What's that touchscreen in my room? • Hacker News Board

Re: What's that touchscreen in my room?

#61

Post by Symbiote » Sat, Jan 20, 2024, 2:48 AM UTC

hacker_newz wrote: post #7

Nice write-up, I wish my apartment had this.

If the live and neutral cables of your electricity supply are seperate and accessible, you can buy a meter that measures power use with a clamp (loop) that fits around the live cable. Perfectly safe, they were often given away by electric companies in Britain in the 2010s to encourage thriftiness.

Here's a zigbee one: https://smarthomescene.com/reviews/tuya-zigbee-single-clamp-...

Here's one with an app: https://aeotec.com/products/aeotec-home-energy-meter/

You'll find many more if you search "clamp energy meter".

Re: What's that touchscreen in my room?

#62

Post by mkl » Sat, Jan 20, 2024, 2:54 AM UTC

flyinghamster wrote: post #52

dotancohen wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The old joke asks what is the S in HTTPS, what is the S in SFTP, what is the S in IoT.

Also works for the P (privacy).

Protocol.

Re: What's that touchscreen in my room?

#63

Post by metadat » Sat, Jan 20, 2024, 2:54 AM UTC

> There were two strings printed with labels “SSID” and “Pwd”. I froze in horror. They wouldn’t dare. It is literally 3 meter distance. These are embedded devices, they do not need this complexity...

Responding with disbelief seems a little over the top. It isn't typically easy to run wires in pre-built spaces. Sounds like a resilient design to me.

Re: What's that touchscreen in my room?

#64

Post by qingcharles » Sat, Jan 20, 2024, 2:55 AM UTC

laplab wrote: post #16

MenhirMike wrote: post #11

Okay, but: Did the author find the configuration for the energy cost (money and CO2) and update it, so that the touchscreen shows the proper info now?

He did! :) It was located in the `/srv/server/bin/cfg` file.

Did you figure out what the green graph on the right of the display represents? :)

Re: What's that touchscreen in my room?

#65

Post by qingcharles » Sat, Jan 20, 2024, 2:57 AM UTC

crummy wrote: post #3

Did you take notes along the way? Usually when I am "exploring" a problem like that it's hard to reproduce my steps later.

Ah, it's not just me that does this. I also start taking notes from the beginning now, otherwise when I go back to write it up for others I sometimes can't even replicate the starting conditions.

Re: What's that touchscreen in my room?

#66

Post by bombcar » Sat, Jan 20, 2024, 2:57 AM UTC

j1elo wrote: post #58

> tcf-agent is [...] probably the second biggest security vulnerability after passwordless root SSH. I thought that passwordless SSH is actually a good idea in general for servers? Assuming, that is, that the public/private key login mechanism is used as the alternative to passwords.

Passwordless meaning a blank root password allowing login with no credentials- not public/private key.

Re: What's that touchscreen in my room?

#67

Post by efitz » Sat, Jan 20, 2024, 2:59 AM UTC

Did you ever fix the cost per kWh?

Re: What's that touchscreen in my room?

#68

Post by wkat4242 » Sat, Jan 20, 2024, 3:08 AM UTC

> Turns out, I need a 3A fuse, so I ordered one from Amazon and installed it the next day.

Ummm. 3A is 720W. If that tiny box dissipated that much, the entire closet full of them would be a literal oven. Besides there's not much point in an energy meter using that much power. It defeats the purpose. It's like testing matches :P it'll be 10W at most. Even peak inrush current would be nowhere near that high.

1A fuse would be more than enough.

> To be honest, the whole thing was a bit scary, since I was very close to the mains.

Nah this is all installed very cleanly.

Re: What's that touchscreen in my room?

#69

Post by MeImCounting » Sat, Jan 20, 2024, 3:10 AM UTC

Symbiote wrote: post #55

xattt wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see the recommendation every so often to buy a fuse locally, but I don’t live in Akihabara. I HAVE to buy online electronic components, and usually it ends up being Amazon, because other national suppliers insist on charging $15 for courier shipping on a $2 part.

The person lives in an apartment in Britain. Apartments are only built in towns and cities, and are generally within walking distance of convenience shops and supermarkets. Every plug in Britain has a fuse, so they are about as easy to buy as replacement light bulbs. Probably on the same shelf.

This is fascinating! I did not know this about british plugs.

Why is that? Is it a safety measure?

Re: What's that touchscreen in my room?

#70

Post by wkat4242 » Sat, Jan 20, 2024, 3:11 AM UTC

virexene wrote: post #30

BubbleRings wrote: post #20

I like the part where you flip the neighbor’s power off for a couple seconds. That’ll teach ‘em to get a UPS!

that was only the power to the energy measuring device i believe.

Correct, since its only on a 3A fuse it would have blown as soon as the owner tried to make a coffee, if the house power literally ran through it.

Most likely this is just a current clamp style meter. Most of these kinds of meters are.