Comments on: Tweet-a-Watt kits

By: hmbemis

hmbemis — Mon, 17 May 2010 17:38:04 +0000

I like it… very cool hack.

By: Ammeter Rental

Ammeter Rental — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 23:52:05 +0000

Some tools that we have these days are very helpful indeed, it didn’t just help us but it also make us aware in many things like how many power we had already used and the like.

By: Nick Taylor

Nick Taylor — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 00:14:04 +0000

I think this is a brilliant concept – it’s an idea I’ve been sitting on for about 15 years. If people are simply conscious of what energy is going where (and it’s presented in the right way) then they’ll instinctively move towards efficiency.

The ultimate (in my most humble of opinions) is a web-based interface where you can measure every single outlet… and have a clamp meter over the entire supply… AND control every outlet via the web.

I think this would lead to economisation software, and possibly a social-type thing where (for example) one school can compare itself to another school and exchange tips/tricks into how to get better results.

I think the killer-ap aspect of this will be remote control – the energy monitoring part of it is an adjunct to this – more value than the control itself, but it will come as an “extra”

I think the price is too high at the moment though… for any currently commercially available unit anyway. Although the ROI angle is pretty clear, it’s still not low enough to be an impulse buy.

By: error404

error404 — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 02:19:16 +0000

@adafruit:

Maybe I’m missing something, but the project just seems to be about pumping serial data over xBee. The only mention of a non-computer-dependent Ethernet implementation was hacking an Asus router and adding xBee to it. I mean do away with all of this and build a simple data logging client and Ethernet interface into the device itself to cut out the cost of xBee and the need to have a power-sucking computer online to log how much power you’re sucking.

By: Wwhat

Wwhat — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 04:20:39 +0000

If you placed it at the junctionbox you could not only see your use but you could watch your house for any unwanted guest since you’d see peaks if they switched on a light or something.
Assuming one of these could handle the load of many devices at once.
You’d have to make some baselines for when the fridge motor is on and off and such periodic peaks devices of course.

Just musing.

By: vonskippy

vonskippy — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 21:12:45 +0000

They should name the kit “twatter” – that would pretty much sum up all it’s features.

By: Roman D

Roman D — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 20:16:07 +0000

Once again I think people are missing the point here. Yes this may be expensive for some people. And if ~$110 is too much for you, having it is NOT going to save you any money probably. On other hand, for some people this $110 investment is returned within a first month on energy saved. And like others pointed out, you can just use an ammeter and have that data sent. The only flaw with the this meter is that its only use-full to monitor a single circuit. It’s more use-full to audit your per-device consumption but to get a better understanding or view of your energy consumption you have to monitor your total consumption. For most people the energy wasted is not caused by a single appliance, though outdated/rusted water heater will add a nice chunck to your monthly bill (as I learned). For most people it will be all those phantom devices that lay around plugged in but unused.

By: nubie

nubie — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 16:02:01 +0000

@medix,

Whoops, that was an error in vocabulary, I did indeed mean a current transformer or transducer.

(I am aware that a shunt must be installed in-line, and thus is much harder to install and is potentially more dangerous)

@rasz , that is very cool for $10

(if you already have an xbee and a kill-a-watt laying around I guess the t%$*t a watt is a neat hack, but looking from a cost-performance ratio it leaves a little to be desired. It should top the product range and at least one cheaper version should be considered.)

By: mem.namefix

mem.namefix — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 14:46:10 +0000

@phill
Well its still a miserable hack :P
and using twitter means u deserve all the flack you got.

By: medix

medix — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 11:52:52 +0000

For house bus bars there *should be no ‘shunt’ involved!* I would *highly* recommend some prior research before you start comparing a ‘shunt’ to a ‘current transformer’. frankly, you stand to **LEARN** more by designing a clamp-on current transformer and actually understand where your power usage is coming from (rather than buying one)

By: rasz

rasz — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 06:20:25 +0000

http://200.78.236.216/catalogo/interior3Shop.asp?pdto=PUN-285
or you can buy DT266 Digital Clamp Meter for ~$10 (real price in two shops in my City/EU) and hack it

By: fyrebug

fyrebug — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 04:19:04 +0000

@ladyada that’s great! you’re right I didn’t fully read that, and having had people do that on my projects I know it can be annoying, but now understandt it from both ends.
much, much better with a router. though I’m still no fan of the xbee. just a personal preference unrelated and unneeded. seems like an overcost large hammer to drive in a tiny finsihing nail.

By: nubie

nubie — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 01:57:18 +0000

Argh, I don’t really mean to fill up the comments here, but . . .

I found at least one of the pages with the DIY clamp on current transformers

http://www.edcheung.com/automa/power.htm

I really wish I could find all the info that I saw before, it may be in some older bookmark backups.

It would be great if there was an option that was entirely DIY that only provided the functionality to interface with a computer or micro-controller.

(could it have been at eco-modder forums? Or a link from Dansdata? Or even here? Nuts, wish I knew, maybe a slashdot comment had the link I clicked.)

By: nubie

nubie — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 01:29:27 +0000

@ Ladyada, Much respect, I love your site.

Unfortunately for me I live in California and the JR website offers them for $26.95 shipped to me.

At that point I might as well go with newegg (last I checked it was $17.99, it is now back to 19.99 + tax and shipping.)

I like your use of the router, can the router be connected directly to the Kill-a-watt to bring the price down?

By: nicklepickle

nicklepickle — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:03:05 +0000

if someone can point me to a good resource for do-it-yourself ammeter, I’ll have a go at adapting a propeller to do this with a built in ethernet cable like the ybox. Word on the street is prop prices are gonna drop, we’ll see. t’would be cool to see this combined with a relay so you could turn the plug off and on over the net.