Whole house Watt meter
 

I was wanting a Watt meter to measure appliance and entertainment watt consumption and costs of my home when i happened upon Blue Line power usage/cost monitor bli-28000 and bought it (1/2 price)

I decided on this type of device over the plug in type power meters was because my house was recently equipped with a Smart meter with its inability to show current use or a way to check its accuracy. This watt meter will allow me to check the use of individual appliances or items, by pressing the appliance mod button and turning the appliance or power bar on.

http://www.bluelineinnovations.com/S.../How-It-Works/


To test the Smart meters accuracy i will flip off my main house breaker and check if the meter still shows usage, I can run a know wattage appliances like a toaster or tv and verify the meter is not over charging.
The smart meter is going to finally get smart :)

Here's a link to a video of the unit for a explanation and a size reference as the above photo was not very accurate.
Blue Line Innovations: Customer Service > Time of Use Structures

There are other energy measuring devices you can read up on. Check out these two threads:
Got a TED 5000
Using home energy montior

You might also be able to have smart meter installed, ask your local utility.

The smart meter has been already installed, it is a dumb meter, until i add this whole house power cost meter.
As it is now the smart meter on the house only displays the total kwh used,pretty stupid for a smart meter, there is no way to tell if the meter is moving or not short of standing outside and waiting until 1 kwh has passed,.
This gizmo is the other half to the smart meter,the half that allows the meter to be smart.
In Britain, I understand, they give this type of meter add on to the homeowner when they install the smart meter.

A while back, I was able to check out the accuracy of my meter by using the Watt-hour Dot Display
on the LCD http://ecorenovator.org/forum/conser...-yourself.html
by plugging in a space heater (and nothing else), then measuring the line voltage,
and line current with a clamp-on amp meter.

http://www.griffmonster.com/miscella...tric_meter.gif
(Watch those little bars in the lower right corner of the LCD, in this .GIF pic)..

The watts displayed on the meter, matched my volt meter x clamp-on amp meter almost exactly.

I used those little bars to calibrate the Whole-House power monitor that I was using to monitor my heating system (not the whole house).

Many new meters have those little flashing bars, but most folks have no idea what they mean..

My smart meter is model C2S and it gives no indications of current power use. My actual meter is below.
It is pre-loaded with unactivated hardware needed to send wireless signals to a display or my computer reporting actual current usage and more.

Three Antennas Inside a Smart Meter


Two separate transmitters are contained in smart meters. The wireless mesh network can be referred to as an RF LAN (radio frequency local area network).

The RF LAN operates in the 902-928 MHz license free band using spread spectrum transmitting technology. A second, separate transmitter that operates in the 2.4 GHz frequency range (2405
MHz to 2483 MHz) uses direct sequence spread spectrum technology that is referred to as a Zigbeeradio.
This Second transmitter is included for use with Home Area Networks (HANs) allowing customers, for
example, to control certain electric appliances or systems within the home. When fully implemented, the
customers will be able to connect wirelessly with the HAN radio and set times at which various appliances
and/or electrical systems may operate, thereby taking advantage of those times during which electricity rates are lowest.

The RF LAN provides data communications among the various end-point meters and an associated cell relay meter.

Cell relays are end-point meters that contain yet a THIRD Transceiver that is designed for wireless connection to the cellular WWAN, i.e., relaying of the data received from the various end-point meters over a private connection to the electric utility company.

The transceivers use the same frequency bands used by cell phones.

Two different frequency bands are used by these cell-relay transceivers, either the 850 MHz band or the 1900 MHz band.

My meager understanding of smart meters (in the USA)was the power usage data was
periodically being sent to the power co.
To see your pwr use in semi-real-time, you have to log on to the power co website.

It sounds like your smart meter is really equipped with tons-o-radios.. :D
I've looked into trying to capture the radio signal of my meter, and folks say
the signal is very hard to hear (moving frequency) and it's encrypted!

It's cool that you can read out your meter on your PC without spending
a lot of money on special hardware.

It seems like there has been some bugs in your system up there..
Spiked Hydro Bills Put Smart Meters Under Gun - YouTube

I guess you will have to track your own usage, if you plan to fight extra
high charges for power you didn't use..

But, hanging an optical (or other) sensor on a Smart Meter that might be pretty dumb,
may not be the best way to get accurate data..
The data might already be corrupt, before it's sent to BC Hydro..?.

A stand-alone unit might be better to find out if your Smart meter starts going nuts.
I used this one, (Which broke on me)! :(
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...r/NCL/F160.jpg
Before going to the TED.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...r/NCL/z002.jpg

(These were used to measure my HVAC costs).

Quote: Xringer
I guess you will have to track your own usage, if you plan to fight extra
high charges for power you didn't use..

But, hanging an optical (or other) sensor on a Smart Meter that might be pretty dumb,
may not be the best way to get accurate data..
The data might already be corrupt, before it's sent to BC Hydro..?.

A stand-alone unit might be better to find out if your Smart meter starts going nuts.
I used this one, (Which broke on me)!
~~end quote~~
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I do indeed want to have a TED to measure actual output as compared to the meters readings.
The way i will use the bli-2800 to test for accuracy is to add a know load and watch for the meters reading to compare changes.

Then to test my house by flipping the main breaker off and read the meter for consumption, some of the inaccurate meters have been know to show a constant energy use despite no power being used.

If i had the TED i could test the output of the smart meters display to the teds usage display.

Not much different from me using the bli-2800 to measure meter energy use compared to know wattage's of the appliance/ device.
The power cost meter i bought, the bli-2800 has a accuracy of 1% the TED has a accuracy of 2%,Although the bli-2800 display is in .1 kw resolution (100w) the 1001 TED is in 10w resolution and the ted 5000 has a 1w resolution.

And yes we here in Canada not just B.C have been having accuracy issues with the new Smart meters pacifically the meters reading is high in favor of the electric company.

I have been learning of the TED's from this site first the internet after.
Thanks everyone!

"If i had the TED i could test the output of the smart meters display to the teds usage display.

Not much different from me using the bli-2800 to measure meter energy use compared to know wattage's of the appliance/ device. "

The problem is, you can't depend on the 'known wattage' of a device, it it will change
with any change in line voltage, and is never exactly the wattage stated on the device label.


Has recent history of the Hydro Smart meters shown they are accurate?
If not, would the IR signal out of those meters be accurate?



The TED doesn't depend on your home's electric meter to feed it signals.
A TED uses it's own current probes to measure current and a volt meter to measure voltage.
From those two parameters, it will calculate and display your watts being used in real-time,
and records the kWh used for each day and billing cycle. (Up to 1 year of history IIRC).
http://www.theenergydetective.com/me...m/t/mtu_ct.jpg

To test i can switch of all breakers except for one which will not have any power used, with that circuit i'll plug in a 120v 1500w baseboard heater which i have but don't use, and read the meter for usage, it should not be over the rated wattage, the volt x amp = watt with no heat losses.

Testing my smart meter is only a part of my use for it, i want to see my whole house power usage in real time and basic facts like hot water tank heat times durations and just how much power my electric heaters are using and costing to operate at that moment. Just that benefit is reason enough but it is also as i stated the other half to the smart meter,the smart half:).


I will be purchasing at some point a plug in the wall, watt meter for its higher resolution of individual items like fridge etc..
the wall watt meter would be the cheapest at this point..:eek:

smart meters should read higher then the old meters for exactly the same usage. The old meters never overcame inertia on getting that disk spinning for short duration spikes when motors and the such start up. The new meters will record that. They are flat out more accurate.

I got my smart meter 10 months ago. My power usage is down 17.1% in the last 12 months from the previous year but my bill is only down 12%. Everyone got hit by increased fees and kwh costs at the same time that the meters came out and started screaming about them reading higher.

On my meter which should be identical to your's ecomodded (I'm in nanaimo we all get the same meters I believe) the flashing bars are in the left hand side under the 01 when the KWH used is displayed. I've never looked into how to read them to know what they mean though.

BC hydro is supposed to be getting the smart meters online "soon" I know one of the guys working in the GIS department working on the algorithms that figure out where to install the receiving component that will then send the data back to the servers. After that is in the data should be available online shortly after. My understanding is the data will only be sent a few times a day, probably 4. So you won't get anything near as cool as a real time monitor's info.

They are also supposed to be offering whole house monitors similar to this device in the near future. I asked and was told there will be a charge so no idea if it's better to buy one yourself or wait and get it from them.




Even though I currently read my meter manually daily I'm still seriously thinking about getting something to read the meter in real time. I don't want a standalone interface like the device you linked though. I want computer/internet tied similar to a TED. The only issue is my house has a sub panel that my computer room is powered from. TED may or may not work sending data that way. Their support said it depended on a lot of things but try and return the device if it didn't. The blueline device seems to have an addon to give me the same capability but I haven't dug through the website to figure out what is what and pricing.

<edit> I found the write up on amazon.com better then the web page for getting info. It looks promising although the windows only concerns me a bit. I'm assuming that's just for the setup/config of the wireless part. I'm also hoping the data can be dumped and isn't locked into their partner programs. $150 for both components is not bad pricing. more search to do though </edit>

Odd my Smart meter has no such bars under the 01.
I am concerned over usage because i have been conserving energy like mad the last 5-6 months and my kwh usage has not changed in my favor from last years readings with the previous wheel meter.
I did not use air conditioning this year despite it being a hot summer, i used a $20 box fan in the attic hatch instead, it uses 50 watts my air conditioner uses 500 watts.
Also i turned my hot water tank to a usable temperature with out the need of adding cold water. The only change is my bill saying i have used more energy not less than last year. I stopped using my power hungry 4 core video card filled desktop pc in favor of my 2 core laptop hooked up to the same 40" lcd monitor.
So far my bills have showed a slightly higher kwh with my conservation efforts.
Bull-dung ! i say haha.
Styder i recommend you check ebay.ca out for watt meters, i bought mine there for $50 delivered, with signature at the door.

Here's my new point-of-use meter.. Ensupra Electric Gen. Monitor-Display & Record Power-Solar,Wind,Inverter;1d SHIP | eBay

http://ecorenovator.org/forum/applia...itor-20-a.html

Seems like a pretty good unit for 20 bucks..

The bars aren't constant. I only see mine sometimes. I'm also using less then 1 kwh/hour for the last few months so maybe they have to do with consumption. I'll see if I can get a picture when I read the meter today in a few hours.

If you check the supported meters link here
http://www.bluelineinnovations.com/i...d%20Meters.pdf
you'll see a C2S which is what I have. part way down. It has a picture of the bars. Just checking mine I only have a small arrow point to the right at the moment.


you should put together a spreadsheet of your usage then start a thread similar to mine and doax's
http://ecorenovator.org/forum/conser...-tracking.html

http://ecorenovator.org/forum/conser...-tracking.html

put up some details about your house and we can see if anything jumps out. I love looking at those things.

At some point i will do a energy history to present thread as my electrical consumption has been dropping ever so slightly over the years. About 5 years ago i put in double pane windows in all but the kitchen (small window) and both bathrooms(small windows).
I replaced three 5ft x 4 ft windows and three 5 ft by 2 ft windows. I use the equal payment plan for the electric use @ $98 a month for a two story house 1900 sq ft electric water and heat.
My daily kwh has been dropping every year for the last 7 years enough to absorb all kwh price increases and service fees increases in that last 7 years of use.
I know my power usage well which is why i am amiss at my new tactacs not having an effect with the Smart meters reading. I will get to the bottom of this or should i say the truth of the matter.

"If you check the supported meters link here
Power Cost Monitor | Electricity Usage
you'll see a C2S which is what I have. part way down. It has a picture of the bars. Just checking mine I only have a small arrow point to the right at the moment."

Just a warning about that type of meter, I have the Black and Decker Power Monitor and it looks to be a rebranded version of that. It would chew through 2 AA's per month and at the end of the battery life, the display is supposed to say the battery is low but going through 1 exterior and 1 interior wall, the battery doesn't get low enough to say it's low and it loses signal about 25 feet away. If it's like mine, it doesn't register below 300 watts, so if you are using 100 watts, it might show 300 watts or zero depending on its mood. It also takes a minute to update since it is 'counting' the meter to give you values. The unit was about $50 but I've been disappointed as this device has been a hassle. When it was working normally, it had about 85% accuracy and read low during my heaviest energy usage months. Mine completely stopped pulling a signal from the outdoor unit last month and I tried getting support but got the run around of 'follow the instructions and call back', when I followed the instructions for resyncronizing it and changing the batteries before I called B&D to support the product and they wouldn't listen to me when I tried to tell them all the steps I ran through.

I can't recommend this type of device. A TED or something else with hall effect sensors would be better. I think I'm staying away from this sort of thing until I'm installing a solar PV system as everything else that works better is very expensive.

That is unacceptable MNRenovator, a refund is in order, or has the warranty expired, as electronics often do that.
I think you got a faulty power meter, some cheap electronics have a 17- 20% failure rate,its a crap shoot at best.
A quick look at the specs and we can see my recently purchased power cost meter is a upgraded model with better resolution and enhanced distance.
As well as new softer rubber gaskets i have read..

Your model -

Make & Model
Manufacturer: Black & Decker
Model: EM100B
Color: Silver and Black
Power: AA Alkaline Batteries (4), AA Alkaline Batteries (2) & AA Lithium Batteries (2), LR6 (4), or equivalent (not included)
Certification: FCC

Wireless Communication
Frequency: 433.92 MHz
Update Rate: Approx. every 30 seconds
Range: Up to 60 feet (20 meters) through a single external wall

Operating Temperature Range
Display: 50° F to 113° F (10° C to 45° C) (for indoor use only)
Sensor: -40° F to 140° F (-40° C to 60° C)

Performance
Minimum Power Measurement: 300W
Power Resolution: 100W
Cumulative Energy Measurement Error: < 2% for electromechanical meter; < 0.2% for electronic meter

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My model

PowerCost Monitor: bli-28000
Packaged Unit Weight: 1.7 lbs (.75kg)
Width: 8.3 in (21.1 cm)
Height: 8.5 in (21.6 cm)
Depth: 4 in (10.2 cm)
Power Requirements:
Sensor:
Standard: 2 Alkaline AA 1.5 Volt (LR6 type) batteries (included)
Extreme cold weather: 2 Lithium AA 1.5 Volt (L91 Type) batteries
Display: 2 Alkaline AA 1.5 Volt (LR6 type) batteries (included)
Communication Range:
Frequency: 433 MHz
Range: Approximately 100 feet (30 m). Subtract 15 feet (5 m) for each wall between sensor and monitor
Updates from sensor to display unit: every 30 seconds

Appliance mode button: set to calculate new load

Operating Temperature:
Display Unit: 10° C to 45° C (50° F to 113° F)
Sensor Unit: -40° C to 60° C (-40° F to 140° F)

Warranty:
One year material defects or workmanship.
Accuracy:
±1% at meter
0.1% for electronic meter
Resolution: 100w
Minimum Power Measurement: ( i do not know yet,its in the mail)
Meter Compatibility:
Compatible with most traditional electromechanical disc and smart meters

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I wish my meter had a higher resolution .1 kw or 100w resolution is not going to provide with the precision i want, for that i will buy a wall socket power meter.
The bli-28000 will provide a accurate reading of my whole house current use which i cannot currently read with my smart meter.

I might give it a go with B&D to see if they will make good on their warranty but I was never really a fan of their products but it was the only one with a price that enticed me to buy it and there was someone on a different forum who used it and has decent things to say about it but then when I inquired with him about it, turns out he uses the same amount of electricity of double his lowest usage calendar month as I do in a year(1900kwh/trailing 12 months for me). So he has rave reviews as he found the gobs of energy he was saving when he started to use it. I feel that the work that it could do for me, it has already done. I have a good idea of my energy usage and how my appliances, as a whole, including 240v appliances my kill-a-watt can't touch like my clothes dryer and A/C use in operation. Turns out my electric clothes dryer costs less energy $$ than I thought, I've abandoned the thought of replacing it with a gas one since the one I have works well. Also even though my A/C is rated 8.5 SEER, in my usage pattern with an overnight dew point control method and the shaded pole motor replaced with an efficient PSC one, its often running at nearly 12 EER in cool weather and around 10 EER when its hot. My thoughts of replacing that are gone now too.

Oddly enough, the energy this has saved is probably going to break even with the energy I'm using with slightly less efficient appliances but I now use the appliances more efficiently, especially the A/C. I now get to keep the appliance money for when something actually breaks. Probably will wait until I'm looking at a TED or something similar to track the cumulative in/out of the house when I add solar electric. Looking at the Enphase data though, I might just skip that and take my bill compare it to PV output.

Yesterday morning I found a TED 5000-C at radioworld.ca with 1 set of sensors and the remote display for $200. SHould be here in a few days. My only concern is using the powerlines to send the data to the gateway. Apparently interference and questionable stability takes place in some homes. I can probably work around it but it's a dumb idea in my mind. Just go wireless or give me the option of plugging an ethernet cable in and figureing out how to run it. I still prefer this setup to the Battery powered meter outside though. I'd hate to lose data over dead batteries.

Also the 100Watt resolution of the 28000 is pretty high for me. Only my large appliances would show up on that. The 5000 should have a resolution of a few watts.

Hopefully it arrives by tomorrow. More likely early next week though.

I haven't had problems with noise and my TED 5000. I do try to plug the logging unit into a circuit that isn't being used though. By doing this the meter seems very accurate.

I came across a P4460 Kill-A-Watt EZ , $33 , I couldn't resist and bought it, the accuracy is 0.2% , 1875 w.

Well i have found some different accurate information on the Kill a watt ez's accuracy.
Its 0.5 to 2% accurate.
The 0.2% i read in multiple advertising's was for voltage

RMS voltage: 0.2% - 1% max
RMS current: 0.3% - 1% max
Active power watts: 0.5% - 2% max
Power quantity kwh: 0.5% - 2% max

The ez meter will take up the slack from the whole house meter with its low 100 watt resolution.
I have a snake pit of cables & wires behind the tv, plugged into two power bars for my computer, modem , tv and stereo & sub that is going to be the first thing i test for vampire power losses.
Having a light switch wired into the wall power outlet would be a big help. What to do unplug it every night ?
Hopefully not, and hopefully my remote control on/off switch for Christmas lights will suffice at stopping all but its own drain..

last fall I won one of these
Bits Limited - Going Green Made Easy. Home of the Smart Strip.
from this site.

I have my TV set as the control outlet since it's only a couple of watts when powered off. my PS3 and other crap is plugged into it as well controlled by the TV. Works great but isn't the same as 100% off.

If you're the only user of the computer network I'd go with one on it with the main computer being the control. Due to multiple wireless devices in the house my router, modem, printer all stay up 24/7. printer at least goes to sleep.

for my coffee maker I have something like this that I found locally for 1/2 this price
http://www.amazon.com/GE-52149-Handy...ds=plug+switch

Turn it on press start on the coffee maker. 12 minutes later the coffee maker is done and I turn it off, no constant current keeping the clock set.

Not too long ago I started a thread on electricity saving devices:

http://ecorenovator.org/forum/conser...g-devices.html

There are quite a few products out there. Like strider, I use a smart power strip for my computer setup. It saves me a ~10-12W constant phantom power draw. For my TV setup I have nothing as its a pretty minimal setup with just a LED TV that has a fraction of a W phantom load and a PS3 which draws maybe ~1W when off.


Thanks for reminding me about the fall giveaway Strider. I gotta get get things together to have one for this fall. :)

My Smart Strip is still doing a great job on my PC station.. This new Core i5 sucks down some electrons,
So sleeping is good!!

I had no idea the PS3 only used 1 watt when off. I have one as well :) for the record with tiger woods golf and assorted driving games, haha :) still a kid at heart.

I like that wall socket switch, that would be good for my coffee grinder.

What residual power draw does the smart strip have ?

I just tested the PS3 to be sure and it doesn't even register 1W on my kill a watt. Also, it is the newer 'slim' model. My cousin tells me these are more power efficient.

I also looked up the specs on the power strip Strider posted. It says it uses .35W in standby plus whatever is plugged into the 'always hot' and 'control' plugs.

Just a question...

In appliances, If one has a label saying it has a power consumption of 180 watts for a fridge, does that mean the rating was taken with all options on and at full power (thermostat in maximum) ?

and if i turn the thermostat down to lets say from 4 all the way down to 1, would I get a power consumption of less than 180 watts as indicated in the label?

A fridge will use less power when it's cold in the room. In the summer time,
they normally use more.

Generally, you can't do much in the way of calculations using the rated watts,
since most appliances get turned off and on.. And a fridge thermostat is going be operating.

If you want usable data, you will need to monitor your fridge with a Kilo-A-Watt meter for a few days..
P3 International P4400 Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor - Amazon.com

I see, thanks for the info. I guess I really have to invest in gadgets to accurately measure my power consumption

I just noticed that it only works with 115 volt appliances...the ones we have here are 220-240 volts...sigh

If you just want to know what the 230 loads are using in real-time, so you can get a reference usage,
Turn off all your other loads, at the breaker box, turn on the load and make it run at it's normal power, then go outside and read the watt hours off your meter.

It's not too hard to read, if you have one of the more modern digital meters.
I've posted instructions here somewhere..
It's not just accurate, it's exactly what you will be charged for.. :)

Anyways, once you see that your dryer is using 4.3 kWh, you will then have
to get out your stop-watch on wash day..

Haha yes, the electricity provider installed digital poer meters to measure our consumption. Thanks for the tip.

And now I am using clotheslines to air dry our clothes :D

Been reading mine for a while..
http://ecorenovator.org/forum/conser...-yourself.html

As I said above,
"It's not just accurate, it's exactly what you will be charged for.."

So, if you need to know exactly what a load is costing you,
A. You will need to know how much power it uses. (turn off everything else).
B. What your total cost per kWh is. (total bill/total kWh used).
C. How long your load is running.

If you buy a TED or other whole-house-meter, you can use
your power co. meter to determine the TED's accuracy.
Most Whole-House units can be calibrated.