Evohome and Combi Power usage

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  • dty
    Automated Home Ninja
    • Aug 2016
    • 489

    #16
    Originally posted by HenGus View Post
    Out-of-interest, is Loop still trading?
    I regularly wonder this too! Their website is still working. I check my usage daily.

    But... I've also written a script to download my data hourly (and push it into InfluxDB), partly so I can view that data alongside other data, and partly so I don't lose it if they do disappear.

    Comment

    • StuartP
      Moderator
      • Feb 2004
      • 81

      #17
      Here lies one of the best kept secrets about smappee. You don't need the solar model to monitor your solar PV generation, as long as you're a single phase household.

      For anyone interested here are the details



      If you're quick you can grab a new on for <£100

      Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Smappee Home Energy Monitor 3 Comfort Plugs and Remote Control ( ) at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products!
      Last edited by StuartP; 10 October 2017, 08:16 AM.

      Comment

      • dty
        Automated Home Ninja
        • Aug 2016
        • 489

        #18
        How exactly does Smappee differentiate which appliances are using electricity?

        Comment

        • HenGus
          Automated Home Legend
          • May 2014
          • 1001

          #19
          Originally posted by dty View Post
          How exactly does Smappee differentiate which appliances are using electricity?
          For simpletons like me, the response that I go back from Smappee when I asked the question is 'that it listens". The more technical answer is that is has None Intrusive Load Monitoring (NILM):

          Comment

          • dty
            Automated Home Ninja
            • Aug 2016
            • 489

            #20
            Of course, I probably should have looked for that myself!

            I'm... unconvinced. Some of the drawbacks they acknowledge seem like show-stoppers to me. Inability to detect "quiet" users - like all my LED lights, and probably my Evohome, and my Raspberry Pis, and many of the things that are "always on". The inability to detect by "always on" things. The inability to distinguish between the fridge and the freezer; or the central heating pump, the shower pump and the pond pump; or the dish washer and the washing machine.

            I think I'll let this one mature for a bit... at least until Loop goes out of business.

            On which point... I'm slightly suspicious that they've already gone and the only reason it's still all working is that someone paid for some up-front AWS servers and forgot to turn them off!

            Comment

            • HenGus
              Automated Home Legend
              • May 2014
              • 1001

              #21
              I have also looked at NorthQ as they do a nice gas monitor (similar to Loop and Smappee) but then I wondered why I was thinking about spending £00s to save a few pence. I went for the cheaper solution of a TPLink that I just move around the house. It has encouraged me to reduce my overnight background consumption by turning things off.

              Comment

              • paulockenden
                Automated Home Legend
                • Apr 2015
                • 1719

                #22
                Originally posted by dty View Post
                Inability to detect "quiet" users - like all my LED lights
                If you're trying to use it as an automation trigger then yes, that's important. But if you're just trying to understand why the electricity bill is so high those minimal loads really aren't that important.

                Smappee actually lumps all of the little PSUs etc. together into a single 'always on' load, but it does provide help to try to reduce that.

                P.

                Comment

                • dty
                  Automated Home Ninja
                  • Aug 2016
                  • 489

                  #23
                  Originally posted by paulockenden View Post
                  But if you're just trying to understand why the electricity bill is so high those minimal loads really aren't that important.
                  At 6,500kWh/yr, our electricity usage is higher than average, but I can understand why and accept that.

                  At 65,000kWh/yr, it's our gas usage that I really need to be focusing on! :O

                  Comment

                  • paulockenden
                    Automated Home Legend
                    • Apr 2015
                    • 1719

                    #24
                    That does seem excessive!

                    16,800 kWh/year on gas here. 1950s 4 bed detached, plus big extension.

                    65MWh is mind boggling. Do you smelt metals or something? ;-)

                    Comment

                    • Edinburgh2000
                      Automated Home Guru
                      • Dec 2016
                      • 134

                      #25
                      Originally posted by dty View Post
                      On [Loop]... I'm slightly suspicious that they've already gone and the only reason it's still all working is that someone paid for some up-front AWS servers and forgot to turn them off!
                      I bought a replacement Loop gas monitor last week (from B&Q) and I contacted a nice helpful lady through Loop's help desk to get the new device MAC registered. It all seemed to be in business.

                      Comment

                      • StuartP
                        Moderator
                        • Feb 2004
                        • 81

                        #26
                        I think it's safe to say smappee is pretty mature. But if you're going to make decisions based on device status then smappee isn't the way to do it, in fact whole house monitoring isn't the way at all, you need to work at the device level. A simple network (Zwave, zigbee, Wifi) enabled plug with decent power monitoring should be all you need.

                        Comment

                        • paulockenden
                          Automated Home Legend
                          • Apr 2015
                          • 1719

                          #27
                          Smappee's V2 device monitoring is MUCH better than the original (you can toggle between the two). It's clever how it goes beyond pure wattage, looking at things like power factor and duty cycle too.

                          But as you say, it'll never be 100%.

                          P.

                          Comment

                          • HenGus
                            Automated Home Legend
                            • May 2014
                            • 1001

                            #28
                            Originally posted by paulockenden View Post
                            Smappee's V2 device monitoring is MUCH better than the original (you can toggle between the two). It's clever how it goes beyond pure wattage, looking at things like power factor and duty cycle too.

                            But as you say, it'll never be 100%.

                            P.
                            Is the EBay offer for v1 or v2? Smappee’s website shows a retail price of £199.

                            Comment

                            • paulockenden
                              Automated Home Legend
                              • Apr 2015
                              • 1719

                              #29
                              It's a firmware update.

                              P.

                              Comment

                              • G4RHL
                                Automated Home Legend
                                • Jan 2015
                                • 1580

                                #30
                                Originally posted by DBMandrake View Post
                                Their website is certainly still working as I log in to check my usage at least once a week!

                                Wonder whats going on with the shop...
                                It seems that the Loop electricity monitor is not available anywhere but the gas one is. The gas one is no good without the other. I did have Loop but was not impressed, the gas sensor seemed to give dubious readings from time to time and often I was loosing connection to the main site. I gave up on it.

                                Smappee looks interesting. It seems in my case I would need to add a power socket alongside my consumer unit in my hall and wire the Smappee unit sensor into the consumer unit, if there is room inside. My meter is outside and there is no way of providing power to the Smappee unit there.

                                Comment

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