Indication of load shedding

[Pineapple Smurf]

My guest house is on it's own circuit so I've got a sonoff switch in there that sends an alert when the power goes off/on.

How did your sonoff send a message when the power fails? Is your ewelink app always 'talking' to it?

 

[bwana]

How did your sonoff send a message when the power fails? Is your ewelink app always 'talking' to it?

It might be my NAS reporting the power is off - or it could be Alexa monitoring unresponsive devices. It's been over a year now since we've had load shedding so I disabled it.

 

[Spizz]

My geyser wise and microwave are my loadshedding indicators. They are not connected to the inverter.

Lol. Almost the same, for me it’s the Geyserwise and the clock on the oven.

 

[Pineapple Smurf]

It might be my NAS reporting the power is off - or it could be Alexa monitoring unresponsive devices. It's been over a year now since we've had load shedding so I disabled it.

Over a year of no loadshedding ????????????????????????

 

[zll]

I've got a small load shedding system in place for a few essentials (ie working, lights, tv etc)

But, my SO doesn't realise when it's load shedding and worried she uses something that ideally shouldn't be used, and either trips or drains the battery . In the study, I have a light that tells me the grid is off ... but no where else.. What do you guys do to know when there is no grid power? I guess a simple simple lamp left on can do it ? Anything else ?

What about these load shedding products ?

SONOFF Load Shedding Detector Kit with instructions

EWELINK App to detect when there is load shedding and when there is Eskom power Set up notifications as to when there is load shedding Set up scenes and control items based on load shedding times Extends battery time during load shedding Reduces battery load automatically during Load Shedding...

www.geewiz.co.za

All of you people with your complicated solutions.

Why doesn't she just check Eskom Se Push before using the heavy duty appliances?

 

[chrisc]

I have fitted a 220 volt neon indicator which tells the customer when the mains fails. Light out = no mains. Cost under R15,00

Have one customer who continually overloaded his inverter so many times that it needed repair

 

[Dan C]

All of you people with your complicated solutions.

Why doesn't she just check Eskom Se Push before using the heavy duty appliances?

Eskom is always late in switching us back on. Sometimes up to 30mins or more.

 

[Pak Fa Fui]

Street lights at night are an indication
Leave the microwave on the grid for an in house indication

 

[leon.davibe]

hahaha hahaha hahahah your joke made my day

We have an election coming up

How big is the diesel bill gonna be , to make things look less voter alienating

 

[leon.davibe]

Eskom is always late in switching us back on. Sometimes up to 30mins or more.

Pretty sure someone from your municipality has to do the switching

We are normally very quick after
So if the power isn't ON by 10 past i start thinking are we on the cards for heavier shedding , ie asked to be slow on the switch ON

or maybe they are asked to be slow on switch ON because another municipality was slow on the switch off

Has anybodies switch OFF ever been late

Ours is like clockwork with a minute exception here and there

 

[Lupus]

Pretty sure someone from your municipality has to do the switching

We are normally very quick after
So if the power isn't ON by 10 past i start thinking are we on the cards for heavier shedding , ie asked to be slow on the switch ON

or maybe they are asked to be slow on switch ON because another municipality was slow on the switch off

Has anybodies switch OFF ever been late

Ours is like clockwork with a minute exception here and there

Yup once went off 40 minutes late

 

[Dolby]

I have a smart bulb on kitchen counter that I turn on red when no grid. Then green for 3 minutes when grid return, then off again.

Ok - I think this is the best solution .

Geyser timer goes offline when there si no grid, and pretty sure that I can add a rule to say when geyser = off ; then bulb = red ... or something like that

EDIT : Ok, that won't work 100% as sometime the gesyer timer is just off on with the timer. It would work if they differentiated 'off' and 'offline'

 

[Kosmik]

Ok - I think this is the best solution .

Geyser timer goes offline when there si no grid, and pretty sure that I can add a rule to say when geyser = off ; then bulb = red ... or something like that

EDIT : Ok, that won't work 100% as sometime the gesyer timer is just off on with the timer. It would work if they differentiated 'off' and 'offline'

Your timer should have a independent battery for that. Odd you don't.

 

[Dolby]

Your timer should have a independent battery for that. Odd you don't.

But how does it change anything ?

I'm not worried about the time on the timer (it'll keep that) - I'm trying have a notification that there is / isn't grid power available as it isn't obvious. I can have a smart bulb light up when the geyser is off (showing the grid is possibly down) - but the issue is that isn't 100% as there are times I switch off the geyser (ie at night) anyway.

So I can say when geser = off ; then light on
But better and more accurate would be when geyser offline ; then light on

But there is no option

 

[Kosmik]

But how does it change anything ?

Nah, I was just commenting on the fact that you say the timer is off with loadshedding or do you mean the timers output?

TBH, a easy solution is just get a cheap sonoff basic ( R80 ) , wire it into a small lamp and have that near your heavy appliance or somewhere visible for those not in the "smart" loop ie: notifications etc. You either setup a schedule for the sonoff or tie it into homeassistant to trigger from the ESP api.

 

[Kosmik]

Maybe I should print myself a little 3d sign of a battery with a red led..........

 

[PsyWulf]

But how does it change anything ?

I'm not worried about the time on the timer (it'll keep that) - I'm trying have a notification that there is / isn't grid power available as it isn't obvious. I can have a smart bulb light up when the geyser is off (showing the grid is possibly down) - but the issue is that isn't 100% as there are times I switch off the geyser (ie at night) anyway.

So I can say when geser = off ; then light on
But better and more accurate would be when geyser offline ; then light on

But there is no option

There's a Loadshedder type solution for Sonoff and Tuya-based systems
Basically a Reed-switch door-sensor combo if you want to DIY it
If Door sensor = open = Power Off

Smart Loadshedding Detector | Tuya Smart Home

Smart WiFi Loadshedding Detector, detects when there is loadshedding then, switches on your inverter & switches off high-current appliances like geysers.

tuya-smarthome.co.za

 

[Dolby]

Nah, I was just commenting on the fact that you say the timer is off with loadshedding or do you mean the timers output?

Oh yea - I mean the output.

TBH, a easy solution is just get a cheap sonoff basic ( R80 ) , wire it into a small lamp and have that near your heavy appliance or somewhere visible for those not in the "smart" loop ie: notifications etc. You either setup a schedule for the sonoff or tie it into homeassistant to trigger from the ESP api.

Yea , I just wanted to avoid having to even start with Home Assistant .

And the Sonoff, I understand, is really just going on the schedule and not actual grid? At my folks, for example, they have no power for 24hrs+ and the helper tripped the inverter unintentially as she never knew the power was out. I've got a small red light in the study for grid on/off - but I'd like have it in the kitchen too with as little effort as possible .

I even thought about one of those Tuya light intensity meters that I can place near the existing red light

 

[Kosmik]

You can hook the sonoff up to ITTT type thing somewhere, it just needs to be triggered. If you want a actual sensor you would have to have someting in your db on your mains incoming otherwise it will be detecting the inverter.

Is your geyser wired into your essentials? Mine is not so loadshedding just cuts the power to the geyser which is not really having a impact or me. Only reason I may put in a wifi geyser switch is to control times I want it to actually heat.

Something like this.

smart geyser switch

Smart Wi-Fi Intelligent Geyser Switch. 60A with Electricity Energy Monitor or Power Consumption Smart control via your cell phone, free Tuya app

tuya-smarthome.co.za

or this

63A 1P Smart Circuit Breaker with monitoring - eWelink

Connect this high powered Smart Switch to your high current appliances and control it from anywhere. This device is perfect to control your geyser (up to 63A). You can set this device to automatically switch off your geyser during peak times and switch it back on during off peak times.

www.robofactory.co.za

 

[PsyWulf]

I have a ping monitor on my Mikrotik and a tuya breaker on eskom side,sends a Telegram message to a group when the monitor connects and disconnects from wifi