Yes it need to be an attribute to be used on tiles or in RM.
I am thinking maybe I should call the attribute energyDays and just make the value the number of days only without the word "Days" in it? Then it could be used in RM if desired since it would only be a number. I could keep the state down below how it is already.
I already have this partially done, and I just need to add some automatic detection to turn on the power metering, then you should be able to use my updated version without modification on your device.
I'd only suggest that changing the variable name adds a little hassle factor when switching to your driver as you'll have to update any existing tiles or RM's. It's probably not too big an issue for most folks but does add an extra layer of complexity.
I'm not currently using it in rule manager and I'm pretty new to HE but I figured I could work some standard string manipulation magic to isolate the numeric value. You could use it then to calculate average KwH/day, etc. As I haven't looked at it closely, I'll have to defer to your experience.
localVariable = left (energyDuration, (indexOf (energyDuration, " ")-1)) or something like that.
As I had indicated earlier, I was switching a different energy monitoring plug in to the media center position. I have done that and it's working much better now. The range of settings allowed me to set parameters that will work fine and the excessive chatter is now ended.
I switched in a Monoprice 27481 Smart Plug / Repeater and set it up with your driver: