Re: Re: Electrisave protocol / PC Interface

["Ho Yin Ng" <architect.hoyin@xxxxxxxxx>]

I will be contradicting myself in this email as I can't decide whether
the
Electrisave is really useful or whether just another gimic which will turn
out to be a waste of money ...

I was at the Hay Festival this week and everyone seems to be talking about
saving the planet.

In one stand they had the Electrisave and I considered getting it.

But really is it really going to save me money? Surely you know that if you
turn off your appliances and lights you will save money. Does a machine
tha=
t
tells you that you are using electricity actually help you? If the light is
on I know I am using electricty??

Shelling out =A360 to be told this at the moment seems like a waste of
mone=
y
in order to convince yourself to be more green and use less energy?

I am more interested in the Savaplug which you plug into your fridge and it
reduces the amount of energy used by 20% due to it gradually increase the
energy levels when the fridge turns on rather than letting it suddenly
spike.

Though I guess I will need to buy a Electrisave to see if the Savaplug
really works? Does the Electrisave keep an ongoing record of the amount of
energy you have consumed?

Thanks

Ho yin



On 04/06/07, b_weijenberg <b_weijenberg@xxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>   David,
>
> As mentioned by Mal the USB RFXCOM RF receiver can receive the
> Electrisave and the packets can be processed by xPL.
> http://www.xplmonkey.com/rf.html
> The Electrisave takes snapshots and transmits the measured current
> values, not the power values. The user has to multiply the current
> values by 230 (line voltage) to get the approximately power used at
> that moment. Multiply this with the time between this snapshot and
> the previous snapshot and you have a kWh value that can be added to
> the software usage counter. The Electrisave was not designed to
> measure the real power usage but as a power indicator. The PC must
> run 24*7, no RF packets must be lost and the Line Voltage must be
> very stable otherwise you will not have the right kWh values.
>
> A good (wireless) solution is to use the USB RFXCOM RF receiver and
> the RFXMeter. This solution is also supported by xPL and Homeseer.
> The VB.NET source of the RFreceiver program is available at
> http://www.rfxcom.com/downloads.htm
and this program can be used as a
> template to write your own software. The RFXMeter can measure up to 3
> phases or sections up to 150A each. It is therefore possible to
> measure the whole house electricity usage or power usage per section.
> The kWh counters are in the RFXMeter and no additional calculations
> have to be done. Even if the PC is off-line the RFXMeter will still
> count the power usage. Free charting software for use in Homeseer is
> also available at the download page.
>
> The USB RFXCOM 433.92MHz RF receiver can receive:
> =95 European X10 RF signals,
> =95 Digimax,
> =95 KlikOn-KlikOff,
> =95 NEXA,
> =95 Domia Lite,
> =95 ELRO AB600,
> =95 RFXSensor devices,
> =95 RFXPower & RFXMeter devices,
> =95 ATI Remote Wonder & ATI Remote Wonder Plus,
> =95 Electrisave cent-a-meter,
> =95 Oregon Scientific sensors
> Add a second RFXCOM receiver to the USB interface and you are also
> able to receive US X10 signals or Visonic BT-VP1000 security sensors
> (http://www.automatedhome.co.uk/modules.php?
> name=3DNews&file=3Darticle&sid=3D1747 )
>
> Bert
>
> --- In ukha_d@xxxxxxx <ukha_d%40yahoogroups.com>, "David
Irwin
> \(Home\)" <david@...>
> wrote:
> >
> > A while ago there was a thread here about accessing the
electrisave
> wireless
> > protocol and reading the data from PCs.
> >
> >
> >
> > I am becoming more conscious of my power consumption and
> the "green" status
> > of my house and would be really interested in a the ability to
> monitor my
> > power consumption but only if I can record the data on my PC.
> >
> >
> >
> > I am not hugely skilled in electronics, but am able to follow a
> schematic
> > and use a soldering iron if anyone has a design already working.
> >
> >
> >
> > I am also interested in ideas for other monitoring of household
> energy usage
> > / waste, but only if it can be wireless.
> >
> >
> >
> > Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.
> >
> >
> >
> > Dave
> >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
>
>=20=20
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]