installer directoryLet people find you in the installer directory: your profile, work area, services and certifications, paying per year, and the requests that come in.
API
- API overviewWhat you can do with the device API, its four endpoints, the order in which a device uses them, and the conventions for tokens, JSON and timestamps.
- Pairing with helloHow a device without a token gets one itself through POST /device/hello and a pairing code, and when a key from the portal is easier.
- Sending readingsUploading readings in batches of up to 1000, reading the answer, what to do with each rejection, and what happens to unknown sensor codes.
- Fetching the configurationWhat GET /device/config returns, how to poll cheaply with ETag and 304, and how a device reads the controller.
- Buffering and the clockKeeping readings locally and sending them in order, catching up after an outage within the limits, and having readings from before clock sync corrected.
- Limits and error codesThe limits per token, per IP address and per uuid, what each status code means and what to do, how the portal decides a device is offline, and simulated devices.
- API referenceEvery endpoint, field and response of the device API, straight from the contract (OpenAPI 3.1).
Examples
- Building your own BoilerBuddySending readings to the portal from your own hardware: creating a device, choosing a circuit, setting the token, and what isn't possible yet.
- Example: curlTrying every endpoint of the device API with curl, with real requests and answers, and fetching the configuration only when it has changed.
- Example: PythonA small, complete Python 3 client for your own hardware that pairs, keeps the configuration up to date, buffers readings in SQLite and uploads them in order.
- Example: ESP32An Arduino sketch for the ESP32 that reads DS18B20 sensors and uploads a batch to BoilerBuddy every minute, with notes on TLS, the clock and the buffer.