I installed it last year. Very happy.
How many clamps are you using?
I'm using all the 14 inputs.
IoTaWatt Open Source WiFi Electric Power Monitor
71–80 of 83 posts
Re: IoTaWatt Open Source WiFi Electric Power Monitor
#72For 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…
The cost is surprisingly low, too (compared to what you might expect).
Re: IoTaWatt Open Source WiFi Electric Power Monitor
#73It really is a pretty good device - I have 14 of them in my install: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=409988&... (post 737 has the iotawatt details) I have been running this setup since October with great results.
Wow. That's a substation! I'm honestly surprised that wireless works so well, at those levels I'd be very tempted to use industrial controllers that are all hardwired.
Re: IoTaWatt Open Source WiFi Electric Power Monitor
#74Dumb 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.
Like many people, our house is on a time-of-use plan. This kind of monitoring is useful to determine if there are loads that could be cheaper to shift to a different time of day.
Re: IoTaWatt Open Source WiFi Electric Power Monitor
#75Earlier 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.
Hmm haven't run into that problem. How frequent does that happen?
Re: IoTaWatt Open Source WiFi Electric Power Monitor
#76I've been considering an Emporia Vue 2 for a while now. It would end up being about half the price of this. Does anyone know anything about it? I'd like to go open source, but my primary motivation is lowering power costs, so its hard to justify doubling my ROI time.
I started using the Emporia Vue 2 about a month ago. Overall I'd say it's great. I hooked up a few circuits individually and I got crucial insight into unusually high energy usage from a heat pump + air handler + auxiliary heater setup. I much prefer this approach (by Emporia and IoTaWatt) of multiple CTs (non-contact sensors applied to specific circuits) vs. the "Learning" devices that try to interpret what's using…
Was installation difficult?
Re: IoTaWatt Open Source WiFi Electric Power Monitor
#77Does 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.
Thank you for chiming in. My circuit breaker box is in the wall as well, but it seems possible to take off the cover. Maybe there is enough space behind it.
Re: IoTaWatt Open Source WiFi Electric Power Monitor
#78Earlier 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.
Yea the only issue I have with led is some are really finicky with frequency changes. The ones in my kitchen will flicker when the power wall is full. I haven’t gotten around to asking Tesla to adjust the frequency though.
Re: IoTaWatt Open Source WiFi Electric Power Monitor
#79It really is a pretty good device - I have 14 of them in my install: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=409988&... (post 737 has the iotawatt details) I have been running this setup since October with great results.
Wow. That's a substation! I'm honestly surprised that wireless works so well, at those levels I'd be very tempted to use industrial controllers that are all hardwired.
Agreed - in fact I did run Cat6 to all of those locations with the assumption of needing a direct connection. The IotaWatt doesn't have an ethernet interface, so wireless is the only way to connect. I have APs in most of the rooms (Using Ubiquity APs), so coverage is very good. I was concerned about the devices being in a sealed metal box, but wifi is surprisingly robust!
It is possible in the future I might switch to something else, but the units have been working really well without any glitches.
Re: IoTaWatt Open Source WiFi Electric Power Monitor
#80Just an FYI that your home may already have a grid-connected meter outside, and it may already have a wireless interface. For example, if you're a ComEd customer in the Chicago area, your smart meter is Zigbee-enabled and works with a handful of approved devices: https://www.comed.com/WaysToSave/ForYourHome/Pages/SmartMete... The information won't be as finely detailed since it's not sensing every circuit in the home…
AEP Ohio ended their program last year. But before that, they even went as far as sending out freebie Wifi-connected Zigbee bridges to interface the meter before the program went tits-up. Now that there are zero applications for it, it's about as useful as a dumb meter. Progress.
Yeah this was in part because of H.B. 6 the nuclear bailout which is also related to one of the biggest bribery scandals in Ohio politics. The smart meters were mandated by the energy efficiency aspects of the renewable energy provisions that were stripped out so that they could give money to make nuclear energy and coal power plants stay on-line. They cut the renewable energy goals and energy efficiency provisions so they could pretend like they were saving consumers money by giving the $ directly to the nuclear plant owners. Of course most of this is on-hold right now due to the 60 million dollar kickback and court injunctions but so far the legislature doesn't seem likely to restore the energy efficiency aspects. The utility companies still benefit from real time monitoring of their customers and remote cut-off but I guess there is no way to interface with the meter directly now.