Nice, its ~$10 in hardware for all that functionality.
IoTaWatt Open Source WiFi Electric Power Monitor
61–70 of 83 posts
Re: IoTaWatt Open Source WiFi Electric Power Monitor
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
And even meters that don't have zigbee might be readable using an RTL-SDR. You do have to figure out which one is yours and which are your neighbors, though.
Pretty sure that the datastream is encrypted. Being able to sniff your neighbor's power consumption from far away is a pretty large security hole.
As was pointed out, you still have to figure out which signal comes from which meter, so unless you find a way to tag them all, they’re anonymous.
Re: IoTaWatt Open Source WiFi Electric Power Monitor
#63I bought a Sense ( https://sense.com ) because I loved the idea of applying ML to my energy consumption. While the interface is nice, it just hasn't lived up to its promise. It wants to classify 40% of my energy usage as 'unknown'. Nothing so insightful that it's really worth giving up my privacy, unfortunately. The future of IoT is open, hackable, and decentralized. The IoTaWatt looks like a big step in the right di…
How in the world can ML benefit energy consumption?
It doesn’t benefit it, it is used to infer the consumption by each of the devices in the circuit separately. In theory, in practice it doesn’t really work well, as Op pointed out.
Re: IoTaWatt Open Source WiFi Electric Power Monitor
#64For those building their new homes right now, or updating the electrics, Schneider, Leviton and LeGrand have smart circuit breakers in their offer, which not only measure the consumption, but offer additional monitoring, like the load or tripping. With LeGrand you can even trip them remotely, which, combined with leak or fire sensors, can definitely save money – or even lives.
LeGrand has an open API and is not cloud-based. Leviton, last time o checked, was cloud only.
Re: IoTaWatt Open Source WiFi Electric Power Monitor
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
Beauty of leds lighting I assume?
The real cost comes from when they're on for too long, generating a lot of sustained heat, or when the DC power supply stops working. Would love for PoE-based lights to take off for residential use but that's probably a pipe dream.
Ubiquity is bullish on PoE lighting.
Re: IoTaWatt Open Source WiFi Electric Power Monitor
#66Does anyone have experience how hard it is to add something like this to an existing EU breaker panel? I'd love to have this but, since I'm living in a rented flat, I'm not very optimistic about being able to retrofit it.
I’d say not easy: in EU we build around the circuit breakers, while in the US it’s common to use a standardized front panel that, when removed, will give access to the circuitry behind the breakers. I have yet to see a house without it. And I notice, because they always stick out like a sore thumb.
Re: IoTaWatt Open Source WiFi Electric Power Monitor
#67Dumb question: What do you do with this information? I can see it being useful for detecting anomalies, but for every day usage... I am not going to stop using my refrigerator to save power.
every day usage: If you also have a PV system you can decide when to run the dish washer, laundry machine, dryer, ... and how many of these "bursty" appliances can possibly run in parallel w/o consuming energy from the grid
analysis/optimize energy consumption, e.g.:
* we moved the freezer from the kitchen to the basement instead of buying a more energy efficient new one
* the pump in our (20yrs old) heating system constantly uses 60W -> the whole furnace is now due for replacement
* determine your electricity base load in order to make an informed decision about the capacity of a battery system that buffers energy demand during the times the PV system does not supply energy
I'd say the real value is in looking into long term patterns (no ML needed).
Re: IoTaWatt Open Source WiFi Electric Power Monitor
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
Leave everything in the breaker box and communicate out with wireless or optically isolated connectors.
You still have to plug in two wall wart style transformers (one is for reference voltage, the other is to power the box) into a real power outlet outside the box, and then get those wires inside the box. Or commit some electrical code sins and wire that inside the box too.
Many houses have a doorbell transformer mounted on their service panel with no plug; I can’t see how that’s a NEC violation (and therefore providing a path for a similarly engineered, code-compliant solution).
Re: IoTaWatt Open Source WiFi Electric Power Monitor
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
And even meters that don't have zigbee might be readable using an RTL-SDR. You do have to figure out which one is yours and which are your neighbors, though.
Pretty sure that the datastream is encrypted. Being able to sniff your neighbor's power consumption from far away is a pretty large security hole.
Sometimes they are. I gave up on playing with my water meters because of it; my RTL-SDR can pick them, alright, but I checked the manufacturer docs, and the meters encrypt the datastream.
Re: IoTaWatt Open Source WiFi Electric Power Monitor
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
You still have to plug in two wall wart style transformers (one is for reference voltage, the other is to power the box) into a real power outlet outside the box, and then get those wires inside the box. Or commit some electrical code sins and wire that inside the box too.
Many houses have a doorbell transformer mounted on their service panel with no plug; I can’t see how that’s a NEC violation (and therefore providing a path for a similarly engineered, code-compliant solution).
Yes, I have seen this, but it is unusual, and the doorbell transformer is still outputting AC, not DC, but at a lower voltage, and that output is not run inside the breakerbox.