Breaker level electricity monitoring

[wetkit]

Perhaps I am old school, but the Efergy meter is working very well for me.
Yes, I know it only uses a single input, but I can set it to give me an alarm if the consumption is above a specific level.
With a solar system it also helps the others in the house not overloading the inverter.
The remote can be located where it can be seen by all, so it is very easy to "see" what the usage is.
Best R1k I have spent to date.

 

[x7razor]

But is it available retail? If so where?

I know these guys sells them I have bought stuff from them before > ttps://www.robofactory.co.za

 

[Athos]

But is it available retail? If so where?

Yes, I got mine directly from Shelly Europe because at the time it was cheaper than buying it here.

You can get it on Amazon.

There are local guys that sell it as well...

Robofactory
Shellysa

Not difficult to get hold of.

 

[ebendl]

I installed an IoTaWatt alongside my DB.
It has 14 channels and is also very accurate because it uses a voltage reference transformer seperate from the power supply.

IoTaWatt™ Open WiFi Electric Power Monitor

Electric Power Monitor. Residential and Commercial. Single, split and three-phase. Any voltage. Local data storage and analysis and also upload to your cloud service. Economical. Ships worldwide, in use in dozens of countries on four continents.

iotawatt.com

Where did you buy yours from -- imported?

 

[RonSwanson]

Yes, I got mine directly from Shelly Europe because at the time it was cheaper than buying it here.

You can get it on Amazon.

There are local guys that sell it as well...

Robofactory
Shellysa

Not difficult to get hold of.

Both Robofatory and Nology have no stock. Awaiting a response from Shellysa.

 

[WAslayer]

Before I get linked to a tutorial about how to multi quote, I am not going to do that here, just too many people to quote and respond to..

 

[WAslayer]

Do you have a normal geyser and have you inspected it? Leaking water?

Secondly are there any heaters of any sorts being used?
Lastly how are your fridges and freezers doing? Are some of them constantly running or have bad door seals?

Normal, geyser, no leaks and looks fine..

Only using gas and fire place for heating and fridge and freestanding freezer door seals are fine and neither running constantly..

 

[WAslayer]

CBI Astute is working nicely for me.

Problem is it’s rather large so going to be problematic per breaker I suspect unless you have a huge DB.

I don't have a huge DB and from looking at the product documentation, it looks like I would need the ATC breaker to replace every breaker I have currently, so I can measure consumption of each..? Whether that is buying one ATC and moving it between circuits or replacing all in one go, which I would not have space for..

I suppose it would be good to replace at least the main breaker with this.. that way I could have a comparison between what the prepaid meter is doing versus the consumption on the main breaker..

 

[WAslayer]

How many circuit breakers do you have? Nanoview will work, just make sure you have enough space in your box for all the clamps you need. The Astute can track power consumption so you could put maybe two circuits on it at a time to monitor usage.

9 at the moment.. so I will look into the nanoview as an option..

 

[WAslayer]

I installed an IoTaWatt alongside my DB.
It has 14 channels and is also very accurate because it uses a voltage reference transformer seperate from the power supply.

IoTaWatt™ Open WiFi Electric Power Monitor

Electric Power Monitor. Residential and Commercial. Single, split and three-phase. Any voltage. Local data storage and analysis and also upload to your cloud service. Economical. Ships worldwide, in use in dozens of countries on four continents.

iotawatt.com

This is really peaking my interest.. my db board sits in a shallow cupboard that is very large and I have more than enough space to handle all the cables and even have a plug point installed there..

Thanks for this..

Where did you purchase this from..?

 

[WAslayer]

I can understand not knowing where the electricity is disappearing to in a factory somewhere, I know ours have a lot of dormant systems just lying around, connected and LEDs blinking away even when they have long been out of service, but how does it happen in a home?

Yes, I know of all power consuming devices in my house, that I moved in with.. that doesn't mean that the consumption I am seeing is making sense in relation to what I know is running every day and for how long it is running.. that is why I want to monitor this..

Also, I have just recently moved into the house and for all I know, there is some device hidden deep in a dark corner somewhere, just sucking up the electricity, which I haven't found yet..

 

[WAslayer]

What brand prepaid meter you using? is it possible to post a picture?

Taurus tsk/3

 

[krieg]

9 at the moment.. so I will look into the nanoview as an option..

Might be cheaper to buy 4 Astutes and have it run 2 circuit breakers each.

 

[WAslayer]

The best energy monitor I have found so far is the Shelly EM. Real time energy monitoring on your smartphone through the Shelly app. You can't go wrong.

Before the Shelly EM came along I installed a CBi Nanoview which I still have installed. It has given me a lot of issues including a cap which somehow split open and needed replacing. Was tricky finding the replacement cap but in terms of soldering etc it was dead simple to repair. It has also given me intermittent com cable errors which I couldn't trouble shoot. It is currently working but I rely 100% on the Shelly EMs and mostly just use the Nanoview to monitor my water usage.

This seems limited to measuring two breakers at a time..?

 

[Other Pineapple Smurf]

This looks awesome
OP used 44 units in one day is just crazy, I average 6 or 7 units per day and everything is running on ESKOM

Was it easy installing this unit?

30 units a day by me:

2 x aircons running
Gaming PCs running
Hairsalon running from property.
Cooking everyday.


44 units is quiet a lot.

 

[Pineapple Smurf]

30 units a day by me:

2 x aircons running
Gaming PCs running
Hairsalon running from property.
Cooking everyday.


44 units is quiet a lot.

Then there is no excuse for not going grid-tied in your case, if you are consuming tons of electricity during the day you should get the solar to help out as much as possible, then you're running free all day and only paying for ESKOM after hours because grid-tide systems don't use batteries. I hate batteries and the thought of forking out hundreds of thousands every 5 years or whatever swcares the kak out of me.

Grid Tied FTW

Sustainable.co.za 5kWp Grid-Tied System Solar Power Kit

<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Solar Power Kit Specifications</strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Annual Yield: 9324.20 kWh.</strong></p> <ul class=disc style="text-align: justify;"> <li>Levelized cost of electricity generated

www.sustainable.co.za

 

[Pineapple Smurf]

Anyways, lemme not derail @WAslayer thread coz he knows where I live and will come over and moer me.

Cheers

 

[Athos]

Yes, I know of all power consuming devices in my house, that I moved in with.. that doesn't mean that the consumption I am seeing is making sense in relation to what I know is running every day and for how long it is running.. that is why I want to monitor this..

Also, I have just recently moved into the house and for all I know, there is some device hidden deep in a dark corner somewhere, just sucking up the electricity, which I haven't found yet..

Correct. Each EM only has two inputs.

 

[SauRoNZA]

I don't have a huge DB and from looking at the product documentation, it looks like I would need the ATC breaker to replace every breaker I have currently, so I can measure consumption of each..? Whether that is buying one ATC and moving it between circuits or replacing all in one go, which I would not have space for..

I suppose it would be good to replace at least the main breaker with this.. that way I could have a comparison between what the prepaid meter is doing versus the consumption on the main breaker..

What is the ATC breaker? Don’t need any such thing.

 

[Other Pineapple Smurf]

Then there is no excuse for not going grid-tied in your case, if you are consuming tons of electricity during the day you should get the solar to help out as much as possible, then you're running free all day and only paying for ESKOM after hours because grid-tide systems don't use batteries. I hate batteries and the thought of forking out hundreds of thousands every 5 years or whatever swcares the kak out of me.

Grid Tied FTW

Sustainable.co.za 5kWp Grid-Tied System Solar Power Kit

<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Solar Power Kit Specifications</strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Annual Yield: 9324.20 kWh.</strong></p> <ul class=disc style="text-align: justify;"> <li>Levelized cost of electricity generated

www.sustainable.co.za

It's on the cards for 2022 as our baseload will be around what a solar system can supply