3 Phase TED alternative?

[turbo2ltr]

For at least 2 years, TED has been saying they have a three phase version of their power meter coming soon. But as far as I'm concerned its vaporware.

Anyone know of an alternative? I have 3 phase power at the office, but I don't have a meter. The power company says they use current transformers, so I have no meter I can look at and I'm very skeptical as to being billed properly. I have a feeling I'm paying someone else's bill.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[turbo2ltr]

This looks promising.

http://www.powermeterstore.com/p8161/acuvim_kl.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Wish it had Ethernet but for the price, I don't think I can complain.

 

[klapauzius]

You can build one....or use their design and modify it for three phase.

http://openenergymonitor.org/emon/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

An Arduino, 3 CTs, a 2.5 V voltage reference, a 3 channel PGA and an old wallwart + a few resistors and capacitors will do.

 

[Nekota]

For at least 2 years, TED has been saying they have a three phase version of their power meter coming soon. But as far as I'm concerned its vaporware.

Anyone know of an alternative? I have 3 phase power at the office, but I don't have a meter. The power company says they use current transformers, so I have no meter I can look at and I'm very skeptical as to being billed properly. I have a feeling I'm paying someone else's bill.

Thanks,
Mike

I have a current cost unit that works on 3 phase and transmits signals on 433MHz. It's 2 years old and no problems with the hardware. Software has improved greatly and has been without any issues since January. I use the bridge to send data to 'cloud' and also setup an account with wattvision for more granular data. I use a small computer to capture the currentcost xml data stream and send it to bridge device and the computer logs data, parses the xml, writes to sql database and sends data to wattvision every 15 seconds. The currentcost captures data every 6 seconds for all the units connected to it. It reports in VA (voltage is not measured) but newer units allow for adjustable 'average' voltage.

 

[turbo2ltr]

Thanks, I ordered one kit, with the bridge and an extra CT. I might PM you about what you did regarding the data as I'm not following...I'd like to send data to my sql DB as well...but I'll wait to get it before I start asking questions.

 

[Nekota]

I will respond to PM or post here. The programming I do is in Python and it could use much improvement since it's mostly scripts and I haven't worked enough with Tk to get the GUI interface working. I edited my previous post to replace current cost with wattvision for the 15 second data interval. TED samples every second from what I can tell, this current cost samples every 6 seconds and the web report averages those down to one data point every 5 minutes or 300 seconds. I like to see more resolution in the data and that's why I setup a WattVision account to log data every 15 seconds. I have been writing both the XML to a log file and parsing the XML data into a sqlite data base which eventually I hope to use for data display and energy analysis. Since the transmitter emits an RF signal, you can add additional monitors and I have recently setup up an Arduino Mega with an ethernet shield and microSD card to log the XML data stream. The Current Cost monitors or displays only send serial data out at 110K baud and the XML packets are typically 230 bytes long. It reports a history of readings every two hours and those packets are around 1500 bytes in length. The current cost data is closely tied to Pachube which provides data hosting and access. The bridge device is based on an arduino and at one time the current cost development was planning to release the source code for the bridge but it looks like they changed their plans.

Hope this helps explain this system a bit better.

 

[turbo2ltr]

Got my unit.. Looks nice, though I swear I ordered a black one and they sent me white. Oh well.

I got it all connected, but seems a lot of people are having problems with this bridge. I created an account at my.currentcost.com but no data has come through.
I can ping the bridge.
Do I need a pachube/cosm account for it to work?

 

[Nekota]

Got my unit.. Looks nice, though I swear I ordered a black one and they sent me white. Oh well.

I got it all connected, but seems a lot of people are having problems with this bridge. I created an account at my.currentcost.com but no data has come through.
I can ping the bridge.
Do I need a pachube/cosm account for it to work?

No need for pachube / cosm account as that is created for you by current cost registration. I see you have your unit working with the 5 minute data feed.