Energy Monitor

[jskibo]

I was looking at some of the energy monitors, but from what I have seen so far, all require access to your main line at the panel to connect. In my case I can't get to it as the garage is drywalled and the meter is right behind the box.

I do have a sub panel in the basement, but not sure if I would be missing everything coming through the main panel if I connected there?

Other than that possibility, are there any devices that don't use those main sensor clamps?

 

[WayneW]

You should be able to easily remove the front panel of your breaker box (like when you replace a breaker). Then you can clamp around the main lines or a single circuit pretty easy.

Here is a thread with some good pictures http://www.cocoontech.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=14233

 

[tmbrown97]

These meters work by measuring the amount of current passing through the CT's - if you want to know total energy used, you have to measure the main feed into the house - there's just no other way.

Drywall is easy to repair! My garage is finished too... when doing electrical work, I had to cut a hole in the drywall - no big deal - takes about an hour to close up and re-texture.

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

I'm sure you know this but be carefull that you do not touch any live connections, especially the main input feed to the breaker box, as it will have 200 to 300 amps capability behind it.

As Wayne stated above, just take the front cover off and clamp around the main input feeds. Take care that the clamps will not slip down to the connection interface to the breaker panel.

 

[scottmi1]

In case this might help, here is a picture of the current transformers installed on the input lines of my 200 amp panel. These are for my home grown energy monitor.

Mike..

 

[jskibo]

That does help. Just need to find time to open the panel, knock out a side entry, fish it through the drywall and mount.

Need to get a good unit too. Any suggestions on what works best? Best with Homeseer?

 

[ultrajones]

Here are the screenshots I took when I installed my 2 Brultech ECM units: http://board.homeseer.com/showthread.php?t=150005 I connected the 2 Brultech ECM units to HomeSeer using the UltraECM HSPI.

Regards,
Ultrajones

 

[jskibo]

Nice job on that. I was thinking of just doing the mains for now.

How's the Ultra ECM? Been testing your ELK plugin and about to buy that and the weather one once I get verything moved to the WHS2011 box.

 

[Ishmael]

If you're not in a major hurry, I would suggest waiting to at least see what happens with Brultech's new GreenEye Monitor. They announced it back in August and note that it has 32 channels. I run two ECM-1240's, which work fine, but the one annoyance I have is the when the "other" virtual circuit spikes around in odd way since the two monitors report out-of-sync with each other (main panel on gives a higher value, then circuit goes off on other monitor before it reports, causing the virtual circuit amount for that instance to be higher than reality). The problem can be smoothed in the Brultech software by increasing reporting interval, but then there is that much more data to collapse at the end of the day.. It's not a major nuisance, but with the new monitor, I could cover every circuit in my house individually and have all data in sync.

The announcement for this model is at http://etherbee.com/...12&t=384&p=1529

Chris

 

[signal15]

If you're not in a major hurry, I would suggest waiting to at least see what happens with Brultech's new GreenEye Monitor. They announced it back in August and note that it has 32 channels. I run two ECM-1240's, which work fine, but the one annoyance I have is the when the "other" virtual circuit spikes around in odd way since the two monitors report out-of-sync with each other (main panel on gives a higher value, then circuit goes off on other monitor before it reports, causing the virtual circuit amount for that instance to be higher than reality). The problem can be smoothed in the Brultech software by increasing reporting interval, but then there is that much more data to collapse at the end of the day.. It's not a major nuisance, but with the new monitor, I could cover every circuit in my house individually and have all data in sync.

The announcement for this model is at http://etherbee.com/...12&t=384&p=1529

Chris

Please tell me this thing has an embedded web interface with something like RRD for data storage. My Brultech 1240 is great, but their software sucks, and all of the other software requires to be run on an actual workstation/server. I'm monitoring my power usage to keep it low, but then I have to keep a machine running all the time to collect data. Seems counter-intuitive to me.

I've been thinking about ditching my 1240 and just getting a TED5000 instead since it has a built in web interface and I don't need to run a bunch of extra crap.

 

[GadgetBoy]

I have been using the Powersave Current Cost EnviR Energy Monitor, interfaced with Homeseer. Very slick.

It goes on sale from time to time for anywhere from 10-15% off, if you are not in a rush...