DSMR - Parse Dutch Smart Meter telegrams in Elixir

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I’ve been working on a library for parsing DSMR (Dutch Smart Meter Requirements) telegrams and thought it might be useful for others working with smart energy meters.

What is it?

DSMR is the protocol used by smart meters in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. These meters broadcast “telegrams” - structured data packets with electricity usage, gas consumption, voltage measurements, and more. The library parses these telegrams into Elixir structs.

Quick example

telegram = """
/KFM5KAIFA-METER

1-3:0.2.8(42)
0-0:1.0.0(161113205757W)
1-0:1.8.1(001581.123*kWh)
1-0:2.8.1(000000.000*kWh)
1-0:1.7.0(02.027*kW)
0-1:24.2.1(161129200000W)(00981.443*m3)
!6796
"""

{:ok, result} = DSMR.parse(telegram)

result.electricity_delivered_1
#=> %DSMR.Measurement{value: Decimal.new("1581.123"), unit: "kWh"}

result.electricity_currently_delivered
#=> %DSMR.Measurement{value: Decimal.new("2.027"), unit: "kW"}

Features

  • Supports DSMR 4.x and 5.x protocols

  • Handles three-phase connections with per-phase measurements

  • Parses MBus devices (gas, water, heat meters)

  • Uses Decimal for high-precision values (optional)

  • Built with leex/yecc for reliable parsing

  • Gracefully handles unknown OBIS codes

Try it yourself

The repository includes runnable Livebook examples at https://github.com/mijnverbruik/dsmr/tree/main/examples:

  • Connect to a DSMR meter: Full GenServer implementation that connects via TCP and visualizes real-time usage

  • Run your own “dummy” smart meter: Simulate a meter for testing without hardware

Links

The library is still relatively new, so feedback and contributions are welcome. Let me know if you run into any issues or have ideas for improvements!

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