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    Gas Meter

    Hi, I was wondering if anyone has a suggestion for measuring natural gas consumption? I was looking for either a z-wave meter to install or possibly a device to read the existing meter?

    Stan

    #2
    I've been here before with mixed experiences. It does depend on your gas meter, I've found most have a magnet that when the meter rotates around every 0.1m3 or 1m3 the magnet hits the outside and you can read that with a reed switch. You can get the signal into HS by whatever means (arduino, serial port, wifi or whatever) but then you need to do the hard work in HS as to the calculations and displaying consumption.

    Some gas meters might not have the magnet approach and may have a reflective dot on the 0 when it rotates, it would be a similar principle but would need something like a photosensor to read it. I'm not sure I have seen electrically linked ones presumably for safety.

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      #3
      Strange that there are no electronic meters out there that I could find. Maybe safety is an issue? I hope to still find one.....

      Comment


        #4
        Some of the remote reading meters have ZigBee access as do most electric meters so you may be able to take that route.
        HomeSeer Version: HS3 Standard Edition 3.0.0.548
        Linux version: Linux auto 4.15.0-72-generic #81-Ubuntu SMP Tue Nov 26 12:20:02 UTC 2019 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
        Number of Devices: 484 | Number of Events: 776

        Enabled Plug-Ins: 3.0.0.13: AirplaySpeak | 2.0.61.0: BLBackup
        3.0.0.70: EasyTrigger | 1.3.7006.42100: LiftMaster MyQ
        4.2.3.0: mcsMQTT | 3.0.0.53: PHLocation2 | 0.0.0.47: Pushover 3P
        3.0.0.16: RaspberryIO | 3.0.1.262: Z-Wave

        Z-Net version: 1.0.23 for Inclusion Nodes
        SmartStick+: 6.04 (ZDK 6.81.3) on Server

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          #5
          I purchased a second gas meter and installed it after the gas company's meter. Here's a link to the meter: https://www.elster-americanmeter.com...ox0=downloads; The gas company techs were so interested in what I was doing they helped me with the install. This meter includes a dry contact output that actuates with every cubic foot of gas consumed. I was already using 1-wire sensors so just ran a line to the new meter and interfaced it to HS using a 1-wire counter.

          Still working great after 9 years!
          Attached Files
          Last edited by mfisher; June 12, 2018, 10:35 AM.
          Best regards,
          -Mark-

          If you're not out on the edge, you're taking up too much room!
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            #6
            yeah id love to be able to read my meter as well.. subscribed...
            HW - i5 4570T @2.9ghz runs @11w | 8gb ram | 128gb ssd OS - Win10 x64

            HS - HS3 Pro Edition 3.0.0.435

            Plugins - BLRF 2.0.94.0 | Concord 4 3.1.13.10 | HSBuddy 3.9.605.5 | HSTouch Server 3.0.0.68 | RFXCOM 30.0.0.36 | X10 3.0.0.36 | Z-Wave 3.0.1.190

            Hardware - EdgePort/4 DB9 Serial | RFXCOM 433MHz USB Transceiver | Superbus 2000 for Concord 4 | TI103 X-10 Interface | WGL Designs W800 RF | Z-Net Z-Wave Interface

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              #7
              I've just ordered an RFXCOM transceiver for the purpose of controlling blinds and fans. But it has also led me down the path of investigating how I can measure my utility usage.

              It seems that circa 2008 people were using RFXmeters, these would read pulse increments off gas or water meters and relay the count over 433MHz to an RFXCOM interface.

              Fast forward ten years and the RFXmeters seem to have vanished from production. The only items for sale by RFXCOM are the interfaces themselves.

              What am I missing, what did everyone switch to? Best I've seen is people using optical sensors attached to Arduino boards to measure the reflective digits on a meter. But this is hackish at best and is obviously without any support. It doesn't seem right that a professional, supported solution like the RFXmeter would fade out of production and use unless something had superseded it.

              I know we have several Z-wave based options for measuring power usage now. But that still leaves out water and gas. So where did the RFXmeters go??

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                #8
                There is a library written in python already for a lot of meters. If you do some googling, there are people who have successfully been able to read their power, water and gas meter. From what I have read, a lot of meters broadcast unencrypted data packets in the 900MHz spectrum. I have ordered an RTL-SDR dongle for $30 and plan on playing with this over the winter.

                https://github.com/bemasher/rtlamr

                Important is to verify the model number and FCC ID of your meter match the below know device list.

                https://github.com/bemasher/rtlamr/b...ter/meters.csv

                It turns out my water and gas meter is on the list My plan is to run the rtlamr on a dedicated RPi and publish usage via MQTT to HS. I will let you guys know how I make out, the only thing I need now is the time....

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                  #9
                  So I made some progress last night and was able to get my RTL-SDR receiver to read my meter and a couple hundred other meters.

                  The rtlamr library was pretty easy to get going on a linux platform. All I have done so far was to start capturing the rtlamr data and confirm it is accurate (it is). Attached is a screenshot.

                  Next step is to publish MQTT messages to HomeSeer
                  Attached Files

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by adamg View Post
                    From what I have read, a lot of meters broadcast unencrypted data packets in the 900MHz spectrum.
                    You have to be kidding me. The utility is sending meter data unencrypted, they should be hung from the highest yardarm by their private parts. There is no excuse for that.

                    Now watch they will try to get you for intercepting their "PRIVATE" communication that they didn't encrypt.

                    HomeSeer Version: HS3 Standard Edition 3.0.0.548
                    Linux version: Linux auto 4.15.0-72-generic #81-Ubuntu SMP Tue Nov 26 12:20:02 UTC 2019 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
                    Number of Devices: 484 | Number of Events: 776

                    Enabled Plug-Ins: 3.0.0.13: AirplaySpeak | 2.0.61.0: BLBackup
                    3.0.0.70: EasyTrigger | 1.3.7006.42100: LiftMaster MyQ
                    4.2.3.0: mcsMQTT | 3.0.0.53: PHLocation2 | 0.0.0.47: Pushover 3P
                    3.0.0.16: RaspberryIO | 3.0.1.262: Z-Wave

                    Z-Net version: 1.0.23 for Inclusion Nodes
                    SmartStick+: 6.04 (ZDK 6.81.3) on Server

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Hmm, I imagine it's justa meter ID number anda consumption value. Hardly identifying information.

                      However, if you could replicate and manipulate the data packets, I guess you could jack up your neighbours bill

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                        #12
                        Having your own meter would be the best, you need to keep in mind you will need to do some math to have it come close to your bill though, natural gas needs to be corrected for pressure and temp. The radio method looks good, just have pick your ID out of the crowd, I have seen those things transmit for miles. Watch out placing things on your meter, it may trigger a site visit, some utilities may not like stuff strapped on to their meter.

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                          #13
                          i finally got around to setting up rtlamr on my homeseer PC, has anyone been able to submit the values to homeseer yet?
                          HS3 Pro on Windows 8 64bit
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                            #14
                            I finally made some time in the last few days to do this and I am pushing my water and gas consumption out via mqtt. It has been up for about a day. Basically, I have a old raspberry pi with the RTL-SDR dongle running a rtl_tcp and rtlamr service. There is a python3 script that pushes the readings out via mqtt. I can by no means take credit for this; most of the the work was done by the people on the Home Assistant forum.

                            I have not testing this with HomeSeer yet; I have Home Assistant at my house and HomeSeer at the cottage. But my HomeSeer application already uses MQTT sensors, so that is a non issue.

                            Below is a link with a decent procedure. There were a few syntax errors in the code, but overall it seems to be OK. Make sure to scroll down, I posted a reply to that the fixed code.

                            I have since made some changes to my code, but you guys should be able to get the idea of it from this post.

                            If you run into issues let me know and I will try to help
                            Hi, Just wanted to share this project, in case someone wanted to do the same. I added my utilities smart meters into home assistant, so I can monitor my current usage, weekly usage and more. I bought a NooElec NESDR Na…

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                              #15
                              Originally posted by adamg View Post
                              I finally made some time in the last few days to do this and I am pushing my water and gas consumption out via mqtt. It has been up for about a day. Basically, I have a old raspberry pi with the RTL-SDR dongle running a rtl_tcp and rtlamr service. There is a python3 script that pushes the readings out via mqtt. I can by no means take credit for this; most of the the work was done by the people on the Home Assistant forum.

                              I have not testing this with HomeSeer yet; I have Home Assistant at my house and HomeSeer at the cottage. But my HomeSeer application already uses MQTT sensors, so that is a non issue.

                              Below is a link with a decent procedure. There were a few syntax errors in the code, but overall it seems to be OK. Make sure to scroll down, I posted a reply to that the fixed code.

                              I have since made some changes to my code, but you guys should be able to get the idea of it from this post.

                              If you run into issues let me know and I will try to help
                              Very cool. Where in Alberta are you? Wondering if the meters in Calgary support this.
                              HS 4.2.8.0: 2134 Devices 1252 Events
                              Z-Wave 3.0.10.0: 133 Nodes on one Z-Net

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