Who makes a good domestic electricity power monitor? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: deephaven
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 05, 2012, 01:37:58 pm
content: I'm after an electricity power consumption monitor for monitoring the total consumption in my house, preferably with a wireless link to a display. I looked at peoples reviews various models made by OWL, but they seem to suffer from not being very high resolution. That is to say, it's not very accurate when, say, switching a 60w light on and off. Also giving false readings on inductive loads. Is there a good make that does better?

author: rsjsouza
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 05, 2012, 03:02:27 pm
content: Would that help you?http://www.reuk.co.uk/Kill-a-Watt.htmI heard good reviews about it...

author: deephaven
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 05, 2012, 03:22:10 pm
content: Thanks for the reply. I'm after one that has a sensor that clamps around the AC live cable to the whole house rather than a plug in one like that.

author: os40la
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 05, 2012, 03:47:09 pm
content: Quote from: deephaven on December 05, 2012, 01:37:58 pmTry the TED5000. I have it and it works well. it has a 1Watt resolution and does the power factor too, TED5000 even works for my solar and tells me how much power I am really using from the grid at the same time how much power my house is using and how much the solar is generating. It can have as low as a 1sec refresh rate (configurable) on the wireless display. It even has a WEB interface with graphs.http://www.theenergydetective.com/

author: deephaven
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 05, 2012, 03:53:27 pm
content: Quote from: os40la on December 05, 2012, 03:47:09 pmThat looks great, but I'm in the UK so not sure how it would work out on 240V (to get a true wattage figure), maybe you can set it for that voltage. Also a tad more than I was hoping to pay!

author: bitwelder
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 05, 2012, 05:30:40 pm
content: How about using parts from this project:http://openenergymonitor.org/emon/?It seems fairly modular to me.

author: IanJ
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 05, 2012, 08:22:04 pm
content: This is the one I have......but actually the SKY branded version.http://www.amazon.co.uk/ENVI-CC128-White-Complete-Transmitter/dp/B002J9IDSGYou can buy a USB adaptor and tie it to a PC. The comms standard is fairly open so there is a number of apps you can download, some free.Ian.

author: deephaven
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 06, 2012, 08:49:09 am
content: Thanks for the interesting suggestions, guys. I didn't really want to make it a big project, just wanted a simple but fairly accurate indication of power usage.

author: Dataforensics
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 06, 2012, 07:32:22 pm
content: I got one free from my energy supplier, and notice that the same ones often comes up on ebay for not too much money.Just for example ebay number 221162291261.Mine seems to read ok down to 20 or so watts, but it can be hard to see what with all the varying loads in my house.Bonus is they store history data that can be downloaded via USB.Tony

author: deephaven
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 07, 2012, 09:30:54 pm
content: Thanks for the info, Tony. I've ordered a device from Amazon which seemed to get good reviews so here's hoping!