Neurio: Home Energy Monitor on Kickstarter (Ends tomorrow at 8am ET)

TXFlatLander

TXFlatLander

Active Member
I didn't see a thread for Neurio.  It is similar to Brultech or TED by monitoring your energy usage at the panel but uses algorithms to identify devices.  You can submeter a major load as well (you have to get their solar package to get the extra CT to submeter currently), like an A/C compressor.  Also supports two and three phase homes as well as solar.
 
It looks interesting -- check out the project Updates as well.  Kickstarter campaign ends tomorrow at 8am ET.  MSRP will be $250 Canadian after the Kickstarter campaign ends.  I backed it.  They're about to hit their second to last stretch goal.  For the record, I have no affiliation with them.
 
It will have an open API and open source application called Trigger that can run on Raspberry Pi or Android to collect data and automate tasks.  It will use 802.11n for the communication channel, so no RS-232 bridges or serial cables to run.
 
 
Kickstarter Page:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/energyaware/neurio-home-intelligence?ref=live
 
Community Forum:
http://community.neur.io/
 
Homepage:
http://www.neur.io
 
 
 
 
I came across this before and was somewhat surprised that it got that much attention/funding.  Not sure how realistic the planned MSRP is.
 
Brultech costs much more and is a much more involved install; if this thing can tell me way more by fingerprinting my different appliances, and go a step further by giving me notifications via IFTTT, it's a no brainer to me.  This will appeal to a much larger tinkerer market IMO.
 
much more than $250?  also i believe there are some microsoft patents covering this "power fingerprint" technique.
 
to get an accurate view of my house with the new GEM would be >$500.  Regardless - this is my first officially backed kickstarter - I hope it succeeds - or is at least fun to play with.
 
Work2Play said:
to get an accurate view of my house with the new GEM would be >$500.  Regardless - this is my first officially backed kickstarter - I hope it succeeds - or is at least fun to play with.
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You are not going to get the same power usage information out of the Neurio you would get out of a Brultech.  In some areas it will be better but in most cases it will be worse.  A situation where the Neurio will be better is if your washer and dryer are on the same circuit.  With Brultech you will get a combined power usage.  With Neurio you should get separate values for each appliance.  But with lighting and other loads it will probably be worse with the Neurio.  With many light bulbs in the house at the same wattage and dimmable bulbs it will be almost impossible to determine which light was turned on. Was it two lights turned on together at 50% dim or a single bulb at 100%.  With home automation and scenes you will probably have multiple things happening at the same time such as the TV, AV receiver and scene lighting all changing at the same time.  Same applies for multiple TVs of similar size you will not be able to tell which one was left on.
 
Yeah I was thinking about that - my entry chandeleir is the same number of the same bulbs as my master vanity - and one room to the next it'd be hard to tell - but it could be fun to know when the washer or dryer finishes or how much the AC is on and which stage (already have that using Ubiquiti mFi but still...)
 
Either way it seemed like a fun little $130 toy.
 
Work2Play said:
Yeah I was thinking about that - my entry chandeleir is the same number of the same bulbs as my master vanity - and one room to the next it'd be hard to tell - but it could be fun to know when the washer or dryer finishes or how much the AC is on and which stage (already have that using Ubiquiti mFi but still...)
 
Either way it seemed like a fun little $130 toy.
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I think this is yet another iGadget, and as a toy it may be fine, but if you really want to know the state of your appliances with any reliable accuracy, Brultech would be a much better choice. Even if your washer and dryer are on the same circuit (which is not supposed to be according to code), the false readings will be frequent enough when using "algorithms". Also, this toy will have to be connected to internet to work and your data will go through the cloud with respective consequences, not sure I would want to share my power usage data with potential hackers...
 
picta said:
I think this is yet another iGadget, and as a toy it may be fine, but if you really want to know the state of your appliances with any reliable accuracy, Brultech would be a much better choice. Even if your washer and dryer are on the same circuit (which is not supposed to be according to code), the false readings will be frequent enough when using "algorithms". Also, this toy will have to be connected to internet to work and your data will go through the cloud with respective consequences, not sure I would want to share my power usage data with potential hackers...
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we have a brultech with 7 different monitored "zones" and one leftover zone.  the zones make it easier to isolate an appliance to see their usage signature.  for example, i track our fridge cycle time without a current sensor because it's easy to see in the kitchen zone.  the washer and dryer have current sensors and they're on unmonitored breakers ("misc" zone = total power - sum of all other zones), but it's easy to infer their status (front load washer cycling on & off around 8:55am  and the dryer turning on).  if i want to reliably monitor an appliance, i will use a current sensor.  as for the neurio, i'm not a fan of using a cloud app for any real-time event triggering and i prefer to keep my real-time usage in-house.
 
picta said:
Even if your washer and dryer are on the same circuit (which is not supposed to be according to code)
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Not if you have a gas dryer and the combined amps is not more than 80% of the breaker size.
 
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