best solution to monitor and log power usage
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I have given my project idea some thought and believe this non-invasive current sensor is what I am looking for: https://tinyurl.com/y4w7nkon. I would like to capture the data from multiple devices in my home and log/graph it on my home assistant controller or something like ubidots or thingspeak. Is there a current project available that can be modified to fit , or a recommended project, elsewhere? The logging/graphing feature is what I am most interested in. I found many other solutions that only display real-time info.
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My wife and I have many conversations about how much power each device in our home consumes. I would like to take the guess work out of it and monitor/log each device plugged into outlets throughout our home, using Home Assistant as the controller. What hardware (and project, if available) would provide the best solution?
@mrhutchinsonmn Try the Shelly1PM: https://shelly.cloud/shelly-1pm-wifi-smart-relay-home-automation/
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I have given my project idea some thought and believe this non-invasive current sensor is what I am looking for: https://tinyurl.com/y4w7nkon. I would like to capture the data from multiple devices in my home and log/graph it on my home assistant controller or something like ubidots or thingspeak. Is there a current project available that can be modified to fit , or a recommended project, elsewhere? The logging/graphing feature is what I am most interested in. I found many other solutions that only display real-time info.
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Some Sonoff switching devices has got power metering.
Upload ESPeasy or Tasmota firmware and connect with HA....@kimot said in best solution to monitor and log power usage:
Some Sonoff switching devices has got power metering.
Upload ESPeasy or Tasmota firmware and connect with HA....I'm in the hunt for the same as what the OP wanted. Although there are good sensors and apps for tracking temp and humidity on a minute/minute basis, shockingly there's almost nothing on amazon offering that level of granularity for power consumption in a simple inexpensive plug-in device for appliance measurement. From what I've read, the Sonoff SONOFF POWR2 can apparently be hacked, though, as it is based on ESP8266. At $20 each it seems overpriced, but I guess that's what the market is willing to pay for it.
There are plenty of modules on amazon that can report instantaneous power consumption, but there's no easy way to get or log that info outside the associated apps, which, as near as I can tell, are all hot garbage. For instance, I purchased a topgreener module (which I'll be returning for the reasons that follow), which is typical of what's available and which costs an average of only around $6 if you buy a set of four and which reports the instantaneous power consumption and the daily consumption to the cloud, but I see no easy way to break that information out of its smartphone app prison. Very frustrating!
An alternative would be to build a mysensors power sensing module from scratch, using either a split core transformer or a hall effect sensor, and maybe/probably that's the least effort way to collect the data. 10 bit resolution on a 20amp ACS712 sense module equates to 20ma resolution, or about 2.2 watt resolution on 110vac mains, which is good enough for my purpose, which is to monitor the power consumption/efficiency of my two kitchen refrigerator/freezers and compare them. They seem to be running a lot more than I think they should, but the one thing I have learned from the topgreener is that they're not drawing anywhere near as much power when running as I thought they were. Well, that is, assuming the topgreener module is accurate, which is something that these days I don't think one can take for granted.
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Reporting back: There's now a way to bring sonoff devices into home assistant without having to reflash them:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsTqOlrQQ1k
Whether or not that includes power/energy data, I'm not sure, but I'll give it a try and report back if anyone is interested.
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Reporting back: There's now a way to bring sonoff devices into home assistant without having to reflash them:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsTqOlrQQ1k
Whether or not that includes power/energy data, I'm not sure, but I'll give it a try and report back if anyone is interested.
@NeverDie have a look at https://templates.blakadder.com/ which lists all devices (including power monitors) supported by tasmota. Tasmota exposes all measured data for a device through mqtt, where you can hook into.
I'm using a number of https://templates.blakadder.com/blitzwolf_SHP6-15A.html that way.Tuya devices can often be flashed with https://tasmota.github.io/docs/Tuya-Convert/ without opening them.
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Awesome! Big thx for information and link!
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I suggest you purchased an updated monitor in which you can get an auto logging off facility and will not harmful to your electric unit.
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This looks like an interesting alternative to the Sonoff for power monitoring:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08J3QP1SG/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=AFXZFGKJMX9E4&psc=1Also based on ESP8266, it's smaller than the Sonof. The Shelly's dimensions are just: 39 x 36 x 17mm. i.e. Small enough to fit into an outlet box. No need to open it either: the ESP8266 reset and programming female pins are exposed on the back of it, whereas it appears that the Sonoff requires you to open its case and actually solder some programming wires onto PCB pads prior to uploading new firmware to it. If you end up not liking it, I don't imagine you can return a sonoff after doing a soldering procedure like that.
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This looks like an interesting alternative to the Sonoff for power monitoring:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08J3QP1SG/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=AFXZFGKJMX9E4&psc=1Also based on ESP8266, it's smaller than the Sonof. The Shelly's dimensions are just: 39 x 36 x 17mm. i.e. Small enough to fit into an outlet box. No need to open it either: the ESP8266 reset and programming female pins are exposed on the back of it, whereas it appears that the Sonoff requires you to open its case and actually solder some programming wires onto PCB pads prior to uploading new firmware to it. If you end up not liking it, I don't imagine you can return a sonoff after doing a soldering procedure like that.
@NeverDie While I'm still sitting on a box full of various Shelly devices waiting to be installed (hardware stores are closed since months, due to lockdown...), I'd like to point out that the Shelly 2.5 models you linked are apparently not suitable for continuous loads. Lots of peope report that they get quite hot, unlike other models. They are meant to be used for roller shutter control or other momentary loads. With that in mind, I don't think they are very useful as a power meter. Shelly has dedicated power measuring relays like the 1PM, EM, the 3-phase EM3, or Pro4 for DIN rails, as well as the WiFi plugs Plug and Plug S.
You don't have to use their cloud service, nor do you need to reprogram them. Use their mobile app, wire them up in your favourite home automation controller or use the provided REST or MQTT APIs directly to set them up and collect data. Regarding power meter measurement intervals: at least the Shelly 1PM seems to be able to report down to a per minute scale.
But yeah, the fact that they fit into power outlets and that you can use them freely without any external services is pretty nice.
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@NeverDie While I'm still sitting on a box full of various Shelly devices waiting to be installed (hardware stores are closed since months, due to lockdown...), I'd like to point out that the Shelly 2.5 models you linked are apparently not suitable for continuous loads. Lots of peope report that they get quite hot, unlike other models. They are meant to be used for roller shutter control or other momentary loads. With that in mind, I don't think they are very useful as a power meter. Shelly has dedicated power measuring relays like the 1PM, EM, the 3-phase EM3, or Pro4 for DIN rails, as well as the WiFi plugs Plug and Plug S.
You don't have to use their cloud service, nor do you need to reprogram them. Use their mobile app, wire them up in your favourite home automation controller or use the provided REST or MQTT APIs directly to set them up and collect data. Regarding power meter measurement intervals: at least the Shelly 1PM seems to be able to report down to a per minute scale.
But yeah, the fact that they fit into power outlets and that you can use them freely without any external services is pretty nice.
@BearWithBeard said in best solution to monitor and log power usage:
Lots of peope report that they get quite hot, unlike other models.
I did see that one of the Amazon reviews reported it as being hot (85C), but he didn't say what his load was (just that his voltage was 220v), and I didn't see other reviewers (at least on amazon) mention it being hot. It does claim to have an overtemp cutoff and a UL rating, but I haven't verified whether either claim is actually true or not. I'd be using it to monitor a refrigerator/freezer, whose boilerplate says it's rated to draw 700w max.... That's less than half of what of what this Shelly is spec'd for....
I suppose I could just try it and see, but instead I cancelled my order until I can get to the bottom of it.
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OK, I found both the problem description and also, allegedly, a fix for the Shelly 2.5 hotness. TL;DR: if you leave GPIO16 floating, then it sounds as though Shelly 2.5 will experience a partial short circuit and heat up to 62C, but if you simply configure GPIO16 as an input, it will, allegedly, avoid that problem and run at 15C instead! Well, I'm guessing that by 15C the blogger in the following link, which is where I got my information, means ambient temperature., or thereabouts: https://savjee.be/2020/11/shelly25-esphome-potential-fire-hazard-fix/
So, with that now sorted, I re-submitted my order. :) I'd sleep better if the hardware had been designed to guarantee that such a problem could never occur, rather than allow a potential software bug to trigger it, but it is what it is. Hopefuly the UL certification is genuine, because their failsafe testing is even more important for a device harboring a potential hazard such as this. You never know if or when a lightning bolt or voltage spike (or cosmic ray for that matter!) might glitch it out. Perhaps, just to remove all doubts, it should be encased in intumescent putty inside the electrical box.... One could argue that it would/might be overkill, but aside from the sticky mess and the extra cost, I'm not aware of any other downsides to doing so. Plainly the alternative of planting it inside a full metal junction box to secure improved protection from Murphy's Law would defeat the whole reason for installing it in the first place. On the other hand, I seem to recall that even regular outlet boxes are tested to meet at least minimum performance standards and are therefore probably safe enough to contain a failure should one occur. After all, AFAIK, that's much if not their entire raison d'etre.
@BearWithBeard Thanks for the heads up!
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OK, I found both the problem description and also, allegedly, a fix for the Shelly 2.5 hotness. TL;DR: if you leave GPIO16 floating, then it sounds as though Shelly 2.5 will experience a partial short circuit and heat up to 62C, but if you simply configure GPIO16 as an input, it will, allegedly, avoid that problem and run at 15C instead! Well, I'm guessing that by 15C the blogger in the following link, which is where I got my information, means ambient temperature., or thereabouts: https://savjee.be/2020/11/shelly25-esphome-potential-fire-hazard-fix/
So, with that now sorted, I re-submitted my order. :) I'd sleep better if the hardware had been designed to guarantee that such a problem could never occur, rather than allow a potential software bug to trigger it, but it is what it is. Hopefuly the UL certification is genuine, because their failsafe testing is even more important for a device harboring a potential hazard such as this. You never know if or when a lightning bolt or voltage spike (or cosmic ray for that matter!) might glitch it out. Perhaps, just to remove all doubts, it should be encased in intumescent putty inside the electrical box.... One could argue that it would/might be overkill, but aside from the sticky mess and the extra cost, I'm not aware of any other downsides to doing so. Plainly the alternative of planting it inside a full metal junction box to secure improved protection from Murphy's Law would defeat the whole reason for installing it in the first place. On the other hand, I seem to recall that even regular outlet boxes are tested to meet at least minimum performance standards and are therefore probably safe enough to contain a failure should one occur. After all, AFAIK, that's much if not their entire raison d'etre.
@BearWithBeard Thanks for the heads up!
@NeverDie Interesting find. But according to this GitHub issue, that fix only concerns those Shellys that have been flashed with certain versions of Tasmota or ESPhome, where the GPIOs had been misconfigured. To me, that sounds like it was an issue on top of the inherently higher temperature of the Shelly 2.5, doesn't it? I assumed the Shelly 2.5 temperatures were higher because of the second power metering circuit on board, potentially dissipating more heat through resistors.
Anyway - you are right that the Shellys have over-temperature protection which should kick in at 90 to 95°C and I can only assume that all components are rated for temperatures above that. So in that regard it should be fine if the Shelly 2.5 operates at higher temperatures than the other models. The device is completely encased, which lowers the risk of scorching wire insulations or terminals with lower temperature ratings that might touch it.
It may just be that it triggers the OTP earlier than single channel Shellys when two (high?) loads are connected. Then again, installing two single channel Shellys in a single power outlet could potentially be even worse, as you then have two heat-emitting devices in close proximity. Giving it a try may be the only way to find out.
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@BearWithBeard One of the posts in the github you linked seemed to imply that much of the regular heat comes from the energized relay coil. I'm hoping it has an NC contact on the relay, since all I want to do is monitor energy consumption. I have no interest in switching it on and off, and for my use-case I'd rather it didn't even have switching capability. I can't tell from the cryptic markings on the case though whether it has an NC or not, but if it does, then hopefully much of the heat can be avoided, since the relay wouldn't need to be energized.
[Edit: I found the manual. Regrettably, it has no NC contact: https://shelly.cloud/documents/user_guide/shelly_25.pdf ]
One good bit of news: Looks as though it really does have a UL listing:
https://productiq.ulprospector.com/en/profile/1897230/pazx.e504925?term=e504925&page=1At least that much is promising.
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@BearWithBeard One of the posts in the github you linked seemed to imply that much of the regular heat comes from the energized relay coil. I'm hoping it has an NC contact on the relay, since all I want to do is monitor energy consumption. I have no interest in switching it on and off, and for my use-case I'd rather it didn't even have switching capability. I can't tell from the cryptic markings on the case though whether it has an NC or not, but if it does, then hopefully much of the heat can be avoided, since the relay wouldn't need to be energized.
[Edit: I found the manual. Regrettably, it has no NC contact: https://shelly.cloud/documents/user_guide/shelly_25.pdf ]
One good bit of news: Looks as though it really does have a UL listing:
https://productiq.ulprospector.com/en/profile/1897230/pazx.e504925?term=e504925&page=1At least that much is promising.
@NeverDie Oh, if you refer to the second set of infrared images - those with the relay as the hottest spot - they are taken from a Sonoff Basic. The other set is the Shelly 2.5.
In the meantime, I found some images of Shelly 2.5 with burnt spots and antennas pierced by the screw terminal pins. Reports of bad solder joints and such (German source with images). It seems that this was a faulty batch of devices from early 2019 which has been recalled. Never the less, I just opened the enclosure of my two Shelly 2.5 and I can confirm that they are obviously of a newer revision (bought in december 2020. the PCB was produced in July 2020, according to the silkscreen). The antenna is now attached to the upper part of the enclosure so that it can't be pierced by the pins and the cable is not touching the resistor R42 that is getting so hot in the FLIR images, although it's routed around the PCB in that corner. All pads and terminals look clean and nicely soldered.
The relays are 10A 250VAC rated HF32FA-G/012-HSL1 models.
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@BearWithBeard It's all so ironic: my whole reason for buying something pre-made was to just slot something in without having to think about it. Now, with the cloud of doubt hanging over this thing, here I am having to spend time thinking about it. :face_with_rolling_eyes:
For my intended purpose the ideal solution is probably something like this:
https://jeelabs.org/book/1508a/ Even if it were to fail, it's all just low power low voltage stuff and my refrigerator would keep on working, as there's no on-off switching like with the commercially available pre-made products. No direct connection to mains, and no batteries to change either: it lives by soaking up just a tiny amount of parasitic power. I should probably just do it right the first time, and then I can just be done with it without having to worry about my refrigerator losing power, or whatever else might go wrong as it ages over a long future. -
What no one seems to mention but which certainly seems relevant is that the working temperature range for the Shelly 2.5 tops out at 40C:
https://shelly.cloud/knowledge-base/devices/shelly-25/
Does "working temperature" mean ambient temperature, or the temperature of the device itself? I'm not sure, but I believe it refers to the temperature of the device and the components therein, not ambient temperature. And if that is so, then looking at all the measurements people have done:
https://community.home-assistant.io/t/shelly-2-5-getting-hot-to-touch-63-c-external-case-should-i-be-worried/175376
it seems as though many of those measurements are above Shelly 2.5's own declared spec. -
What no one seems to mention but which certainly seems relevant is that the working temperature range for the Shelly 2.5 tops out at 40C:
https://shelly.cloud/knowledge-base/devices/shelly-25/
Does "working temperature" mean ambient temperature, or the temperature of the device itself? I'm not sure, but I believe it refers to the temperature of the device and the components therein, not ambient temperature. And if that is so, then looking at all the measurements people have done:
https://community.home-assistant.io/t/shelly-2-5-getting-hot-to-touch-63-c-external-case-should-i-be-worried/175376
it seems as though many of those measurements are above Shelly 2.5's own declared spec.@NeverDie Working temperature means ambient in this case. Quoting the Allterco CEO:
Max ambient temperature is 40 degree. With no load PCB temperature is 55-60 degree. At MAX load continuesly is 87-90 degree.
Heating protection will switch off device at 95 degree.
All parts inside are 105-120 degree certifed for continuous usage.Original source: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1686781668087857/permalink/2054834997949187/
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Aha, good catch.
I presume it's just measuring apparent power instead of real (true) power? Power factor is going to be relevant for a refrigerator. The Shelly 2.5 makes no mention of measuring power factor or true power, but the more pricey Shelly EM does:
https://www.amazon.com/Shelly-Smart-Energy-Monitor-Consumption/dp/B07ZHLN63D
