New Brultech Energy Monitoring Model (ECM-1240) due in 2009

[felixrosbergen]

Hi gents,

I am looking into getting an ECM somewhere in the near future but am confused about the connectivity options.... here is my situation:

- I have a server (with USB and serial ports ofcourse) and Ethernet network switch nearby the electrical panel
- I don't use Zigbee anywhere in the house.
- I prefer things wired over wireless
- I want as few pieces/boxes/converters as possible
- I would like flexibility for integration into CQC

Any suggestions as to what model unit i need to be looking at? I probably want to monitoring about 8 channels or so.. (mains, fridge, washer, dryer, HVAC, water heater, Automation subpanel, water pump)

 

[tenholde]

Hi gents,

I am looking into getting an ECM somewhere in the near future but am confused about the connectivity options.... here is my situation:

- I have a server (with USB and serial ports ofcourse) and Ethernet network switch nearby the electrical panel
- I don't use Zigbee anywhere in the house.
- I prefer things wired over wireless
- I want as few pieces/boxes/converters as possible
- I would like flexibility for integration into CQC

Any suggestions as to what model unit i need to be looking at? I probably want to monitoring about 8 channels or so.. (mains, fridge, washer, dryer, HVAC, water heater, Automation subpanel, water pump)

Sounds like you would be best connecting via wired RS-232. The ECM-1240 would allow you to connect one channel to the incoming service, and have six other channels for individual circuits. I would suggest buying the unit that has the wireless zigbee radio built in if you can afford to as that will allow you better options in the future.

tenholde

 

[sic0048]

I think the easiest and most dependable solution is to simply run a cat5e wire from your serial ports to the Brultech module. Run the RS-232 serial connection over the cat5e wire. You should be able to run the connection a decent length - probably much longer than a typical residential installation would need.

If you cannot run a new wire due to accessibility issues, then look into the wireless options. But if you can run a new wire, it is the best solution.

 

[jim3342]

Wireless is not only a better option if you can't run a wire, it is also beneficial when you want to use 2 or 3 monitors with one gateway. With our online demo (www.check-it.ca) we are actually running 3 monitors through one gateway. We also just finished an install on a farm that had one monitor installed outside on a wind turbine and another monitoring building consumption and they were both wireless through one etherbee gateway.

I think the easiest and most dependable solution is to simply run a cat5e wire from your serial ports to the Brultech module. Run the RS-232 serial connection over the cat5e wire. You should be able to run the connection a decent length - probably much longer than a typical residential installation would need.

If you cannot run a new wire due to accessibility issues, then look into the wireless options. But if you can run a new wire, it is the best solution.

 

[tenholde]

Wireless is not only a better option if you can't run a wire, it is also beneficial when you want to use 2 or 3 monitors with one gateway. With our online demo (www.check-it.ca) we are actually running 3 monitors through one gateway. We also just finished an install on a farm that had one monitor installed outside on a wind turbine and another monitoring building consumption and they were both wireless through one etherbee gateway.

I agree. That's why I recommend buying the ECM with the radio, even if you are only going to use one ECM that is wired via RS-232. Makes it easy to expand to multiple ECMs, in which case you would want to use wireless instead of wired.

tenholde

 

[felixrosbergen]

So expanding to more than 1 unit is not easy/practical with a wired solution?

As far as running the wire everything (server, main electrical panel , network gear) is in the same room and i have full access to run whatever needed.

 

[tenholde]

So expanding to more than 1 unit is not easy/practical with a wired solution?

As far as running the wire everything (server, main electrical panel , network gear) is in the same room and i have full access to run whatever needed.

The problem is more software support. I'm not sure of other products, but http://www.tenholder.net/tenWare2/tenEcmServer products support:

- Up to one Serial Port Connection
- Up to one ethernet port connection
- Up to two ECMs simultaneously

The two ECMs can both be connected via ethernet (etherbee)
The two ECMs can both be connected via serial port (zigbee dongle)
One ECM can be connected via serial port (RS-232 wired or zigbee dongle) and one ECM connected via ethernet (etherbee)

To support 2 ECMs via RS-232 would require 2 simultaneous serial port connections. Can be done, but is not supported at this time.



What could be done is to wire two RS-232 ECMs to serial ports on two computers, both running tenEcmServer. Not the best solution, but viable.

The best multiple ECM solution is wireless.

tenholde

 

[Ishmael]

For those who already have an ECM-1240, I have an installation question. If you combine two CTs together to a single AUX channel when also using CAT 5 to an ECM-1240 installed remotely, does the resistor go on where the CTs connect to the CAT 5, where the CAT 5 connects to the ECM, or can it go on at either location?

Thanks.

Chris

 

[jim3342]

So expanding to more than 1 unit is not easy/practical with a wired solution?

As far as running the wire everything (server, main electrical panel , network gear) is in the same room and i have full access to run whatever needed.

It is not that it isn't easy but more of an issue with having to purchase 2 etherport gateways as opposed to just one etherbee for wireless. You would run a CAT5 cable to each etherport and it would take 2 ports in your router. Each etherbee would have it's own IP address and report to whatever software your choose.

We can support having both monitors showing as one unit or even multiple different views with the same hardware i.e. total consumption view, sub panel view, lighting, heating, cooling, etc.

 

[signal15]

For those who already have an ECM-1240, I have an installation question. If you combine two CTs together to a single AUX channel when also using CAT 5 to an ECM-1240 installed remotely, does the resistor go on where the CTs connect to the CAT 5, where the CAT 5 connects to the ECM, or can it go on at either location?

Thanks.

Chris

I think AUX5 is the only channel that requires a resistor. I didn't use resistors on the other channels where I combined CT's. Looking at the installation manual, it doesn't show anywhere that you need to do that.

 

[tenholde]

For those who already have an ECM-1240, I have an installation question. If you combine two CTs together to a single AUX channel when also using CAT 5 to an ECM-1240 installed remotely, does the resistor go on where the CTs connect to the CAT 5, where the CAT 5 connects to the ECM, or can it go on at either location?

Thanks.

Chris

I think AUX5 is the only channel that requires a resistor. I didn't use resistors on the other channels where I combined CT's. Looking at the installation manual, it doesn't show anywhere that you need to do that.

I think you only need the resistor on Ch1 or Ch2 (or as you said, always on Aux5 for energy monitor) when combining mini CTs

tenholde

 

[lmamakos]

So expanding to more than 1 unit is not easy/practical with a wired solution?

As far as running the wire everything (server, main electrical panel , network gear) is in the same room and i have full access to run whatever needed.

The problem is more software support. I'm not sure of other products, but http://www.tenholder.net/tenWare2/tenEcmServer products support:

- Up to one Serial Port Connection
- Up to one ethernet port connection
- Up to two ECMs simultaneously

The two ECMs can both be connected via ethernet (etherbee)
The two ECMs can both be connected via serial port (zigbee dongle)
One ECM can be connected via serial port (RS-232 wired or zigbee dongle) and one ECM connected via ethernet (etherbee)

To support 2 ECMs via RS-232 would require 2 simultaneous serial port connections. Can be done, but is not supported at this time.



What could be done is to wire two RS-232 ECMs to serial ports on two computers, both running tenEcmServer. Not the best solution, but viable.

The best multiple ECM solution is wireless.

tenholde

I think alot of this becomes easier to deal with if you operate the Zigbee radio in "API" mode vs. "transparent mode" so you can explicitly address individual Zigbee radios when you send and receive frames, rather than just treating the Zigbee radio as long, dumb, virtual wire. In transparent mode, multiple devices mostly "work", but if you've got a marginal RF connection, it may be possible for partial frames to get intermingled as the Zigbee radios retransmit until they get an ACK.

You can get the alternate firmware from Digi, and I'm thinking of playing with that. The problem is that the Interface Application won't support this mode of operation so you'd need to fall back to using the serial connection for configuration operation.

However, with this latest firmware upgrade on the ECM-1240, my zigbee wireless connection has stopped working, and the frame format has either changed or I'm seeing some sort of corruption on the frame being transmitted on the serial connection. (As I mentioned in another message, I'm seeing a NUL character between the FF FE end-of-frame sequence. I don't know if this is related to a failed upgrade or not, I'm hoping to have some time to debug in the next couple of days, maybe.

 

[tenholde]

So expanding to more than 1 unit is not easy/practical with a wired solution?

As far as running the wire everything (server, main electrical panel , network gear) is in the same room and i have full access to run whatever needed.

The problem is more software support. I'm not sure of other products, but http://www.tenholder.net/tenWare2/tenEcmServer products support:

- Up to one Serial Port Connection
- Up to one ethernet port connection
- Up to two ECMs simultaneously

The two ECMs can both be connected via ethernet (etherbee)
The two ECMs can both be connected via serial port (zigbee dongle)
One ECM can be connected via serial port (RS-232 wired or zigbee dongle) and one ECM connected via ethernet (etherbee)

To support 2 ECMs via RS-232 would require 2 simultaneous serial port connections. Can be done, but is not supported at this time.



What could be done is to wire two RS-232 ECMs to serial ports on two computers, both running tenEcmServer. Not the best solution, but viable.

The best multiple ECM solution is wireless.

tenholde

I think alot of this becomes easier to deal with if you operate the Zigbee radio in "API" mode vs. "transparent mode" so you can explicitly address individual Zigbee radios when you send and receive frames, rather than just treating the Zigbee radio as long, dumb, virtual wire. In transparent mode, multiple devices mostly "work", but if you've got a marginal RF connection, it may be possible for partial frames to get intermingled as the Zigbee radios retransmit until they get an ACK.

You can get the alternate firmware from Digi, and I'm thinking of playing with that. The problem is that the Interface Application won't support this mode of operation so you'd need to fall back to using the serial connection for configuration operation.

However, with this latest firmware upgrade on the ECM-1240, my zigbee wireless connection has stopped working, and the frame format has either changed or I'm seeing some sort of corruption on the frame being transmitted on the serial connection. (As I mentioned in another message, I'm seeing a NUL character between the FF FE end-of-frame sequence. I don't know if this is related to a failed upgrade or not, I'm hoping to have some time to debug in the next couple of days, maybe.

One of the users of my software has upgraded to the new firmware, and is not having problems. If the nul char was being inserted for his hardware, my software would fail each record for checksum (looks at specific trailer bytes).

tenholde

 

[gzub]

Found a cool new site www.pachube.com (I don't have an invite yet...) which looks like a great generic web based interface to allow the monitoring of any sensor (ie. our ECM-1240s) and then provides a generic interface to provide the data to other applications. There are already some pre-built apps available, but would provide a great central hub for distributing the power usage data from the ECM to various web apps which might pop up (ie. WattzOn, Microsoft Xohm, Twitter, custom websites)...

Would be neat if an addon for tenECMServer could push the data to this site...

It could also be used for 1-wire sensors or Proliphix T-Stats, pretty much anything from the sounds of it...

Anyone have an invite?

Geoff

 

[beelzerob]

Very interesting site...mainly with the web-app graphics all ready to go. That'll save some time.