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Tom has a new crush. It's called the WattVision Energy Monitor.

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Re: Tom has a new crush. It's called the WattVision Energy Monitor.

#31

Post by tomharrisonjr »

wesley wrote: post #25
gridspy wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are several reasons you might want live power monitoring: If you insulate houses for a living and want to prove that the heater is switching on less often (paying off the cost of the insulation) you want live power monitoring on that one circuit. You can then correlate the power saving with outside temperature and time of day. If you run office buildings, real time measurement can help you localise faulty HVAC…

In the typical case such a device is really only useful in the first month or two. After that all optimizations have been done. So I think that this monthly subscription model is a bit flawed in that regard. I'm probably wrong..

While I too have doubts about WattVision's monthly subscription model, I can assure you that an energy monitor has surprised most of the people I know who also have them -- they become ingrained into your life.

Re: Tom has a new crush. It's called the WattVision Energy Monitor.

#33

Post by tomharrisonjr »

jws wrote: post #13

If your meter looks like a spinning disk, you're out of luck—for now. I have read where a fellow used an LED and a photodetector to watch his spinning disc and measure how long it takes to go around. Sadly I can't find the web page anymore. Still, it is possible.

The BlueLine PowerCost monitor (same as the Black and Decker version) both have sensors that, in addition to reading digital meters, can read the black line on the analog meters. There's no reason that WattVision couldn't do exactly the same thing. It's primitive, to be sure, but it works.

Re: Tom has a new crush. It's called the WattVision Energy Monitor.

#34

Post by tomharrisonjr »

wmf wrote: post #32

Can someone explain the difference between a digital meter and a smart meter?

A digital meter doesn't have a spinning dial, it reads current a different way. It is able to transmit its readings in several forms, bnoth through a display on the front, but mainly they were designed to allow remote meter reading by the power company -- drive by, instead of having to actually look at the dials.

A smart meter is a digital meter but that can intercommunicate -- over a network -- either with the rest of the electric grid system, or even with devices inside your house.

Re: Tom has a new crush. It's called the WattVision Energy Monitor.

#35

Post by wheels »

F_J_H wrote: post #26

I work in the Energy/Utility field and just got back from a “Smart Gird” conference where smart meters (i.e. real time interval metering) was discussed at length. Although these types of devices are really cool to “energy geeks” like me, if you look at the energy used today at the author’s house, it amounts to less than a cup of coffee at Starbucks. So, the big question is, until electricity prices really increase (w…

It might make more sense in e.g. European markets where electricity costs 3x as much per kW/h.

Re: Tom has a new crush. It's called the WattVision Energy Monitor.

#36

Post by tomharrisonjr »

F_J_H wrote: post #26

I work in the Energy/Utility field and just got back from a “Smart Gird” conference where smart meters (i.e. real time interval metering) was discussed at length. Although these types of devices are really cool to “energy geeks” like me, if you look at the energy used today at the author’s house, it amounts to less than a cup of coffee at Starbucks. So, the big question is, until electricity prices really increase (w…

Well, I am the guy that lives at the author's house. We are saving over $100/month as a result of the reductions we have made. I agree with your general position, but there's at least a niche market out there, and growing rather fast, actually.

Re: Tom has a new crush. It's called the WattVision Energy Monitor.

#37

Post by F_J_H »

tomharrisonjr wrote: post #36
F_J_H wrote: post #26

I work in the Energy/Utility field and just got back from a “Smart Gird” conference where smart meters (i.e. real time interval metering) was discussed at length. Although these types of devices are really cool to “energy geeks” like me, if you look at the energy used today at the author’s house, it amounts to less than a cup of coffee at Starbucks. So, the big question is, until electricity prices really increase (w…

Well, I am the guy that lives at the author's house. We are saving over $100/month as a result of the reductions we have made. I agree with your general position, but there's at least a niche market out there, and growing rather fast, actually.

That is interesting. At the Smart Energy conference I spoke about, one Canadian utility that has implemented smart meters and Time of Use pricing found virtually no evidence that people were reducing their consumption. If anything, load was shifted from peak periods to the off peak periods on the weekend. You would have been a great example of what they were hoping for.

I am curious though. If you are using about .09 or .10 an hour in total (for the brief period I looked at the graph), how were you able to achieve such high savings? Did you get rid of unnecessary appliances, or simply find ways to reduce consumption?

Re: Tom has a new crush. It's called the WattVision Energy Monitor.

#39

Post by [deleted] »

tomharrisonjr wrote: post #36
F_J_H wrote: post #26

I work in the Energy/Utility field and just got back from a “Smart Gird” conference where smart meters (i.e. real time interval metering) was discussed at length. Although these types of devices are really cool to “energy geeks” like me, if you look at the energy used today at the author’s house, it amounts to less than a cup of coffee at Starbucks. So, the big question is, until electricity prices really increase (w…

Well, I am the guy that lives at the author's house. We are saving over $100/month as a result of the reductions we have made. I agree with your general position, but there's at least a niche market out there, and growing rather fast, actually.

[deleted]

Re: Tom has a new crush. It's called the WattVision Energy Monitor.

#40

Post by wmf »

tomharrisonjr wrote: post #34
wmf wrote: post #32

Can someone explain the difference between a digital meter and a smart meter?

A digital meter doesn't have a spinning dial, it reads current a different way. It is able to transmit its readings in several forms, bnoth through a display on the front, but mainly they were designed to allow remote meter reading by the power company -- drive by, instead of having to actually look at the dials. A smart meter is a digital meter but that can intercommunicate -- over a network -- either with the rest…

Regrettably, I am still not enlightened. Isn't remote meter reading a form of communication over a network?
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