Reading power levels

No doubt another stupid question :D

Has anyone come across any devices (UK compatible) that can monitor the total current coming into your property?? I basically mean the total power coming in, after it's been through the meter (obviously!) - i.e. the power I'm consuming. The only "monitoring" of my total power usage is by reading the electricity meter, which as you can guess is a pain...!

Also, I don't suppose anyone in the electricity (or gas) supply sectors know of any domestic devices that give an interface to your meter readings?? (again, legally read-only :D)

Thanks __________________________________ The Grim Reaper

Reply to
The Grim Reaper
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take a look at this homeseer forum thread:

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it discusses a number products on the market, some of which are in the UK.

Onemeter, TED, EV-100, are several models dickm

Reply to
dicko

Not at all.

up for some DIY?

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Some meters have a flashing LED which flashes per some unit of consumption. Optical detection...

Some meters have a black and silver disk that can be optically detected to give a pulse per unit.

Some meters have spinning magnets that can be detected with a hall effect sensor for a pulse per unit.

Some meters actually transmit a signal and you might could tie into that.

sdb

Reply to
sylvan butler

Sure?? :)

I would be... but I don't have THAT sort of time on my hands!! (Or the learning curve time either!!)

I was about to type that'd never seen an LED on a meter... then I remembered someone came to "do something" to the meter last year, so I got off my lazy ass and had a look. Lo and behold, there's a convenient red LED that blinks

1000 times for every kWh!! Perfect!!

(Just to assure myself... "1000 imp/kWh" does mean 1000 times (I assumed impulses?) per kWh - in other words, 1 flash is equivalent to a watt used in an hour.) [I hate the term kWh.. messes with one's mind... lol]

I suppose a RS-232 compatible signal straight to my PC COM port is a bit much to hope for!! :))

Thanks sdb. ___________________ Grim

Reply to
The Grim Reaper

Thanks for that dickm - I'll go with the other idea for now and just monitor the LED flashes. Might get round to monitoring individual appliances (like the PC's, TV/DVD mess, etc.) if I can't work out where to stem my steadily rising electricity bills!!

Hopefully, by the time my kids get to be teenagers (10 years!!) I'll be able to charge them rent on exactly what they use.... hehe __________________________ Grim

Reply to
The Grim Reaper

I'm not sure if the following device if UK compatible or even going to be available directly to consumers, but I thought it was worth sharing. Blue Line's PowerCost Monitor is supposed to tell your current usage based on a dollar value. They claim a 10-20% cost savings just by knowing your current usage.

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Okay, so I just stumbled across the following link to purchase and it looks like they're partnered with a Canadian provider. Maybe there's a way to purchase the kit and then hack it :)

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It seems that a lot of these projects are DIY and how long do you think it will be until we get to a plug-and-play environment?

Regards, Dennis

The Grim Reaper wrote:

Reply to
dennis baldwin

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