In my last post I listed a chart that showed a breakdown of my home's energy use, energy production from my photovoltaic system, and my utility meter from mid January of this year through yesterday. This chart was generated by my Powerhouse Dynamics Emonitor, which is cool little device that monitors all twenty-four electrical circuits in my home and beams that information over the internet to an API that tracks and trends a wealth of information.
Every electron flowing to an electronic device in my home is accounted for, which allows me to look deep inside the workings of my home and identify those appliances that will keep my kids out of expensive private colleges! The API rolls up the data to show me the big offenders, such as my air conditioner, as well as those phantom power sucking little guys like my TiVo.
With this data I am able to both drive my family crazy through frequent consumption lectures and, at the same time, identify where I can make changes to save cash. I can easily justify replacing old appliances based on cost or simply choose to unplug those energy wasters that are not in use. The eMonitor even has a report card and gives me tips on how to reduce my consumption.
The additional interesting capability of the eMonitor is that it can control other "smart" (Zigbee) devices in you home, such as a WiFi enabled thermostat like the one that I own (more on this later).
Probably the most amazing feature of the Powerhouse Dynamics eMonitor is the fact that I can monitor my home electric use through the internet no matter where I am (there's even an iPhone app). No more worrying about leaving a light or the oven on! As it will even text me alerts if something doesn't seem right. Since I can also control my thermostat with it, I can turn off my air conditioner (my largest electricity user) when I leave for a few days and turn it back on with my smartphone from the road on my return. I recently learned that WiFi enabled electrical outlets will be added to the eMonitor offering, which will allow me to be able to remotely control individual appliances.
The eMonitor can be purchased from Amazon.com and other retailers. I purchased mine from energycircle.com and prices vary depending on the number of circuits you would want to monitor and if you would also like to include power production (solar, wind, etc...). While it is a bit pricey you'll likely recoup your money in a few years time (or less) with the savings you'll be able to achieve once you have the energy use data in hand.
I chose the eMonitor due to the fact that is was the only circuit by circuit energy monitor on the market at the time (January 2011). There are others devices on the market that monitor a few circuits, such as the TED device that I've heard good things about, but to me, the extra information provided by the eMonitor saved me time in chasing down the energy wasters in my home, so there was some extra value there.
I was able to install the device myself, but I wouldn't recommend that job for just anyone. Placement of the sensors that connect from the hot wire on each electrical circuit to the eMonitor requires you to remove the cover and place your hands inside of your circuit breaker box. I did this with the power shut off (and locked out) at the main coming into my house, on a weekend with my wife and kids away.
Anyway, I wanted to mention that I learned about the eMonitor from the TWiT Green Tech Today netcast, which I've embedded below. I also wanted to mention that Jason Chen over at Lifehacker recently wrote a great review (much better than mine) that I would also recommend.
For those searching for a commercial solution, Powerhouse Dynamics now has a version of the emonitor for you as well.
Happy monitoring!
Every electron flowing to an electronic device in my home is accounted for, which allows me to look deep inside the workings of my home and identify those appliances that will keep my kids out of expensive private colleges! The API rolls up the data to show me the big offenders, such as my air conditioner, as well as those phantom power sucking little guys like my TiVo.
The eMonitor dashboard shows the amount of power I'm producing (none at the moment since the sun has already set), what I'm using, and how much energy I'm pulling from the electric utility. Also listed here is my carbon footprint, which in my case is zero due to our producing more energy than we consume.
You'll also notice the "Phantom Power" icon, which shows those devices that are drawing power nearly constantly. These could be items such as cable boxes, DVRs, old stereos or other appliances. As you can see, phantom power can cost you a significant amount of money over time. I've got some handy, simple and cheap fixes for this that I'll discuss in a future post.
The pie chart shows me where I'm using energy on a 30-day rollup basis, where I stand as far as cost for the month, and what the top four energy offenders are (Bad air conditioner!).
The additional interesting capability of the eMonitor is that it can control other "smart" (Zigbee) devices in you home, such as a WiFi enabled thermostat like the one that I own (more on this later).
Probably the most amazing feature of the Powerhouse Dynamics eMonitor is the fact that I can monitor my home electric use through the internet no matter where I am (there's even an iPhone app). No more worrying about leaving a light or the oven on! As it will even text me alerts if something doesn't seem right. Since I can also control my thermostat with it, I can turn off my air conditioner (my largest electricity user) when I leave for a few days and turn it back on with my smartphone from the road on my return. I recently learned that WiFi enabled electrical outlets will be added to the eMonitor offering, which will allow me to be able to remotely control individual appliances.
The eMonitor can be purchased from Amazon.com and other retailers. I purchased mine from energycircle.com and prices vary depending on the number of circuits you would want to monitor and if you would also like to include power production (solar, wind, etc...). While it is a bit pricey you'll likely recoup your money in a few years time (or less) with the savings you'll be able to achieve once you have the energy use data in hand.
I chose the eMonitor due to the fact that is was the only circuit by circuit energy monitor on the market at the time (January 2011). There are others devices on the market that monitor a few circuits, such as the TED device that I've heard good things about, but to me, the extra information provided by the eMonitor saved me time in chasing down the energy wasters in my home, so there was some extra value there.
I was able to install the device myself, but I wouldn't recommend that job for just anyone. Placement of the sensors that connect from the hot wire on each electrical circuit to the eMonitor requires you to remove the cover and place your hands inside of your circuit breaker box. I did this with the power shut off (and locked out) at the main coming into my house, on a weekend with my wife and kids away.
Anyway, I wanted to mention that I learned about the eMonitor from the TWiT Green Tech Today netcast, which I've embedded below. I also wanted to mention that Jason Chen over at Lifehacker recently wrote a great review (much better than mine) that I would also recommend.
For those searching for a commercial solution, Powerhouse Dynamics now has a version of the emonitor for you as well.
Happy monitoring!
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