What to buy?

[independentpete]

I'm interested in this, but am not sure what hardware to buy for interfacing with HS and this plugin. It's pretty clear that I need the EnviR display and seems like I also need the serial to USB cable. Then, I'll need the CT clamp to monitor whole-house. Is that it?

As best I can tell, the EnviR display is connected to the HS PC via the serial to USB cable and passes all the receiver data it gets. Now, what about the Individual Appliance Monitors? If I have one EnviR display with the CT clamp plus a couple IAMs linked to it, the EnviR will be able to transmit all the data to the HS plugin with no additional hardware needed? According to the plugin description, "The Envi monitor allows up to 10 transmitters, each with up to 3 sensors connected to it." So, I'm assuming the transmitter for the CT clamp is 1 and each IAM would be an additional "transmitter" reporting to HS. Correct?

And finally, where to purchase? I see that HS has a unit or two available. There's also a US distributor - PowerSave (www.currentcost.net). Has anyone bought from PowerSave?

[mrhappy]

You can get away with either the Envi or the EnviR, the latter supports the Optismart sensor which is an optical reader that can read pulses from things like gas meters, support for that is in its infancy at present. You can either have a USB cable or if you contact Current Cost I believe they stock serial cables, I made my original cable out of a hacked network cable and an RS232 line driver and it served me well for many years.

Both devices support 10 sensors. Each sensor can also have three current clamp sensors attached to it (which can be used for two/three phase installations) so in theory you could measure 30 different wattages but it is best to think of them as 10 sensors as it becomes difficult to break the data down correctly if you start using three clamps on one sensor to measure different things.

An IAM is a separate sensor (so takes up one of your 10 sensor spaces) and it will only ever occupy one channel as (well I speak for the UK at least) there would only ever be one live going into the socket so only one thing to measure.

The clamp sensor will be one sensor but have three channels, because I only have single phase power here I only have one clamp fitted to it. I believe in the US two phase power is popular so you might have two clamps fitted but they would only occupy one sensor (have I made that easy enough to understand?)

All you need to get it working is;

1) Meter (Envi/EnviR)
2) Cable (Serial-USB)
3) Sensors - whether clamp sensors or IAM's, it matters not
4) Plugin/script or whatever to get the data into HS

[independentpete]

Great. Thanks for confirming!

[Rupp]

This is all you need plus the plugin.
http://store.homeseer.com/store/Powe...-P903C169.aspx

[independentpete]

Plus the data cable, right?

[Rupp]

Plus the data cable, right?

Yes. I didn't realize these had changed. When I bought mine a few years back it came with the data cable. It's listed on the page I referenced as well.

[bernieb]

For some of you that are currently using this setup with the plugin:
- Do you have to use the Display Monitor at all? Could you just use the transmitter with the 2 clamps and have your reading done through HS Touch? If I understand correctly, the clamps can be placed inside your electrical panel correct?

[Rupp]

Re: What to buy?

Yes you need the display as this is where the data cable is connected. The cable goes between the display and your HS server/PC.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

[Richel]

Yes you need the display as this is where the data cable is connected. The cable goes between the display and your HS server/PC.

So, does the connection to the computer running HS require a direct cable connection?