|
11-20-13, 10:57 PM | #1 |
Supreme EcoRenovator
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Vancouver Island,Canada.
Posts: 1,037
Thanks: 116
Thanked 100 Times in 87 Posts
|
wireless kill-a-watt meter reading - hack
I happened upon a indestructible that will give "the kill a watt meter" the ability to send its energy usage information to a computer.
Tweet-a-watt - How to make a twittering power meter... Tweet-a-watt - How to make a twittering power meter... from site: This project documents my adventures in learning how to wire up my home for wireless power monitoring. I live in a rented apartment so I don't have hacking-access to a meter or breaker panel. Since I'm still very interested in measuring my power usage on a long term basis, I built wireless outlet reporters. Building your own power monitor isn't too tough and can save money but I'm not a fan of sticking my fingers into 120V power. Instead, I'll used the existing Kill-a-watt power monitor, which works great and is available at my local hardware store. My plan is to have each room connected to a 6-outlet power strip which powers all the devices in that room (each kill-a-watt can measure up to 15A, or about 1800W, which is plenty!). That way I can track room-by-room usage, for example "kitchen", "bedroom", "workbench", and "office". Each wireless outlet/receiver can be built for ~$55 with a few easily-available electronic parts and light soldering, no microcontroller programming or high voltage engineering is necessary! You can see my setup including graphs and reports at http://twitter.com/tweetawatt If you'd like to build one for yourself 1. Buy a kit: get all the parts you need, there's a starter kit at the adafruit webshop 2. Make: turn each Kill-a-Watt into a wireless power level transmitter 3. Software: Download & run it on your computer to get data and save it to a file and/or publish it If you want to know how it was made, check out: 1. Listen: write simple software for my computer (or Arduino, etc) to listen for signal and compute the current power usage 2. Store: Create a database backend that will store the power usage for long-term analysis at http://wattcher.appspot.com 3. View: Graph and understand trends in power usage Check out the latest readings at http://wattcher.appspot.com |
11-21-13, 08:17 AM | #2 |
Administrator
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Germantown, WI
Posts: 5,525
Thanks: 1,162
Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts
|
That sounds pretty cool. I think I've seen it before... Ah here we are, we blogged about it a few years ago: Wattcher: The Twittering Kill-a-Watt Energy Monitor | EcoRenovator.org
However, P3 does have a wireless kill a watt setup now. I think its a pretty new product. There is one receiver unit, and it can monitor up to 8 sensors. However, I think a web interface would be a lot better than a small LCD display. Anyway, here is the link to their product. It looks like the display plus one sensor is $63, but each sensor is only $35. P3 - Kill A Watt Wireless
__________________
Current project - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. & To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. |
11-21-13, 11:54 AM | #3 |
Supreme EcoRenovator
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 1,154
Thanks: 14
Thanked 257 Times in 241 Posts
|
From what I can see, that wireless hack adds its own ADC and microcontroller, in which case you might as well just make an AFE from scratch. That wireless one is interesting, maybe it's possible to make a homemade receiver for it?
__________________
To my surprise, shortly after Naomi Wu gave me a bit of fame for making good use of solar power, Allie Moore got really jealous of her... |
11-21-13, 04:25 PM | #4 |
Less usage=Cheaper bills
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Posts: 940
Thanks: 41
Thanked 117 Times in 91 Posts
|
That Kill-a-watt wireless system looks very slick. That would make it much easier for me when running my manual defrosts to know when the thermostat on the defrost has kicked off rather than moving the fridge forward every time and shine a flashlight at it to see the readout
|
11-21-13, 04:48 PM | #5 |
Apprentice EcoRenovator
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Moore Oklahoma
Posts: 267
Thanks: 108
Thanked 23 Times in 21 Posts
|
I already have a whole house power meter but this would be usefule for monitoring each device. Any hacks for a 240v version to monitor total power used by AC condenser?
|
08-24-14, 10:10 AM | #6 | |
Banned
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: US
Posts: 150
Thanks: 7
Thanked 5 Times in 5 Posts
|
Quote:
KAW is down to the bare essentials. It is susceptible to lock ups and rebooting from normal impulses from relays operating, so this might cause difficulties for you. After all, it is CHINA made and most likely the design was "re-inspired" there as well. |
|
11-21-13, 05:34 PM | #7 |
Supreme EcoRenovator
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 1,154
Thanks: 14
Thanked 257 Times in 241 Posts
|
Another wireless power monitor:
AnandTech | Ubiquiti Networks mFi mPower Wi-Fi Power Strip Review
__________________
To my surprise, shortly after Naomi Wu gave me a bit of fame for making good use of solar power, Allie Moore got really jealous of her... |
11-22-13, 03:54 PM | #8 |
Administrator
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Germantown, WI
Posts: 5,525
Thanks: 1,162
Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts
|
Belkin also has this wired power monitor.
Amazon.com: Belkin Conserve Insight Energy-Use Monitor: Electronics
__________________
Current project - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. & To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. |
11-23-13, 05:54 PM | #9 |
Helper EcoRenovator
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: South-East MI
Posts: 58
Thanks: 1
Thanked 6 Times in 4 Posts
|
I am amazed at all the cool things that people come up with. I have a kill-a-watt meter that i use from time to time. a whole house monitor would be pretty need to have
__________________
Jack of all trades, master of none. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. |
|
|