CBI Astute plug

Dolby said:
@SauRoNZA Something else I forgot to ask - does it keep history of consumption where you can see how much power was used at certain times?

The Shelly has a cool graph to see consumption at different times. My CBI geyser and smart plug I bought the other day (both on Tuya) have different ways of displaying info - no consistency, but I suspect a part of the reason is different hardware & white labelling
Click to expand...

Missed this question somehow.

It only gives you a daily summary unfortunately.

I get this kind of data out of Home Assistant instead.
 
SauRoNZA said:
Missed this question somehow.

It only gives you a daily summary unfortunately.

I get this kind of data out of Home Assistant instead.
Click to expand...
Upsetting .

And do these have Power On Defaults ? I’d imagine so - but thought I’d check
 
koogs said:
I was at Builders in Pinetown, KZN today and this store still has store of the old model and the new model on their shelves with a R20.00 difference in price ie R539 for the new model and R550 for the old model.
Click to expand...
That's not a R20 difference. :ROFL:
 
I’m a bit late to the party but I am in the planning stages at the moment.

For someone starting with nothing, what do you need in order to be able to get smart plugs?

I would like to be able to switch some non-essential stuff like aircons perhaps off when the inverter’s battery goes below a certain percent. And prevent people from switching on kettles and stuff.

Planning on investing in a Solar Assistant once I actually confirm make/model of inverte and battery that’s coming. I am an electronic engineer and software developer so I can find my way around the tech, I just need a quick primer on where to start.

CBI? Shelly? Any other brands to consider? I prefer stuff that can be controlled completely locally, cloud is a nice extra but I don’t want it to fail completely if the internet goes down.
 
newby_investor said:
I’m a bit late to the party but I am in the planning stages at the moment.

For someone starting with nothing, what do you need in order to be able to get smart plugs?

I would like to be able to switch some non-essential stuff like aircons perhaps off when the inverter’s battery goes below a certain percent. And prevent people from switching on kettles and stuff.

Planning on investing in a Solar Assistant once I actually confirm make/model of inverte and battery that’s coming. I am an electronic engineer and software developer so I can find my way around the tech, I just need a quick primer on where to start.

CBI? Shelly? Any other brands to consider? I prefer stuff that can be controlled completely locally, cloud is a nice extra but I don’t want it to fail completely if the internet goes down.
Click to expand...
First up, you're going to need home assistant. And then anything like Shelly, Sonoff etc for general plugs. For higher draw appliances CBI Astute (isolater or controller).
 
Speedster said:
First up, you're going to need home assistant. And then anything like Shelly, Sonoff etc for general plugs. For higher draw appliances CBI Astute (isolater or controller).
Click to expand...
Home assistant is just a piece of software? And it talks to the rest of the gadgets via the local wifi?
 
newby_investor said:
.
Click to expand...
I bought a tester one of the below- and it's decent enough that I've ordered another two units which should be arriving tomorrow.

It's maybe not as advanced as some of the guys like, but I'm happy for the price. What I'd have liked is a more data on the consumption such as times consumed, rather than a simple summary . The Shelly does time/energy consumption and I'd have preferred it, but the ease of use of this just trumped the Shelly. And was R270.00 ...

Takealot.com: Online Shopping | SA's leading online store

South Africa's leading online store. Fast, reliable delivery to your door. Many ways to pay. Shop anything you can imagine: TVs, laptops, cellphones, kitchen appliances, toys, books, beauty & more. Shop the mobile app anytime, anywhere.
www.takealot.com www.takealot.com
 
newby_investor said:
I’m a bit late to the party but I am in the planning stages at the moment.

For someone starting with nothing, what do you need in order to be able to get smart plugs?

I would like to be able to switch some non-essential stuff like aircons perhaps off when the inverter’s battery goes below a certain percent. And prevent people from switching on kettles and stuff.

Planning on investing in a Solar Assistant once I actually confirm make/model of inverte and battery that’s coming. I am an electronic engineer and software developer so I can find my way around the tech, I just need a quick primer on where to start.

CBI? Shelly? Any other brands to consider? I prefer stuff that can be controlled completely locally, cloud is a nice extra but I don’t want it to fail completely if the internet goes down.
Click to expand...

Ultimately you are going to run a combination of smart plugs (going into existing plugs) and entirely replacing plug sockets with smarter ones like CBI and then possibly some DB stuff like the CBI for your geyser.

Reason being amperage required means smart plugs not working for some things and in other situations you might want individual control of devices so don’t want to turn the entire socket off necessarily.

Case in point my aircon is on a CBI Astute smart socket due to the amperage popping every smart plug I’ve tried so far.

In my garage I run my Tumble Dryer, Deep Freeze and Server Rack off one plug so the Astute won’t work there as I only want to monitor and control the tumble dryer and deep freeze not turn it all off.

Geyser is on a CBI Astute Smart Controller which is NOT a circuit breaker in and of itself.

Garage Door and Gate are on Shellly’s as they make the most sense for the application.

End of the day the apps are irrelevant really as they all go into Home Assistant and it’s ubiquitous.

That being said I’ve moved away from Sonoff slowly but surely as simply inferior products and potential safety hazards. I do like their LED strips and still keep running those.
 
Dolby said:
I bought a tester one of the below- and it's decent enough that I've ordered another two units which should be arriving tomorrow.

It's maybe not as advanced as some of the guys like, but I'm happy for the price. What I'd have liked is a more data on the consumption such as times consumed, rather than a simple summary . The Shelly does time/energy consumption and I'd have preferred it, but the ease of use of this just trumped the Shelly. And was R270.00 ...

Takealot.com: Online Shopping | SA's leading online store

South Africa's leading online store. Fast, reliable delivery to your door. Many ways to pay. Shop anything you can imagine: TVs, laptops, cellphones, kitchen appliances, toys, books, beauty & more. Shop the mobile app anytime, anywhere.
www.takealot.com www.takealot.com
Click to expand...

They work just fine as long as it’s not a high draw appliance it’s being plugged into then they pop quite quickly.

Also had one just die in and of itself.

Connex also make a very similar one often for better prices.

Smart WiFi and Bluetooth Plug - 3 Pin SA Round 16A 3360W available to buy online at @TAKEALOT We offer fast, reliable delivery to your door.

Takealot.com: Online Shopping | SA's leading online store

South Africa's leading online store. Fast, reliable delivery to your door. Many ways to pay. Shop anything you can imagine: TVs, laptops, cellphones, kitchen appliances, toys, books, beauty & more. Shop the mobile app anytime, anywhere.
www.takealot.com www.takealot.com

Depending where you use it the smaller size and different button placement is either better or worse.

It’s actually bizarre CBI hasn’t brought out a Smart Plug themselves.
 
SauRoNZA said:
Case in point my aircon is on a CBI Astute smart socket due to the amperage popping every smart plug I’ve tried so far.
Click to expand...
Not a Shelly? The little blue 16A one looked like just the thing.

Or do you mean a loose one that you can unplug?
 
newby_investor said:
Not a Shelly? The little blue 16A one looked like just the thing.

Or do you mean a loose one that you can unplug?
Click to expand...

I really don’t like the idea of making little blue boxes fit inside already small cavities in wall sockets.

It just doesn’t make sense to me and seems like hard work.
 
SauRoNZA said:
I really don’t like the idea of making little blue boxes fit inside already small cavities in wall sockets.

It just doesn’t make sense to me and seems like hard work.
Click to expand...
Fair point. It is a bit of a faff but to me it doesn't seem like more work than replacing the entire socket (which I've done myself many times). But I can see the argument about squashing more stuff in there.

SauRoNZA said:
Geyser is on a CBI Astute Smart Controller which is NOT a circuit breaker in and of itself.
Click to expand...
Right, so you'd use one in series with the breaker then?
 
newby_investor said:
Fair point. It is a bit of a faff but to me it doesn't seem like more work than replacing the entire socket (which I've done myself many times). But I can see the argument about squashing more stuff in there.


Right, so you'd use one in series with the breaker then?
Click to expand...
Yes, you need to keep the breaker and then the Astute controller in series. Other option is to replace the existing isolator
 
newby_investor said:
Fair point. It is a bit of a faff but to me it doesn't seem like more work than replacing the entire socket (which I've done myself many times). But I can see the argument about squashing more stuff in there.


Right, so you'd use one in series with the breaker then?
Click to expand...

My point was that it’s not a breaker in itself, it’s meant to be installed in series with the actual breaker.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X