# Flow only starts when triggered manually **URL:** \ **Category:** Flows\ **Tags:** flow, homey-pro\ **Created:** [September 18, 2026, 1:04pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/flow-only-starts-when-triggered-manually/159748 "2026-09-18T13:04:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Grumpy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/grumpy/32/169338_2.png) [@Grumpy](https://community.homey.app/u/Grumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2026, 1:04pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/flow-only-starts-when-triggered-manually/159748/1 "2026-09-18T13:04:20Z")
Does anybody have an idea as to why one of my flows only starts when triggerede manually? My other other flows work as intended, then a trigger event occurs, the flow is triggered and runs. But my flow I use to start charging my EV will only start when I test the flow. And then it runs perfectly. I receiver no errors or alerts that can point me in the direction of the problem. Apps used in the flow: Zaptec and BilligKWH (akin to PBTH). ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/uploads/athom/original/3X/6/a/6af9bb1a470aa25a518143d482ef6a4f61a5c695.png) Trigger event is when lowest price for charging X hours occurs during timeframe. Everything is updated. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Nono](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7feea3/32.png) [@Mike\_Nono](https://community.homey.app/u/Mike_Nono)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2026, 2:05pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/flow-only-starts-when-triggered-manually/159748/2 "2026-09-18T14:05:36Z")
I’m pretty sure that you need to provide a screenshot of the flow, or we are all just guessing ---
**Author:** ![Grumpy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/grumpy/32/169338_2.png) [@Grumpy](https://community.homey.app/u/Grumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2026, 3:29pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/flow-only-starts-when-triggered-manually/159748/3 "2026-09-18T15:29:48Z")
I’m pretty sure you’re absolutely right. I’ve updated my post. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Nono](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7feea3/32.png) [@Mike\_Nono](https://community.homey.app/u/Mike_Nono)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2026, 6:10pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/flow-only-starts-when-triggered-manually/159748/4 "2026-09-18T18:10:26Z")
You say that you can trigger it manually. So it’s seems like the tag it not trigger in the beginning Really don’t know. The flow looks ok, but are the tag from the app ok? I have never used " Zaptec or BilligKWH" Also add a notification to timeline in case of error from every flow. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_de\_Knegt](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/justin_de_knegt/32/114526_2.png) [@Justin\_de\_Knegt](https://community.homey.app/u/Justin_de_Knegt)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 6:32am UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/flow-only-starts-when-triggered-manually/159748/5 "2026-09-19T06:32:13Z")
I don’t really understand the first step in the flow, perhaps because I cannot translate it due to my lack of knowledge of the language 😅 Could you please tell what the steps says ? Because if you test it manually the flow works we have to find out if the information this flows get is correct. Could you please add, as @Mike_Nono also mentioned, a notification message (to timeline or message to device) with a clear description after each step. Also add a messages when a step fails. This way you can find out on which step the flow stops. Also I would suggest to add the variable “Ladetid\_Forventet” in the message so you can see the value the flows is working with ---
**Author:** ![Grumpy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/grumpy/32/169338_2.png) [@Grumpy](https://community.homey.app/u/Grumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 8:03am UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/flow-only-starts-when-triggered-manually/159748/6 "2026-09-19T08:03:30Z")
The first step says “The cheapest timeframe of [variable] hours between 00:00 and 17:00 starts”. I will try to add a notification, to see if I get any errors. I will report back when my EV has to charge again 😅 ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_de\_Knegt](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/justin_de_knegt/32/114526_2.png) [@Justin\_de\_Knegt](https://community.homey.app/u/Justin_de_Knegt)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 8:50am UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/flow-only-starts-when-triggered-manually/159748/7 "2026-09-19T08:50:19Z")
Ok, and what could be the value of this variable and how/by whois this variable been set? It could be that I am in need of more coffee, but I can’t get it clear for me how this trigger works 🙃 ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Kawa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/peter_kawa/32/173848_2.png) [@Peter\_Kawa](https://community.homey.app/u/Peter_Kawa)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 9:14am UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/flow-only-starts-when-triggered-manually/159748/8 "2026-09-19T09:14:29Z")
> [@Justin\_de\_Knegt](#): > > This way you can find out on which step the flow stops Well, when a flow works fine when testing it (accirding to TS), only the trigger is the point of failure 😉 (just meant as information, not smartassing) @Grumpy > [@Grumpy](#): > > The first step says “The cheapest timeframe of [variable] hours between 00:00 and 17:00 starts”. Not all trigger cards take variables as value… this one probably is one of those. Please test again with a manually entered value. OR - the variable value isn’t an ‘integer’ (zero digit number), if so, the card doesn’t recognise it as valid number and doesn’t work. Unfortunately we can’t test triggercards “on the spot”. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_de\_Knegt](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/justin_de_knegt/32/114526_2.png) [@Justin\_de\_Knegt](https://community.homey.app/u/Justin_de_Knegt)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 9:28am UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/flow-only-starts-when-triggered-manually/159748/9 "2026-09-19T09:28:18Z")
> [@Peter\_Kawa](#): > > Well, when a flow works fine when testing it (accirding to TS), only the trigger is the point of failure 😉 Fair enough. I do also think the issue is in this step, therefore it would be nice to know via a message (timeline or otherwise) if this step works and what the value is of the variable at that point (which could help understanding the issue based on your second half of your previous comment 😄 ) that being said, I do think it is a good way of troubleshooting to have a message after each step, but again perhaps for this case it is a bit much ---
**Author:** ![Grumpy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/grumpy/32/169338_2.png) [@Grumpy](https://community.homey.app/u/Grumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2026, 6:11am UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/flow-only-starts-when-triggered-manually/159748/10 "2026-09-20T06:11:05Z")
Thank you very much for your suggestion that the trigger card doesn’t take variables as value. Entering a value fixed the problem. Not as smart as I would like. Cards should prevent one from entering variables, if they don’t support it. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_de\_Knegt](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/justin_de_knegt/32/114526_2.png) [@Justin\_de\_Knegt](https://community.homey.app/u/Justin_de_Knegt)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2026, 6:39am UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/flow-only-starts-when-triggered-manually/159748/11 "2026-09-20T06:39:10Z")
Great to read you found the solution! I agree, when it is not allowed to use, it should not be possible to select it. Perhaps you can give the owner of the app feedback about this. Maybe they can change it in the future or explain why it can’t be changed. ---
**Author:** ![SunBeech](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/sunbeech/32/111391_2.png) [@SunBeech](https://community.homey.app/u/SunBeech)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2026, 7:56am UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/flow-only-starts-when-triggered-manually/159748/12 "2026-09-20T07:56:00Z")
> [@Justin\_de\_Knegt](#): > > I agree, when it is not allowed to use, it should not be possible to select it. I think this might be more of a Homey OS issue than an app issue. The same applies to many more apps. The strange thing is that sometimes you can use a tag/variable as a parameter and sometimes you cannot, though the tag/variable icon is shown 🤷‍♂️. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_de\_Knegt](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/justin_de_knegt/32/114526_2.png) [@Justin\_de\_Knegt](https://community.homey.app/u/Justin_de_Knegt)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2026, 8:41am UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/flow-only-starts-when-triggered-manually/159748/13 "2026-09-20T08:41:23Z")
That could be the case of course, I have no idea what the root cause of this is. If the app builder cannot fix this, perhaps a request to Athom could be the next step. Because whatever the cause may be, I still think you should only be able to select the options that should work. ---
**Author:** ![Snappy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/snappy/32/29344_2.png) [@Snappy](https://community.homey.app/u/Snappy)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2026, 11:39am UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/flow-only-starts-when-triggered-manually/159748/14 "2026-09-23T11:39:18Z")
I use the kWh price trigger from PbtH, that works with variables. ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/uploads/athom/original/3X/a/c/ac10688aab07c49791704244450fd56ff56e6584.png) ---
**Author:** ![Grumpy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/grumpy/32/169338_2.png) [@Grumpy](https://community.homey.app/u/Grumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 5:26pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/flow-only-starts-when-triggered-manually/159748/15 "2026-09-29T17:26:30Z")
Thank you very much. It actually works as I wanted the other app to work. But now I have to use both apps, as PBTH is not able to display the correct price… 🤪 ---
**Author:** ![Snappy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/snappy/32/29344_2.png) [@Snappy](https://community.homey.app/u/Snappy)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2026, 10:51am UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/flow-only-starts-when-triggered-manually/159748/16 "2026-09-30T10:51:08Z")
Are you sure? PbtH has lots of options for price sources and calculations. What is the source you need? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Kawa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/peter_kawa/32/173848_2.png) [@Peter\_Kawa](https://community.homey.app/u/Peter_Kawa)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2026, 12:29pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/flow-only-starts-when-triggered-manually/159748/17 "2026-09-30T12:29:25Z")
Indeed, price functionality works very well with PbtH. It even uses multiple market sources to prevent absence of price data. In case of “Zonneplan” provider I use these figures: ![Screenshot_20260930_143240_Homey](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/uploads/athom/original/3X/1/c/1c4edb4c2e12602c3793ade30c5e91a9b5557a52.jpeg) Zonneplan prices ![Screenshot_20260930_143136_Zonneplan](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/uploads/athom/original/3X/1/0/10f57244ec9dd03ab8bf33381ba88d2af6f0d9f8.jpeg) PbtH prices ![Screenshot_20260930_143328_Homey](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/uploads/athom/original/3X/1/c/1c73e1442f939bdec4f5f5fa4ee629208b3d03d3.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Grumpy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/grumpy/32/169338_2.png) [@Grumpy](https://community.homey.app/u/Grumpy)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2026, 7:31pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/flow-only-starts-when-triggered-manually/159748/18 "2026-10-01T19:31:42Z")
Thank you very much for pointing me in the right direction. It took me a little while to get all the numbers right, but now PBTH is even more accurate than the other app. So I will only need PBTH from now on.