Re: power meter monitoring

["Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

"David White" <whitedavidp@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:PLmdnYgofq5vLkbYnZ2dnUVZ_v-tnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> I have a Kill-A-Watt and like it but it does NOT retain any peak
> readings and I wish it did. Not enough to toss it and spend more $ though.

That *is* a major flaw in what otherwise is a very nice piece of HW for very
little $.  Hopefully, someday all devices likes this will come with some
sort of output port for logging purposes.

I wanted something a little more useful so I took a heavy duty extension
cord and "unzipped" it so that I can wrap a few turns of wire around one
conductor and feed it into a RatShack multimeter with a PC serial port.
That way, I should be able to
correlate the KAW's readout with what I see on the meter's LCD.  Assuming
the extrapolation to be relatively linear, I should be able to monitor usage
over a long period of time.  My refrigerator clearly draws very different
amounts of power at different times of the day.  Electrical use appears to
be very tightly related to the room temperature and the number of closings
and openings per day.

I still won't be able to capture peak loading, but I will be able to
determine, for example, how much opening and closing a refrigerator door
contributes to the overall electrical usage.  Of course, I'll have to log
the openings and closings, but that's pretty easy to do
with an old laptop running Activehome and a Hawkeye mounted inside the
reefer.   Whenever it's opened, it sends a signal.  Hmmm.  That sounds like
a good way to test for open door events that last longer than X seconds as
yet another way to detect imminent coil freezeups.  If the dawn/dusk sensor
sees too much dawn, the door must be open.  With the dogs getting smarter
every day, that may be a very useful sensor indeed!  I'll either have to
hardwire it to a 3VDC supply or load it with lithium batteries to work
reliably in the cold.  I'll also have to mount a TM-751 nearby since the
refrigerator walls will act as a Faraday cage and limit transmission range.


Now all I have to do is to assemble all the gear, get it downstairs and hook
it up.  I've been casually monitoring the unit with the KAW but it's been SO
abnormally cold here I am afraid the readings won't be meaningful.  These HA
projects always seem to stretch out a lot longer than I think they will.

> Don't take anyone's slamming too much to heart. There are just some
> people who don't have enough tolerance to be on the web. It is so easy
> for most of us to simply ignore a post of no interest/value to us.

Good advice, David.  After a while, you even learn to ignore the posts that
may have some interest or value if they turn out to be vehicles for
someone's bitch fight. That's pretty sad, but it seems the only way to
encourage people to behave as if they are in a friend's living room.  Of
course, some people will *never* get it.  I wince every time I think of the
newbies to HA that post here, get caught up in some bad blood that's been
going on for years and are never heard from again.  It's almost the rule
now, instead of the exception.  :-(  I've had more than a couple of threads
I've started get "hijacked" by one set of long standing grudge matches or
another.

> But this sort feels hell-bound and determined that all should conform to
> their own image.

It's worse than that, I fear.  Some people just like to fight and no amount
of cajoling, bribing, group embarrassment or any other "technique" is going
to break them of the habit.  The exchanges will always be of the sort:

Q. Why is the sky blue?

A. Because Joe S. Ragman is a moron.

Q. How do I turn on a light remotely?

A. You wouldn't have to if Joe S. Ragman hadn't thoughtlessly turned it off.
What a maroon!  if Joe S. Ragman says POTAYTO, you can be sure it's really
POTAHTO!!!!"

> Beware orthodoxy in all its forms and ignore those who
> would seek to burn you on the fires of their inquisition (unless you can
> actually feel the heat - then run).

Reminds me of the guy who fixed the annual cockroach race by preheating the
plate the bug had to race across.  It really *flew* when it sensed the heat.

I mostly ignore the big, flaming hunks of flamebait that are frequently
tossed out into the group unless I absolutely need the information that
might be lurking behind the ire.  That makes it worth the potential singe
marks.  I'm also far less likely to spend time replying to someone who seems
to be a sock puppet of one of the "usual suspects."  Lately a lot of CHA
posts have come from people who have suddenly appeared on Usenet for the
very first time but seem quite net-savvy.  Very suspicious.  While the
protagonists take great care to assure us the flaming is for the good of the
group, most people know that's just not true.  It's just ego-tripping with a
side-order of rationalization.

--
Bobby G.