Energy monitor

topyam

Can anyone advise a good quality monitor to monitor electricity usage that is a good price?

Cardew

Do you mean to monitor individual appliances, or the overall house consumption?

Aldi and Lidl sell the former from time to time for about £7 - £8

They really are all much the same - the 'internals' are Chinese. Some put them in a Green coloured case and charge five times as much because they are 'Eco friendly'!

The household consumption meters are all useless at very low consumption - but OK above that. Although frankly they should only be used for indications of consumption - you have a very accurate 'monitor' - the one that determines your bill!

topyam

Overall usage

jimjames

We got one given to us with our solar panels that gives overall consumption but only shows to 10W as minimum power; I guess below that isn't very relevant for daily consumption anyway.

The main problems with this one are that:

1) it doesn't show the direction of the current so when we are generating to the grid it shows the same value as if we are using that amount of electricity

2) It is standalone. I would really like to have a device that records over time and can download to a PC so you can see the consumption patterns during the day.

Any ideas if either of these are possible at a reasonable price?

Martyn1981

Jim, coincidentally mentioned this on another thread recently.

Don't know if this will work for you but I got a current cost ENViR monitor, actually bought it off e-bay, as loads of people are selling the free Eon models they've been given. Should be able to get one inc del for about £15 to £20 just don't rush.

Look at CC's site to get a visual idea of what an ENVi and an ENViR look like, don't buy the wrong one as it's the R model that comes with comp disc etc.

Then bought a CC Optismart (sorry if this sounds like an advert for them, it isn't honest). The Opti has a light sensor that sits over the flashing red led on the TGM meter. CC's web-site has a list of compatible meters.

You can tune the ENViR to the Opti, and not bother with the cable clamp. After I bought my Opti they put a warning about PV use on their site, but when I checked it refers to using it on the import meter. When exporting the RED warning and light stays on (reverse energy detection to alert meter reader in case something dodgy). The constant red light confuses the Opti, so don't get one for that meter.

ENViR now has dead accurate readout, matching TGM exactly.

Does any of this make sense?

Martyn.

topyam

Bit too technical for me

jimjames

Thanks Martyn, I'll have a look at that

jimjames

Good news! I'm an Eon customer, just checked their website and they provide it for free. Could be up to 90 days delay for delivery due to the demand but if its free I can wait.

Cheers for the advice Martyn, that's saved me a few quid already!