Recommend Energy Monitor

Big Nelly

Hi Guys

Was looking at this a while back but never bothered. Now with prices going up all the time I think it might be a good idea to get an energy monitor in. Looked at a few on Ebay but not sure which ones are best. Does anyone have any ideas which is best?

Seen this one which looks like the one from Airtricity: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Current-Cost-White-EnviR-Energy-Monitor-/180698132940?pt=UK_AudioElectronicsVideo_Video_TelevisionSetTopBoxes&hash=item2a1272b1cc

Bit expensive but could save money

Seems to be a lot of these Owl ones cheaper but I haven't a clue how they work? do they clip onto cable as well?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Owl-CM119-Energy-Monitor-Wireless-Home-Electricity-Meter-/140620696114?pt=UK_Gadgets&hash=item20bda58a32

Any idea's would be great. Thanks

ronan45

Big Nelly did you end up buying one? If so how did it go ?

Big Nelly

ronan45 wrote: »

Big Nelly did you end up buying one? If so how did it go ?

Not yet, was trying to get a few on here but never picked up one yet!!! Still looking to get one in near future

beazee

Big Nelly wrote: »

Seen this one which looks like the one from Airtricity: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Current-Cost-White-EnviR-Energy-Monitor-/180698132940?pt=UK_AudioElectronicsVideo_Video_TelevisionSetTopBoxes&hash=item2a1272b1cc

That's the one. Got one from airtricity after moving home and had to sent it back as the display was broken. Awaiting for the replacement to be sent.

Seems to be a lot of these Owl ones cheaper but I haven't a clue how they work? do they clip onto cable as well?

I still have OWL bought in early 2009 for €40 at Woodies.
You mount the clip-on sensor the same way as with Airtricity own. Advantage with OWL is the sensor is smaller in size. Other advantage is monitor display being battery operated (3x AA, enough to run it for more than a year) so no additional cables, no chargers, you can stick it, put it mount it wherever you want.

Fancy thing OWL lacks and Airtricity has, is chart display showing daily usage in the last three days.

Me wife says it's brilliant, quick glance at it leaving home and you know if iron is left unplugged.

ronan45

Would ya reckon its an "own Brand" airtricity monitor? I wonder if it is just an energy monitor they have their name tacked onto built by some other electronics company?
You may be able to get the airtricity style one elsewhere maybe


http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_8?url=search-alias%3Delectronics&field-keywords=home+energy+monitor&x=0&y=0&sprefix=home+ene%2Celectronics%2C253

Big Nelly

beazee wrote: »

That's the one. Got one from airtricity after moving home and had to sent it back as the display was broken. Awaiting for the replacement to be sent.

I still have OWL bought in early 2009 for €40 at Woodies.
You mount the clip-on sensor the same way as with Airtricity own. Advantage with OWL is the sensor is smaller in size. Other advantage is monitor display being battery operated (3x AA, enough to run it for more than a year) so no additional cables, no chargers, you can stick it, put it mount it wherever you want.

Fancy thing OWL lacks and Airtricity has, is chart display showing daily usage in the last three days.

Me wife says it's brilliant, quick glance at it leaving home and you know if iron is left unplugged.

Willing to flog the airtricity one?

ronan45

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/3324648/Consumer-test-home-energy-monitors.html

beazee

Big Nelly wrote: »

Willing to flog the airtricity one?

Might consider this when replacement arrives.

ronan45

beazee wrote: »

Might consider this when replacement arrives.

You could use the Airtricity Monitor to Monitor the Owl Monitor :rolleyes::D

beazee

ronan45 wrote: »

You could use the Airtricity Monitor to Monitor the Owl Monitor :rolleyes::D

That's what I initially planned to do.
Check whether there be any difference between them estimates.

Big Nelly

beazee wrote: »

Might consider this when replacement arrives.

PM me then......

beazee

ronan45 wrote: »

Would ya reckon its an "own Brand" airtricity monitor?

Hard to tell, the fact is underneath AIRTRICITY label lies SSE Energy label, an Airtricity holding company operating in UK.

Bruthal

beazee wrote: »

Me wife says it's brilliant, quick glance at it leaving home and you know if iron is left unplugged.

She would need to stay watching it for a minute or more to confirm the iron is not still plugged in. The stat might have reached its set point and so it appears to be off according to the monitor:D

ronan45

Hi Beazee & Robbie , Is it worth spending 60 Yo yo on? There is SHOCKING waste in my house, and were all adults there too. Its not about being tight I just hate needless waste to finite resources. Is it more gimmicky device that one would use for years or is it a "back of the gadgets drawer" after a few months?


was thinking about this one
http://www.theowlireland.com/electricity-saving-device


speaking of OWLS that OWLone on that video clip is such a head wreck lol

beazee

ronan45 wrote: »

There is SHOCKING waste in my house

Our measured standby consumption was 0.168kW
Which translates to ca. €36 per bill. (0.168kW*24hrs*61days*€0.15)

With remote control sockets swithing off WiFi/Internet, TV, UPC, games console while we were off we managed to cut it down to 0.048kW draw by fish tank filter.
Possible savings of €26 per bill.

€40 OWL + €20 RC sockets paid for themselves in 6 months.

Yes, I know the calculations aren't pretty, and in most cases it's only up to 16hrs per day on standby (8h sleep + 8h work) but I like it this way.

Bruthal

ronan45 wrote: »

Hi Beazee & Robbie , Is it worth spending 60 Yo yo on? There is SHOCKING waste in my house, and were all adults there too. Its not about being tight I just hate needless waste to finite resources. Is it more gimmicky device that one would use for years or is it a "back of the gadgets drawer" after a few months?

I suppose it depends on the user. I have one myself and find it handy enough, although was as much for curiosity as anything else. I connected the sensor inside the DB in the hall, and mounted the transmitter beside the DB

It is quite accurate as it comes close to what the actual bills work out at every 2 months, once the unit price is properly set. They dont read like a proper esb meter reads, as the esb meter measures both voltage and current which is needed for the true KWH`s, where as the monitors just measure current, and assume voltage, which the user sets, (230v for here).

Handy for seeing what the minimum backround load is, and from that you can tell if stuff has been left on.

But getting one and expecting it to mean bills will certainly reduce would be over expecting. There is a lot of wastage, one example is the habit people have of filling a kettle to the very top for 1 cup of tea, every time.

The monitor wouldnt really show the likes of that in an obvious way.

Its the owl one i have.

Snazzy_Chazzy

Hi lads

I just set one of these up. I set the tariff as On my main screen I have it Set to Cost and its showing me 58.72 Cents per Hour. This is well off.
Just a few lights and tvs on.
There are 3 screens

Main screen Cost Per hour LIVE
Small screen to right Total cost per month
Small Screen Left (time and temp)

Would yas know what it should be saying on average in the main screen for a house? Im gonna mess about with the tariffs again

beazee

5 energy saving lights, flat tv + upc box, laptop => 0.480kWh = 7.2c/hr

Basically 15c/unit * 0.48 = 7.2c/hr

Bruthal

Better putting 18 cent per unit in, this then has vat included.

Snazzy_Chazzy

robbie7730 wrote: »

Better putting 18 cent per unit in, this then has vat included.

Hi Robbie OK I have the Owl 160 I have my tarriff Set up as 15.79 Cents/Hour in the main screen. Should I be putting in 0.18?:o
I have just 1 tarriff set up also as im on a standard bill


TARRIFF MENU

15.79
CENTS
/HOUR

TAR 1

Bruthal

Snazzy_Chazzy wrote: »

Hi Robbie OK I have the Owl 160 I have my tarriff Set up as 15.79 Cents/Hour in the main screen. Should I be putting in 0.18?:o
I have just 1 tarriff set up also as im on a standard bill

16.19 is the standard unit not incl vat. 18.37 is incl vat.

So it depends if you want the vat inclusive cost of the units used.

For the bill cost, the standing charge would have to be added by the user.

Snazzy_Chazzy

robbie7730 wrote: »

16.19 is the standard unit not incl vat. 18.37 is incl vat.

So it depends if you want the vat inclusive cost of the units used.

For the bill cost, the standing charge would have to be added by the user.

Cheers Robbie, Have now edited my tarriff to 18.37. I THINK i have it done right anyway. My main screen is hovering around 14.79 now looks about right.

AHA I just copped something I think i had it set to show KW per hour. I can see now it just shows just "/HOUR" I think before it had "KWH"
16.27 looks more like it. Cheers for your help

Bruthal

If you multiply the screen KWH reading by the 18.37, this should give you the screen cost per hour. That way you know the unit price you have in is correct and all is right.

beazee

robbie7730 wrote: »

Better putting 18 cent per unit in, this then has vat included.

I'm too lazy for that. Using this yoke to monitor energy consumption only. Final bill assessed from actual meter reading supplied then to Airtricity.

bk

The Airtricity monitor is a rebranded http://www.currentcost.com/ monitor.

You can buy extra equipment for it such as the USB cable to hook it up to a PC

stimpson

bk wrote: »

The Airtricity monitor is a rebranded http://www.currentcost.com/ monitor.

You can buy extra equipment for it such as the USB cable to hook it up to a PC

You can hack one from an ethernet cable and a USB to serial adapter you might have sitting around. Then you can use www.Pachube.com to build sexy graphs like this:



which allows you to see what time of day your greatest usage is.

Big Nelly

Hi Guys

Looking to get the following one: http://www.efergy.com/index.php/default/products-uk-1/electricity-monitors/e2v2-wirelesssmonitor-uk.html

Has anyone got this one? is it any good?

Big Nelly

Big Nelly wrote: »

Hi Guys

Looking to get the following one: http://www.efergy.com/index.php/default/products-uk-1/electricity-monitors/e2v2-wirelesssmonitor-uk.html

Has anyone got this one? is it any good?

I got I bought this one anyway, should have in next few days so will give it a test run and put feedback up here!!!!

Gerard93

Big Nelly wrote: »

I got I bought this one anyway, should have in next few days so will give it a test run and put feedback up here!!!!

Looking forward to see what you think of this, I'm tempted to get one but don.t know what to get, just reading through various posts.

Big Nelly

Hey guys

Some initial feedback, running it only a few days as was away. More or less what you know:

• Kettles are a killer
• Electric shower(Triton) is mad heavy on Power. Have an older one T90xr and going to change to see if it will conserve more Power. Need to change anyway
• Surprised at how much toaster uses
• I had TV, Sky box, Xbox, DVD and electric phone transfer all left on overnight, just changing to keeping Sky box on for plus recording saves a load over night

Apart from that those looking for feedback, seems a good tool, very up to date and easy to work. I am using the beta software(work in IT so always go for newest and best)

beazee

Big Nelly wrote: »

[*]Kettles are a killer

Don't get caught there. Duration is the key.
Just because my car's display shows 4mpg when I floor it hard up the hill doesn't mean I won't get high 40s mpg on average.

Actual cost of getting the water boiled would be:
3kWh units x 3 minutes / 60 mins per hour * 18cent per unit = 2.7 cent each time.
Many times you boil full kettle water to make 1 cuppa? 3 times a day? There you go - 10 cent daily.

While say TV + Sky box + Xbox + DVD on standby consume overall of 0.5kW per hour but do it for mimimum of 16 hrs a day (8 sleep + 8 work):

0.5kWh units x 16 hours * 18 cents = €1.44 per day.

[*]Electric shower(Triton) is mad heavy on Power. Have an older one T90xr and going to change to see if it will conserve more Power. Need to change anyway
[*]Surprised at how much toaster uses

Same story. They seem to consume incredible amounts of power but for 15 mins per shower and ca. 2 mins for two toasts.

ted1

Belly, have you noticed that they all have heating elements.

Big Nelly

ted1 wrote: »

Belly, have you noticed that they all have heating elements.

Who is Belly?

Gerard93

Any update on the Energy Monitor Big Nelly,how is it working out??

Big Nelly

Hey guys

Sorry was just going to download information today. Handy tool, have saved some power but really haven't kicked in properly

Few things I have noted:
Have down lights in kitchen and a few rooms. Using GU10 blubs, originally had energy savers bulbs in these. Just put ordinary ones in when replacing. They are very high on Power usage. And when you have 8 downlights in Kitchen where lights would be on a lot it is a massive drain on power

Plug out your mobile charger, I know everyone says this but I never done

It is good because you can see exactly what you are using when you think everything is off. I would recommend but maybe for a few months.

I might sell mine on:P

beazee

Big Nelly wrote: »

Using GU10 blubs, originally had energy savers bulbs in these. Just put ordinary ones in when replacing. They are very high on Power usage.

This was first I've done after buying an energy monitor. Replaced all 50W GU10 halogens with GU10 3W leds. Went down from total of 1100W in downlights to mere 66W. Although it got a bit dark there, not the best choice but an interesting experience. 48 led 3W GU10 spotlight was giving same amount of light as ca. 25-30W bulb.

Gerard93

Plug out your mobile charger, I know everyone says this but I never done

Are mobile phone chargers drawing power when they are not connected to a phone ???

sealgaire

i got one in Maplin last week - €16, does job fine

Big Nelly

Gerard93 wrote: »

Are mobile phone chargers drawing power when they are not connected to a phone ???

Yes

ted1

Anything with a transformer will continue to draw current when.not being used.

mp3ireland2

I have the airtricity monitor, I did notice the ethernet port on it allright, has anybody any details on how I can hack this to use it? Or what I can do with it? I see the graph a few posts back but was just looking for info on how to hack it? thanks!

stimpson

mp3ireland2 wrote: »

I have the airtricity monitor, I did notice the ethernet port on it allright, has anybody any details on how I can hack this to use it? Or what I can do with it? I see the graph a few posts back but was just looking for info on how to hack it? thanks!

You can buy a cable from Current Cost or you can hack one yourself. You need a USB - TTL converter (I happened to have one lying around, but you can get them on ebay for cheap from Hong Kong) and an old ethernet cable.

Details are up here:

http://www.cookinrelaxin.com/2008/06/how-to-hack-current-cost-energy-monitor.html

The device outputs xml and there are a few programs built which will squirt your data to patchube.com which will build lovely graphs for you liek this:



(server is a bit flakey at the moment and I just noticed that my feed has been down for a couple of weeks)

mp3ireland2

stimpson wrote: »

You can buy a cable from Current Cost or you can hack one yourself. You need a USB - TTL converter (I happened to have one lying around, but you can get them on ebay for cheap from Hong Kong) and an old ethernet cable.

Details are up here:

http://www.cookinrelaxin.com/2008/06/how-to-hack-current-cost-energy-monitor.html

The device outputs xml and there are a few programs built which will squirt your data to patchube.com which will build lovely graphs for you liek this:



(server is a bit flakey at the moment and I just noticed that my feed has been down for a couple of weeks)

Thanks bought one of the cables but having driver trouble with windows 7.. according the website it should just download drivers automatically on windows 7.

It starts installing and then I get an error saying "device driver was not successfully installed" Please consult with device manufacturer etc.


Anybody having the same issue? tried downloading drivers and restarting but still now joy....

EDIt: Finally Got it working! Link on this forum here... spent a couple of hours looking for dirvers etc.!

Does anybody know of a program that will log the data locally? Draw a graph in excel or something? What software do you use for patchube.com stimpson? Seems so many options out there... signed up to Enio.co.uk but don't know how good it is... Just want somebody to reccomend something rather than having to try them all out!

mp3ireland2

Anybody use Enio? My meter shows 1.3 - 1.4K Watt most of the time (farm pumps etc. runnig of it) but my enio graph shows 1Kwh less than this which is weird...about .3 or .4 kWh for 15m averages, surely if it's a constant 1.3-1.4 this should be the kWh reading on the graph the enio program shows the correct reading.... Isn't a Kilo watt hour the amount of energy used when something consuming a kW is left on for an hour? Am i missing something or is the website dodge?

ted1

The 15 minute isn't displaying as a rate, its shown the number of units used. If the meter is shown 1.3kw and the system is shown 1kw less then that is .3kwh. 4 15 minutes are .3 x 4 which add up to 1.2kwh.

Kwh is true consumption, kw is the instantaneous rate.

mp3ireland2

ted1 wrote: »

The 15 minute isn't displaying as a rate, its shown the number of units used. If the meter is shown 1.3kw and the system is shown 1kw less then that is .3kwh. 4 15 minutes are .3 x 4 which add up to 1.2kwh.

Kwh is true consumption, kw is the instantaneous rate.

Ah right cool thanks that makes sense and makes me feel rather stupid! Should have looked at the units more closely!

Monsclara

Hi everyone.
Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions about the best energy monitor to buy. Electricity costs are through the roof. Have a lot of down lighters in the house as well as Triton electric shower. I see people are using LED lights - do these save a lot? Also have 2 uplighters with 230W and 50W in both (energy saving). Would like to hear suggestions on these too.
Thanks

Big Nelly

Monsclara wrote: »

Hi everyone.
Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions about the best energy monitor to buy. Electricity costs are through the roof. Have a lot of down lighters in the house as well as Triton electric shower. I see people are using LED lights - do these save a lot? Also have 2 uplighters with 230W and 50W in both (energy saving). Would like to hear suggestions on these too.
Thanks

Sticking mine up for sale if you are interested? it is good and helped me save alot

cena

Started this thread yesterday looking for help.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=79251888


Can anyone help me out.

freddyuk

cena wrote: »

Started this thread yesterday looking for help.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=79251888


Can anyone help me out.

Have you checked the batteries in the remote transmitter?

cena

freddyuk wrote: »

Have you checked the batteries in the remote transmitter?

changed them. still no good. its not connecting with the transmitter