How-To Geek
Track Your Power Use with a DIY Whole House Energy Monitor
If you’d like to keep a by-the-minute look at the energy you’re using–without the expense and risk of installing a direct-line electricity monitor–this hack puts near real-time energy monitoring at your finger tips.
Yesterday we showed you how to measure the power consumption of devices in your home. One of those methods involved going outside and actually monitoring your power meter. This hack ads a visual sensor to your power meter and allows you to check the results from inside your home–it’s dead simple to see how much power you’ve been using without running out to check the meter and perform calculations.
Hit up the link below for more info, including how it was wired and the open-source code.
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Comments (6)
Jason Fitzpatrick is warranty-voiding DIYer and all around geek. When he's not documenting mods and hacks he's doing his best to make sure a generation of college students graduate knowing they should put their pants on one leg at a time and go on to greatness, just like Bruce Dickinson. You can follow him on Google+ if you'd like.
- Published 03/7/12
Seriously? Just get a Current Cost meter or The Energy Detective (google ‘em.. they’re great).
wow,…that’s wonderful, I can spend hours just moni…tor…ing my ene…er. gy lev.e…Zzzzzzzzz
I ain’t got time for this! I’ve got to sort my twist ties!
Doesn’t having something like this just add to your energy bill if you are trying to monitor it.. for what I assume is a goal of lowering usage?
@ tony
…Ha!!
Every month I get a bill from PG&E, telling me what my energy usage is – I don’t even have to bother checking it myself…;)