Energy usage monitor

daplatapus · #1 03-07-2013, 02:21 PM

Well, all these questions about power usage, tank operation efficiency and what not has me wondering what exactly I am using for power. I'm looking at purchasing an energy usage monitor to measure the exact amount I'm actually using for each device. Does anyone have one they'd recommend?

sphelps · #2 03-07-2013, 02:38 PM

It depends how you want to do it.

You can buy a relatively cheap plug monitor from CT for $20. You'll have to measure things on a device by device basis or you can measure full power bar at once but depending on the size of the tank probably not the total at once unless your tank is small or you buy multiple monitors.
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brows....jsp?locale=en

Or you can buy a whole house monitor which you could also connect just to the circuit the tank runs on.
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Real-time-Wir...ht_9118wt_1159

mike31154 · #3 03-07-2013, 02:46 PM

I have two of the plug in devices, an EM100 & a UPM model. They both work fine with similar features. As far as accuracy, well that depends I guess, on many factors, including the type of load connected. Here's a link to a forum with some comparisons & discussion.

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r259...-Watt-VS-EM100

I suppose they're a good enough tool for checking individual appliances. From what I understand though, if you have a smart meter, once BC Hydro gets it all working the way it should, we should be able to see our real time consumption with an online app. on the BC Hydro site. I believe there will be or already are devices available that will work with your smart meter to monitor usage.

mseepman · #4 03-07-2013, 03:42 PM

In BC, if you sign up for "myhydro" It's a computer interface to read your meter. It allows you to see what you're spending and lets you graph it all the way down to by the hour. Sadly, I've been on it for about 3 weeks and have to say I look every day and it's depressing. I've been on an energy kick (mostly trying to offset the tank spike in usage). With the tier system, you see how little they actually give you at a decent rate before hiking it big time.

mike31154 · #5 03-07-2013, 03:52 PM

I just logged in to my BC Hydro account. It's currently possible to view daily usage, either in graph format or raw data, which you can export. Data included usage up to this Tuesday, so a couple of days behind. Pretty sure in the near future, the capability will be there to monitor real time. They also provide cost projection estimate for your next bill. Of course this is your whole house data, not individual appliances. Still good info though, since I can see the spike in daily consumption when I ran my clothes dryer last Saturday.

mike31154 · #6 03-07-2013, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mseepman

In BC, if you sign up for "myhydro" It's a computer interface to read your meter. It allows you to see what you're spending and lets you graph it all the way down to by the hour. Sadly, I've been on it for about 3 weeks and have to say I look every day and it's depressing. I've been on an energy kick (mostly trying to offset the tank spike in usage). With the tier system, you see how little they actually give you at a decent rate before hiking it big time.

Hey Mark, how are you getting down to the 'hour'. I don't seem to have that option yet on my MYHYDRO page. Best I have is a line graph providing info up to 'yesterday'. Or are you referring to the Kwhr number on the graph, in which case I have that too?

mseepman · #7 03-07-2013, 04:01 PM

When you look at the daily consumption, just click on the bar of the day you are looking at....it breaks it down to hourly. Took me a bit to find as well.

daplatapus · #8 03-08-2013, 03:49 AM

Thanks guys. Ya, I was looking for ones that plug in line to individual appliances. I figured then I can prioritize what things I want to upgrade using power consumption as one of the many other factors to consider.
I'll look at that link, thanks Mike.