EcoRenovator  

Go Back   EcoRenovator > Improvements > Conservation
Advanced Search
 


Blog 60+ Home Energy Saving Tips Recent Posts Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 04-23-13, 08:59 PM   #1
scottorious
Helper EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: bloomington IL
Posts: 45
Thanks: 0
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
Default instant (kind of) whole house power display

So I have recently fallen in love with micro controllers, especially picaxe and I have built a device that counts the infrared pulses from my digital meter and does a calculation and then displays that result every 15 seconds. Each pulse from the meter is supposedly supposed to tell me that I used one watt hour so. I am working on making it wireless to be more convenient but thus far its pretty slick. I just figured out a way to data log onto my computer also so I can graph a days worth of data to see if I can figure out where I can cut. If anyone is interested I can go into more detail or share the circuit and coding for all of it.

scottorious is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-24-13, 12:26 AM   #2
ELGo
Helper EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Albuquerque
Posts: 66
Thanks: 4
Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by scottorious View Post
So I have recently fallen in love with micro controllers, especially picaxe and I have built a device that counts the infrared pulses from my digital meter and does a calculation and then displays that result every 15 seconds. Each pulse from the meter is supposedly supposed to tell me that I used one watt hour so. I am working on making it wireless to be more convenient but thus far its pretty slick. I just figured out a way to data log onto my computer also so I can graph a days worth of data to see if I can figure out where I can cut. If anyone is interested I can go into more detail or share the circuit and coding for all of it.
Lucky you -- I wish I had some ability with electronics.

If I am understanding you correctly, your calculation for watts will be
3600*pulses/15.
That leaves quite a range for error. You might be better off counting pulses for say two minutes at a time.
ELGo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-24-13, 07:02 AM   #3
scottorious
Helper EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: bloomington IL
Posts: 45
Thanks: 0
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
Default

the equation I'm using is pulses*240 which is the same result as your equation. seems like it hasn't missed a pulse yet I have stood next to it with my video camera and night shot to make sure it does not miss one. I have thought about going out to two minutes or even five.
scottorious is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-24-13, 07:09 AM   #4
MN Renovator
Less usage=Cheaper bills
 
MN Renovator's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Posts: 939
Thanks: 41
Thanked 116 Times in 90 Posts
Default

This same principle is used by devices such as the Black and Decker power monitor. I used to use one and it would update every 30 seconds to a minute depending on its mood and would display 300 watts minimum(often rounding up or bouncing between 300 and 0 with each update) but the kwh count remained accurate to the meter. My meter is a dial instead of a digital but the device handles both.

Just in case you need any ideas, you could look at that to see what features you might want.

MN Renovator is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 05:16 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Ad Management by RedTyger
Inactive Reminders By Icora Web Design