Power Consumption Monitoring

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › Power Consumption Monitoring

jpwise

574 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 8

Topic # 225834 7-Dec-2017 11:27

Kicking off a new thread since the previous one auto locked years ago.

Does anyone know of any more options for home power consumption monitoring, and ideally non intrusive load monitoring?

I've had a smappee for the past 3 years, but the wifi module in it just fell over on the weekend, so no connectivity now.

List I have currently from the previous thread are:

Smappee - www.smappee.com - available to order, existing product.

Wattcost - www.wattcost.com - looks to be pre-orders still.

EcoIsMe - www.ecoisme.com - also looks to be pre-order.

Are there any alternatives to Smappee that are actually on the market already? Feedback?

Thanks.

Jp.

Working for Service Plus - www.serviceplus.co.nz

Authorised Service Agent for Apple, BenQ, Sony, and Toshiba - warranty & non-warranty repairs.

Mistenfuru

113 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 64

Reply # 1914493 7-Dec-2017 11:32

Not really answering your query:

I might have to give one of the options a go,

So far I've only used powerpoint monitoring built into smartplugs.

how did you find the Smappee?

Dynamic

2442 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 720

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

Reply # 1914495 7-Dec-2017 11:36

One person supports this post

I'm not aware of any, but I'm optimistic my preordered ecoisme will arrive in mid Q1 2018 and can give feedback if you were not in a huge hurry.

"4 wheels move the body. 2 wheels move the soul."

“Don't believe anything you read on the net. Except this. Well, including this, I suppose.” Douglas Adams

jpwise

574 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 8

Reply # 1914523 7-Dec-2017 11:52

One person supports this post

I found the smappee to be generally good. The appliance identification could be a bit variable, especially with low power devices, although their v2 update did help a bit. Summary - overall good, and worthwhile, but don't expect it to be 100% on the appliance ID'ing. Once it's learnt the mainstream devices it was certainly enough to see the events for when the fridge cycled into cooling mode, or you ran the washing machine/drier/toaster, microwave, etc,etc.

More recently I've been using it to monitor overall power consumption relatively to power pricing (flick user). Pic below from the flick thread last month. Shaded section is active power consumption for the house.

Ideally I'd like to retain the ability to identify devices that are turning on/off which is a feature the smappee does have. Although if a consumption only solution was available for a significantly cheaper price, I'd consider it as an interim until I could stump up to replace the smappee or see wait for one of the pre-order alternatives to come into the market and see what the feedbacks like.

I'm also considering cracking the case on the smappee open to see what sort of module it's got and whether it's practical to replace, but trying to avoid that until i have a definitive answer from smappee support, and answers to a few questions on their repair/replace service they have listed on the website.

Working for Service Plus - www.serviceplus.co.nz

Authorised Service Agent for Apple, BenQ, Sony, and Toshiba - warranty & non-warranty repairs.

dryburn

259 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 53

Reply # 1914527 7-Dec-2017 12:08

I remember seeing something a bit more affordable for around $100.

Aredwood

3118 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1208

Subscriber

Reply # 1914795 7-Dec-2017 18:06

One person supports this post

https://openenergymonitor.org

neb

701 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 122

Lifetime subscriber

Reply # 1915679 9-Dec-2017 14:53

jpwise:
Are there any alternatives to Smappee that are actually on the market already? Feedback?

I looked at all the options a couple of years ago and the Flukso (paired with pulse-counting meters) came out the winner. This was a couple of years ago though, something better may have come out since then.

neb

701 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 122

Lifetime subscriber

Reply # 1915685 9-Dec-2017 15:31

Just looked at the others, it looks like things have moved some way since things like the Flukso, if the advertising is accurate they're doing some pretty impressive power disaggregation. Does anyone have any real-world experience with how effective they are? After having been burned by some crowdfunded devices that are far less impressive than their producers claim (in at least one case it's so bad it's worthless), I'd like to know more about the experiences others have had before getting one.

Jase2985

7752 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2559

Subscriber

Reply # 1915730 9-Dec-2017 17:00

i use one of these

https://solisenergy.co.nz/products/engage-hub-kit

Works really well, doesn't tell you individual things turning on but over time you can see when things turned on and know from experience.

Sense

1 post

Wannabe Geek

Reply # 1916318 11-Dec-2017 03:19

Hi guys,

You might want to take a look at Sense (sense.com), it provides real-time energy monitoring via your smartphone. It samples current at 1MHz and then uses machine learning so that over time it detects the devices in your home. Full disclosure - I am an employee at the company.

cadman

1014 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 572
Inactive user

Reply # 1916324 11-Dec-2017 04:32

Sense:

Hi guys,

You might want to take a look at Sense (sense.com), it provides real-time energy monitoring via your smartphone. It samples current at 1MHz and then uses machine learning so that over time it detects the devices in your home. Full disclosure - I am an employee at the company.

Is there a 240V version? https://sense.com/product.html doesn't list one.

Jase2985

7752 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2559

Subscriber

Reply # 1916325 11-Dec-2017 05:23

@Sense:

Hi guys,

You might want to take a look at Sense (sense.com), it provides real-time energy monitoring via your smartphone. It samples current at 1MHz and then uses machine learning so that over time it detects the devices in your home. Full disclosure - I am an employee at the company.

Comes on to a NZ site, advertising a product that doesn't even work here, lol

and its also 2-3x dearer than other options posted at $450nzd and thats not even shipped

Aredwood

3118 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1208

Subscriber

Reply # 1916425 11-Dec-2017 10:06

One person supports this post

It says that it is connected to a 240V circuit breaker. Phase - phase in the USA. So the bigger issue is wether it still works on 240V single phase. And what about 2 phase, 3 phase or 480V split phase?

Maybe the developers thought that since NZ has 240V, it would work exactly the same here. Hopefully @Sense could clarify.

Porboynz

110 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 46

Reply # 1929457 4-Jan-2018 21:05

I have been using openenergymonitor.org products for a few years now. I have 3 x temp and humidity sensors, 4 x power usage current clamps and a HWC diverter. I like the ability to build your own graphs and visuals.

jpwise

574 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 8

Reply # 1929575 5-Jan-2018 08:28

One person supports this post

Hey guys, thanks for the replies. Current market products all look to be in similar price brackets as the Smappee. After a somewhat fruitless endeavor with Smappee support I ended up biting the bullet and desoldering + replacing the wifi module on my failed Smappee. Not for the unsteady of hand, but doable. Turns out it was a M08-50 usb based wifi module on the board. New module is fitted and I'm back online for the princely sum of $8 NZD and a 3 week wait for it to arrive from China. Unit is back online now. :)

Will definitely look into some of the alternatives suggested, and if I still had to change I think I'd probably be looking at the openenergymonitor route as well. Firstly on price point, and secondly since they've already got MQTT and OpenHab informaiton listed which I'm also using.

Thx.

Jp.

Working for Service Plus - www.serviceplus.co.nz

Authorised Service Agent for Apple, BenQ, Sony, and Toshiba - warranty & non-warranty repairs.