Sub-Meter Electricity Monitoring

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  • chris_j_hunter
    Automated Home Legend
    • Dec 2007
    • 1713

    #76
    >just found this thread ...

    yep, that's the link to Kevin - couldn't recall which thread it was !

    BTW: for Cortex API, try last paragraph of :



    as I said, not tried yet myself, but others may have ...
    Our self-build - going further with HA...

    Comment

    • chris_j_hunter
      Automated Home Legend
      • Dec 2007
      • 1713

      #77
      this might help :



      Eltima RS232 Data Logger 2.7 ... Open Source ... allows you to redirect all communication data from RS232 compliant serial port device into a text file for further analysis ... gather data from multiple serial ports simultaneously ... specify serial port connection parameters (baudrate, parity, stop bits, flow control, databits) ... real-time counter of the received and stored bytes ... ability to work under Virtual Machines ... disable/enable logging on-the-fly ... append incoming data to already existing file ... source code (MFC/C++ VC7.1) ... 745.9 KB ... Freeware ... Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows XP, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows 2003
      Our self-build - going further with HA...

      Comment

      • Kevin
        Moderator
        • Jan 2004
        • 558

        #78
        Hi Neil,

        I got my new Current Cost unit this week too.

        There were two xAP connectors for current cost (previous model) - and I withdrew mine when Kevin T released his to avoid confusion. His is available by direct email - there are some pictures on his site at



        However this isn't going to solve the integration with Cortex. Cortex has some sophisticated metering objects but they expect pulse type signals delivered via module hardware inputs which count and are reset periodically. You could however very easily display the consumption values realtime on the DFP

        Current cost provides a somewhat awkward XML output that reports values for current and historic periods using relative time. The xAP connector also reports these values and hence doesn't fit well with the Cortex expectations. I haven't delved into the scripting object or the API to know if these could be used to marry the two.

        I'm obviously interested in doing this too, although I use pulse meters already into Cortex, so if Vivian has any suggestions I'll see what we can do from the xAP side. It maybe that direct integration, or a pulse meter is best though.

        One thing I did do a while back is ask Kevin T if he could provide a xAP BSC output in his application that simulated a pulse type meter, or a counter. I am not sure if he implemented that though. I'll ask him as that may at least get us some steps towards compatibility.

        Cheers Kevin

        PS My conduit changed the awkward relative time reporting to specific time blocks - and if KevinT's version is not able to support pulse / counter type outputs - then I could look at resurrecting mine ... (assuminging such an output would be workable within Cortex)
        Last edited by Kevin; 15 February 2009, 12:09 PM.

        Comment

        • KirasHome
          Automated Home Jr Member
          • Oct 2006
          • 37

          #79
          DIN rail single circuit units

          Originally posted by Gumby View Post
          Right .. coming back to the topic in hand ...

          Last call for interest in bulk buy DIN rail single circuit units. I have a couple of candidates in mind, but obviously want qtys before approaching suppliers.
          Originally posted by KirasHome View Post
          Obviously dependent on price, but I'd be interested in 4.

          Thanks, Jamie
          Hi Gumby - any news on these?

          Jamie

          Comment

          • Gumby
            Moderator
            • May 2004
            • 437

            #80
            Been waiting for some quotes, need to chase this...
            ----------------------
            www.gumbrell.com

            Comment

            • Gumby
              Moderator
              • May 2004
              • 437

              #81
              But there again, maybe the qty has just jumped by 50+
              ----------------------
              www.gumbrell.com

              Comment

              • Gumby
                Moderator
                • May 2004
                • 437

                #82
                Originally posted by Karam View Post
                I think a single photo-transistor tied straight across the digital input terminals via a screened cable might be able to do the job simplty and cheaply but I haven't got one on hand to try and am too lazy to try and guess irradiance level from the meter LED, but you need to get enough light to get ~ 0.6mA through transistor to detect an ON LED. Obviously it also has to get dark enough when LED is off. Go for an NPN one which has a an optical rather than IR spectral response (though usually the response will spread to optical ranges with less sensitivity). To reduce effects of ambient lighting and improve contrast shroud the viewing window with an externally dark tube so transistor can just see what's infront of it. Even better if tube goes all the way to meter LED.

                Karam
                IDRATEK LTD
                Done exaclty this with bog-standard photodiode from Maplin. See http://www.gumbrell.com/archives/2009/02/power-mad.html

                You can test the diode is working OK initially by just connecting as a digital I/O and watching it flip-flop.
                ----------------------
                www.gumbrell.com

                Comment

                • Gumby
                  Moderator
                  • May 2004
                  • 437

                  #83
                  OK, quotes are in. It would be unfair to post prices here.

                  I have obtained quotes for a variety of devices. There are three sub £20 candidates,

                  EWZ12E-32A, manufactured by Eltako
                  PRO1TE, manufactured by DMMetering aka Inepro
                  DDS-1Y-18L, manufactured by YTL (YongTaiLong) (equivalent to PRO1TE)

                  Within those three there is a significant range in price, depending on whether you want to go for the YTL, which is apparently a copy of the PRO1TE.

                  Based on the spec I suggest the PRO1TE LCD version as most flexible. Would all people up for these please PM me again with desired qty so I can double check.
                  ----------------------
                  www.gumbrell.com

                  Comment

                  • Gumby
                    Moderator
                    • May 2004
                    • 437

                    #84
                    Spec Comparison Table here.
                    ----------------------
                    www.gumbrell.com

                    Comment

                    • chris_j_hunter
                      Automated Home Legend
                      • Dec 2007
                      • 1713

                      #85
                      must say the Eltako look better quality - appearances can be deceptive, of course ! Also, the photo' of the PRO1TE shows blanks where the pulse output would be expected to be (the Eltako picture shows a full set, for example) ...
                      Last edited by chris_j_hunter; 26 March 2009, 02:31 PM.
                      Our self-build - going further with HA...

                      Comment

                      • Paul_B
                        Automated Home Legend
                        • Jul 2006
                        • 608

                        #86
                        Nice comparison table Gumby, many thanks for the efforts

                        Comment

                        • chris_j_hunter
                          Automated Home Legend
                          • Dec 2007
                          • 1713

                          #87
                          looks like Current Cost have some new units out :



                          useful or ... ?

                          Chris
                          Our self-build - going further with HA...

                          Comment

                          • alisheikh
                            Automated Home Lurker
                            • Jul 2010
                            • 1

                            #88
                            monitoring data from Carlo Gavazzi sub-meters

                            I am probably a novice in this field.

                            I am looking to get the half hourly, or hourly data out of 6 submeters in my company. These are Carlo Gavazzi. unfortunately these meters don't have a RS232 out but only R2 relay output. I am looking for a low cost solution which could give me half hourly kWh consumption of each of these sub-meters, which could be imported by a SQL database for further processing (with least human involvement in this process).

                            Cheers!

                            Comment

                            • Karam
                              Automated Home Legend
                              • Mar 2005
                              • 863

                              #89
                              Its probably a bit of a sledge hammer to use the Idratek system for this singular purpose because of the base overhead, but anyhow to give you an idea:

                              This would probably minimally be comprised of an ODI module to connect the six signal inputs into (assuming the meters are not widely spread apart - otherwise long signal cables could be prone to noise pickup and you might need to consider using more networked ODIs so that long distance data is transferred using IDRANet), an MPD module and 12V supply to provide power/IDRANet distribution, and a PCD or PCU module to interface to the data gathering computer (RS232 or USB respectively). On the computer you would run a core license of Cortex and though this by itself can provide a rich data gathering and presentation capability, if you need the data to be somehow imported into an SQL database you will need to write your own application which accesses the meter data from Cortex via the Cortex API.

                              In terms of cost you're looking presently at about £250 for the hardware and Cortex core license. This doesn't include the cost of the computer on which you might run Cortex and the SQL transferring application.

                              Comment

                              • djgrah
                                Automated Home Jr Member
                                • Jan 2010
                                • 30

                                #90
                                Gumby,
                                Did you ever get any of the Din rail meters? If so which one did you go for and any tips on where to get them from?
                                I'm looking to do the same thing now as we are in the middle of a full re-wire.

                                Cheapest I have found so far is an ABB unit, which is not very cheap at all!

                                Thanks,
                                Doug

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