Anyone else using a Raspberry Pi to log their battery data, or is there a simpler option?

Running a Pi 4 with Venus OS here — basically turned it into a poor man's Cerbo GX, and my Victron kit talks to it beautifully over VE.Direct.

That said, if you're after something genuinely plug-and-play without the faff of configuring Node-RED at midnight whilst questioning your life choices, the Victron Cerbo GX is the obvious answer — pricey but it Just Works™.

For the budget-conscious among us, worth considering:

• Raspberry Pi + Venus OS — free if you've already got the Pi, brilliant Victron integration, mild Linux trauma included at no extra charge
• Batrium BMS — has its own monitoring built in if you're running a DIY lithium pack
• Fogstar cells paired with a decent JK BMS — the JK app is surprisingly decent for basic logging
• Grafana + InfluxDB on the Pi — once it's set up you'll spend more time admiring your graphs than actually living off-grid

The real question is whether you want data or insight — a Pi gives you enough graphs to write a dissertation, but the Cerbo GX actually tells you something useful without a computer science degree.

Anyone running the Pi Zero 2 W for this? Curious whether the reduced horsepower causes issues with Venus OS under load, or if it copes fine for a modest setup.

Ran a Pi 4 with Venus OS for two years in the motorhome before caving and buying a proper Cerbo GX — turns out "simpler" sometimes means "just spend the £200 and stop faffing about at 11pm in a campsite car park."

Been down the Pi route myself and honestly still rate it for tinkering — but if you want something dead simple without the faff, look at a Victron SmartShunt paired with the VictronConnect app over Bluetooth. No single-board computer, no SD card corruption worries, nothing to maintain. Just works.

That said, if you want proper historical logging and graphs, the Pi/Venus OS combo is hard to beat on price. @ShesBeRight makes a fair point though — there's a hidden cost in the hours you spend nursing it along.

Middle ground worth considering: Node-RED on a Pi feeding into InfluxDB/Grafana. Sounds complex but once it's running it's remarkably stable, and the dashboards are genuinely lovely. Mine's been solid for 18 months now.

What battery chemistry are you running? That might change what I'd actually recommend.

Got a Pi Zero 2 W running Venus OS in my shepherd's hut — handles VE.Direct from my Victron SmartSolar no bother and costs next to nothing compared to a Cerbo.

That said, the real game-changer for me was pairing it with InfluxDB + Grafana. You get proper historical graphs showing exactly how your batteries behaved overnight, which Victron's own portal doesn't give you in the same granular way.

@ShesBeRight makes a fair point though — if you're not fussed about tinkering, the Cerbo just works and the VRM portal is genuinely decent these days.

One practical note: power consumption on the Pi matters off-grid. The Zero 2 W sips about 1-2W versus the Pi 4's chunkier draw — worth considering if you're watching every amp-hour like I am.

Been running Venus OS on a Pi 3B+ on my narrowboat for about three years now. Works fine, but worth flagging a few things people gloss over:

• The Pi isn't officially supported by Victron — Venus OS large is community-maintained, so don't expect support if something breaks
• SD card wear is a real issue in a 24/7 install; boot from USB or use an industrial-grade card at minimum
• Power draw matters on a tight off-grid budget — a Pi Zero 2 W is noticeably better than a 3B+ here

If you want something genuinely supported and plug-and-play, the Cerbo GX is the honest answer. The Pi route is brilliant for tinkering but calling it a "poor man's Cerbo" undersells how much faff is occasionally involved.