energy monitor

hinchie

Have got quotes for pv installation and am now considering whether to get a wireless monitor.Thought I might save some money by buying my own.Can anyone recommend one , am not going to be into spreadsheets or anything like that.The inverter will probably sited in the loft.
ta in advance.

darkeeboy_2

You are better off buying with the installation as it only incurs 5% VAT rather than 20% if buying separately. I have a Geo Solo II PV and its great

tunnel

darkeeboy wrote: »

You are better off buying with the installation as it only incurs 5% VAT rather than 20% if buying separately. I have a Geo Solo II PV and its great

That is a good idea apart from when the installer charges much more for the monitor than it would cost to buy yourself(inc 20% vat)....and yes there are unscrupulous installers out there that will screw you every way they can.


To the OP, have a look at a Wattson solar plus, it glows different colours as to when its ok to switch high energy items on..ie, green to go and red switch off, you can get online monitoring I believe with an energyhive, hop onto the renewables thread and speak to oscargrouch, legoman or theboylard, they all have them


Where your inverter is sited has really no relevance, most monitors work off power cables around your electric meter

hinchie

Thanks for that tunnel, the supplier has offered both the eco and the watson.the eco for £140 but havent got price for watson.Will see which he recommends with system I go with.Looking thru these forums the watson seems very popular.

tunnel

Can I ask what you've been quoted for your PV system and what kit they're offering?

hinchie

its cts renewables who you recommended to one member on this forum.its 4kw with either canadian solar, hyundai or solar world panels and either aurora or sunnyboy inverter and quotes are under 6k.Its a split array.I thought that the monitor seemed expensive.

legoman62

hinchie wrote: »

Thanks for that tunnel, the supplier has offered both the eco and the watson.the eco for £140 but havent got price for watson.Will see which he recommends with system I go with.Looking thru these forums the watson seems very popular.

My energyhive cost me £29.99.

I'd guess £140.00 would cover them both with the lower rate of VAT;)

hinchie

a new one to add to list to look at and cheap!

theboylard

The energyhive hub works in tandem with the Wattson- you can have Wattson without the online energyhive hub, but the hub on its own will not measure anything.

tunnel

hinchie wrote: »

its cts renewables who you recommended to one member on this forum.its 4kw with either canadian solar, hyundai or solar world panels and either aurora or sunnyboy inverter and quotes are under 6k.Its a split array.I thought that the monitor seemed expensive.

They did an install for my parents which is an E/W split, came in at £5700 if I remember correctly with a Wattson and an optiplug thrown in. They actually did the wattson at cost as I was getting one at the same time(didn't work for my multiple system setup) so don't think they're trying to rip you off.


Would've been nice to be told about it, they offer a referral scheme and in the vein of money saving.......oh well

theboylard

I've written this one already but the reply got lost the ether, poxy train connections!

The Wattson can be used on its own, but if you want the funky online stats then you'll need the energy hive hub. The hub on its own doesn't do much of anything!

If you go the hub route, there are 2 options: Wattson or client cost.
The Wattson option is obvious, but if you have a client cost energy meter (eon and some other energy companies gave them away, or you can buy them on flea bay) then are good to go.
The Wattson is prettier, you'll likely need the solar plus version. They retail around the £120 mark.