How Franzl Works

Two parts, one idea: the Gateway does the work at your home, the app shows you what's happening, and why.

The Gateway: Franzl's workplace

The Franzl Gateway is an app for Home Assistant, the free smart-home hub that runs on a small device at your home (a Raspberry Pi, for example, or a Home Assistant Green). That's where everything happens, right on your home network:

• Measuring: Franzl reads your devices via Home Assistant or directly, locally: inverter, battery, wallbox, heat pump, meter.
• Planning: Every 15 minutes, the optimizer calculates a plan for the next 24 hours, using your solar forecast, your electricity prices, and your preferences ("car full by 6:00 am").
• Controlling: A live controller checks the real measurements every minute and adjusts on the fly. If a cloud passes over, it throttles the wallbox instead of quietly switching to grid power.
• Safeguarding: Safety limits (frost protection, legionella protection) are hard-wired in. Optimization can never dip below them, and a manual action from you always beats the optimizer.

The app: your window

The Franzl app (iOS & Android, free) shows the live energy flow, the day plan, and what Franzl is doing right now. The principle behind it: look and understand first. Every decision comes with a "why," in plain language. If you want it technical, switch on Expert Mode and get raw data instead of narration.

You can step in anytime: "Charge," "Stop," "Heat now." Your command beats the plan. Franzl remembers these interventions and suggests patterns to you, instead of stubbornly sticking to its own.

What Franzl does differently

You decide who gets the surplus. Battery first up to 80%, then the car, then the water heater: you set the order once, Franzl sticks to it and keeps adjusting as clouds or other loads cut in. Under the hood it works with the actually distributable surplus from production and household consumption, not with grid export. Why that makes a difference is in the knowledge article.

Franzl doesn't sugarcoat. The device database tells you before you buy what works with your model and what doesn't. The same applies day to day: if a device doesn't respond or a reading is missing, the app says so openly instead of pretending everything is done.

Local-first, clearly scoped. Optimization, control, and energy data stay in your home and keep running even without internet. Login, push notifications, and the subscription run through cloud services: exactly what is detailed in the privacy policy and on the homepage, no fine print required.

Your path to Franzl

1. Home Assistant is already running at your home (or you get one via the starter path).
2. Install the Franzl Gateway: one click, instructions here.
3. Open the app: it finds the gateway on your home network by itself, and devices are found automatically.
4. From there, Franzl takes over. You can watch, or not.