Electrical Usage Monitors

baker

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I'm looking for a type of device that I can connect up to monitor how much kWh certain devices I have in the house are consuming.

Can anyone recommend anything on the market?
 
Are you after whole house consumption or monitoring individual circuits/appliances? I'm guessing you want to monitor your UFH?
 
In the context of this thread, it was more along the lines of individual devices. But not on a permanent basis, more an educational purpose to understand what devices consume significant kWh when not in use/on standby.

It was the UFH situation that got me thinking about this. I've already been able to diagnose the increase in kWh is due to the UFH. Basically I turned it off for a 24hr period to see my usage drop back to pre-UFH daily averages. To do this I had to faff about taking recordings for the electric meter every 24hrs, so was curious if there was anyway of seeing this remotely (which seems to be what the options PsyVision suggested).

As for why the "Smart" UFH thermostat is reporting wildly different kWh usage figures to actual kWh is another issue to follow-up up with Warmup :(

During my meter usage plotting, I noticed that I used 6kW overnight... given that my daily average is normally 10-12kW per day I'm really interested in what some devices do use when in standby/left plugged in etc.

I've seen the Energenie Monitor for about £15, which you just plug in the device and it reports on the usage/cost. But it does get negative reviews on having to input all the key info every time you use on a new device... which might get a bit annoying when I'm planning to test most devices in the house.
 
Actually thinking about it, I do think I'd also like a way of monitoring real-time usage of the whole house consumption. That way I could see what affect turning lights on and off have etc.

That way I can start deducting pocket money from the Wife and Kids when they leave all the lights on :laugh:
 
Actually thinking about it, I do think I'd also like a way of monitoring real-time usage of the whole house consumption. That way I could see what affect turning lights on and off have etc.
Get your leccy supplier to install a smart meter. Then you will be able to see total electricity usage for the house.
 
Get your leccy supplier to install a smart meter. Then you will be able to see total electricity usage for the house.

Typical, my current supplier is currently only "installing small volumes across 2015", although they have plans for a wider roll-out in 2016.
 
We use CurrentCost - gives me an online graph:

e.g. Home occupied day

upload_2014-10-7_20-10-42-png.517242



Home empty day

upload_2014-10-7_20-16-56-png.517252



It's pretty cool, although I do have to restart the device every now and again when it gets into a 'frozen' state.

I just use it for whole-house monitoring. They do do units for measuring individual devices but I couldn't get them to work so sent them back.
 
We use CurrentCost - gives me an online graph:

e.g. Home occupied day

upload_2014-10-7_20-10-42-png.517242



Home empty day

upload_2014-10-7_20-16-56-png.517252



It's pretty cool, although I do have to restart the device every now and again when it gets into a 'frozen' state.

I just use it for whole-house monitoring. They do do units for measuring individual devices but I couldn't get them to work so sent them back.

Which device model do you have (the Classic?). Any idea off the top of your head (if you know) what a device like this would give above and beyond the Smart Meter/Monitors that some suppliers are now bundling (for free?)

I'm happy to spend some dosh if I can get a far superior product than something that may be free in the future.
 
this looks pretty sexy, and only £35... for some reason I was expecting about 75-99 for something

81YGE0shHmL._SL1500_.jpg
 
Which device model do you have (the Classic?). Any idea off the top of your head (if you know) what a device like this would give above and beyond the Smart Meter/Monitors that some suppliers are now bundling (for free?)

I'm happy to spend some dosh if I can get a far superior product than something that may be free in the future.

It's the EnviR display and transmitter - which gives you a reading on a screen of your current usage and some stats, and the Netsmart bridge, which is the component that uploads to the web so you can view your current and historical usage from a web browser (when it works).

Got it three years ago - haven't looked at the new smart meters but the web portal was the thing I liked about this one. You can also do a csv download of your stats which pleases a nerd like me greatly :)
 
this looks pretty sexy, and only £35... for some reason I was expecting about 75-99 for something

81YGE0shHmL._SL1500_.jpg

Back when I got mine it was £50 for the basic kit plus £30 for the bridge. So sounds about right I guess :)
 
I don't think the one I linked has the web / graphical.. which is something I'd quite like myself.

Looks likes I've got some research to do :) but prices better than I expected
 
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