Electricity Usage Monitor

masterboy123

Hi all,

Any using electricity usage monitor and can recommend one?

Thanks

Samdog

https://shop.shelly.cloud/shelly-em-50a-clamp-wifi-smart-home-automation-1#139

I use a couple of these. They are very good.

masterboy123

Thanks Sam.

Is it easy to install? And do we need multiple of such devices?

Lastly, how is their app?

Samdog wrote: »

https://shop.shelly.cloud/shelly-em-50a-clamp-wifi-smart-home-automation-1#139

I use a couple of these. They are very good.

Samdog

Easy to install. You need to connect to power and probably need an enclosure. Each unit can have two clamps which are on wires about 18 inches long, so you need the power supplies you are monitoring to be reasonably close. The clamps go over the positive wire only so you may have to separate it from the neutral. It is a wifi device. Connecting up goes simply enough especially if you have ever installed any other wifi devices.

The app is very good and simple to use and displays data by day, week, month or year as desired. You can set alerts for when wattages are exceeded.

I have one device monitoring the supply to the house and a storage heater circuit. The other is on an immersion. They are in a premises that I don't live in. It is very easy to keep an eye on what is going on there. It certainly encourages switching off things. I compared results with the esb meter and it was within 3.5% which is good enough. They are cheap enough.

The after sales service is brilliant but most knowledge and help comes via their support page on Facebook. I thought it was a mad idea but it works well. I have a lot of their other devices and only one failed and they sent on a new one before I returned the dud one.

If you are not interested in their cloud and app you can connect directly to the device via wifi. It stores a years data.

They have wifi plugs but they are only rated up to 2400 watts and are only available as the detestable euro plug.

thebourke

any recommendation on the latest electricity monitor to use now?

ECO_Mental

I am using the ShellyEM and very happy with them. They are designed to be used in your main fuse board and measure circuits.

One warning you are installing them into your main board so you have to be VERY carful and shut down everything and even then be careful. Once set up they provide practically live readings and integrate easy into Home Assistant if you are running that

John mac

i got a shelly em a couple of months age , easy to install . and monitor from phone.

Coyote

there is a number of options the TLDR is I went for the Emporia Smart Home Energy Monitor with 18 CT clamps, but everyone might pick a different options for different reasons that work best for them.

Shelly - I like Shelly stuff but the power monitor is a bit limited unless you buy a lot of them making the cost quite high and you then end up with a lot of them to fit in the box, it seems to be designed to just monitor the main incoming supply from what I have seen. (I know it can monitor any supply but it starts to cost a lot)

cost €50-500

Sense - again it just uses two CT clamps on the main supply (USA two for split supply, one in UK), they then use "AI" to identify what is using power, reviews are mixed on how well it works. issues with picking up things that stay powered all the time and things that might use different levels of power at different times. although it would need less space to setup

cost €300+

https://sense.com/

Emporia Smart Home Energy Monitor - this is what I ordered just the other day waiting on delivery, it has CT clamps for two main supply (only need one in IE) and 16 small 50amp ct clamps for each circuit, down side is the space needed and the number of wires, it connects to a cloud service for the data which i don't like but people have gotten ESPhome and home assistant to work with it (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0Jv4nO9OWg) you can pull the data from the cloud to home assistant as well. I might move it to fully local at a later date.

there is 3 options- main supply only, main and 8 CT clamps, main and 16 clamps

cost - €80-180

https://www.amazon.co.uk/EMPORIA-ENERGY-Emporia-Electricity-Metering/dp/B07R11H2Q2/ref%3Dsr_1_5?keywords=Emporia%2BSmart%2BHome%2BEnergy%2BMonitor&qid=1650236428&sr=8-5&th=1

ESPhome - very DIY and very cool but takes a lot more setup also to get 18 clamps like the Emporia it's expensive but it's total local and will give some more info i think at a faster poll rate if you want it.

cost - €80-500 depending on what you buy, shipping, import etc.

ESPhome website - https://esphome.io/index.html#

shop for power parts - https://circuitsetup.us/product-category/power-management/

https://circuitsetup.us/product-category/power-management/

kuro2k

I use the Open Energy Monitor system, easy to use and experienced zero issues with it over the last 2 years

https://openenergymonitor.org/

shanec1928

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118938851#Comment_118938851

did you add a separate rcd to power the shelly or use an existing one?

ECO_Mental

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119051951#Comment_119051951

No you just wire them directly into an existing rcd, just looesn the screws on the live and neutral and slip power wires from Shelly into it. If you are not comfortable with wiring then it might not be for you.

You need to trip the entire board first and even then treat the board like its live.

John mac

@shanec1928 yea just used an existing one in the box (lights circuit). yep make sure you have the mains trip off ,

Evan2020

Was looking at the Frient device for monitoring electricity has anyone used it ? Our house has a new ESB smart meter anyone tried connection up to one?

After reading above the Home - Sense seems very interesting anyone have one are they any good?

iknorr

Did you make your mind up on this or what did u buy?

Im currently in the same boat now with a new RM108