LEDs vs. Fluorescent Bulbs

Wandering through the home center this week to pick up a few things, I came across a clearance bin of LED bulbs - 4 x 60W equivalent, GE, soft white - 98 cents. I picked up two boxes. This morning I decided to go through the condo and pick off the handful of remaining fluorescent bulbs that got enough use to justify replacement,

I ended up replacing four bulbs - two hallway ceiling fixtures, a bedroom table lamp, and my front porch lamp. I've gotten used to the fluorescent warm-up over the years; kind of like a propane or kerosene lantern while camping - takes a while to come up to temp. I'm 100% sure I went through the condo and replaced incandescent bulbs with fluorescent bulbs when I first moved in (2009); this is a fairly quick product lifespan. It's a testimony to the reliability of fluorescent bulbs that I've got a box of spare / replaced bulbs kicking around - rarely if ever had to replace the fluorescent devices.

I'm a bit too Yankee frugal and environmentally conscious to just toss these. I'm sure whoever is settling my eventual estate will be grateful for the task.


I did a quick survey of the remaining fluorescent bulbs - back deck (almost never used), rear basement door (ditto), two bedroom ceiling fixture bulbs (rarely used, mini receptacle), and a couple of 3-way floor lamps. There's an old pull chain fluorescent tube fixture in the basement (24" long, tool bench lighting). Nothing that gets used or left on a lot. I've also got a few incandescent bulbs left - some ceiling track PAR lamps in the yoga room, on a dimmer.

Next time I'm in the home center I'll check on the availability of 3-way LEDs and dimmable PAR LEDs, and if I see another bulb bargain I might replace these stragglers as well.

Remember when one had to replace light bulbs regularly - when flicking a switch and getting the soft pop and bright flash of a bulb burning out was a thing? I can't remember the last time a bulb went bad...

And I have to wonder if there are stats out there about the reduction in residential fires related to the thermally cooler and lower current drawing lighting tech of the modern era. Once upon a time, the watts consumed by lighting was a pretty significant part of the home electrical panel load - I have to believe it's become almost insignificant.

Tuesday morning musing by a power quality engineer with a bit too much time on her hands!

The Shoemaker's Children Go Barefoot (no more)

For someone who makes the bulk of her income working with power quality, my own computer systems have been fairly under-protected for many years.

I picked up a stand-by UPS (APC Model ES550) many years ago (maybe 10? hard to say, might have been my second device); it has served me reasonably well. And even though I'm well aware of the nature of stand-by UPS (time delay before inverter switches on, step wave inverter output) it's done a pretty solid job of keeping my computer up and running.

A few days ago, my home office lost power for a bit - clocks were reset, the computer switched off - and I realized it was time to upgrade the office UPS. I picked up another APC - a line interactive, sine wave output model RS 1000MS - rated for 1000VA / 600W.

It's got plenty of juice for my needs - sitting at about 20% of load / 37 minutes of battery time with my desktop, monitor, cable modem, and a small backup server and peripheral hard drive. I'm much enamored with the front panel LED screen and the PowerChute software. And while I have not set my computer up to hibernate at the command of the UPS, that's a possibility.

I go back a long ways - when a buck a watt was perhaps a reasonable price to pay for a small UPS. So to get all this for about $150 - well, I'm not complaining.

And I took the time to run my house cable through the internal TVSS and the Ethernet from the cable modem back to the computer through the UPS - so I've got a better chance of surviving nearby lightning strikes / transients - related to both transient voltages and ground potential issues. I'm not at the point of driving a ground rod and connecting an external ground though. I'm down in a basement and close to the residence service panel, so not super worried about ground issues.

And I've also spent some time separating critical loads (computer, monitor, cable modem, exterior drives / servers) from less critical loads (printers, speakers), plugging these latter into the TVSS only outlets. And while I was down there with the system off, untangling the cable spaghetti, wrapping and tying off cables, neatening things up.

Line Level Thermostats: Smart, Connected

Back in September 2014 I put together a blog post about how to save money when using electric baseboard heat, commonly found in condos and smaller residences, or locations not easily served by natural gas, propane or heating oil.

At that time, there were three primary options:

• Analog, mechanical thermostats
• Digital, electronic thermostats
• Timer based smart thermostats (~$50 these days)

Over time, I've upgraded my residence to include four smart thermostats - bedroom, living room, yoga room, and basement office. And I could probably use one in the kitchen. They have been pretty reliable and useful; when I occasionally turn the heat up for comfort, they come back down to more economical settings at the next time change. The heat goes down to 58F at night, warms up to 65F in the morning before my wake time, and drops down to 62F during the day (when I am typically in the basement working or out of the house). A spare room I use for yoga practice is closed off and kept at 55F unless I'm practicing (~85F) and the thermostat resets if I forget to lower the temp when I'm finished. A little bit of hassle changing the time in the spring and fall, but not a big deal.

With the Consumer Electronic Show going on in Las Vegas this week, I thought it might be a good opportunity to poke around and see what's out there in terms of smart thermostats for line level applications. Here's what I've found:

• Stelpro KI STZW402WB+ Thermostat for Electric Baseboards and Convectors  ($85 on amazon)
  Lots of positive reviews and customer questions answered. Nice review at the Smartcave.com
• Mysa Smart Thermostat ($100)
  Appears to be in development, limited shipping in December / January
• Caleo by Casa ($100)
  Also seems to be in beta release  "Due to high demand, please allow a 12-15 days lead time."
• King Electric ATMOZ2-240-Wifi 240V 16 Amp Wifi Programmable Line Voltage Thermostat ($145 on amazon)
  Mixed reviews, lots of concerns about the app
• Dimplex CST-240 CONNEX Smart Line Voltage Thermostat for use with CONNEX CX-MPC or CX-WIFI wireless controls. ($65)
  No reviews, or Q&A, seems like it needs to work with a main or base controller rather than stand-alone

I'm not at the point of purchasing yet - looking at ~$500 to swap out all the thermostats I'd like to be programmable. But if I were buying right now, I'd go with the Stelpro device - seems to be the most mature technology, works with a lot of smart / programmable house systems. 

The Short (and Personal) History of Light Bulbs

Once upon a time, light bulbs were pretty simple. You picked a wattage: 40 / 60 / 75 / 100. You picked a brand: GE or Philips or Westinghouse or something generic. There would be some tweaking around the edges (light color, minor increases in efficiency, bulb shape) but pretty much a light bulb was a light bulb. If you got fancy, there were three way bulbs 30 / 70 / 100 or 50 / 100 / 150. And there were some odd shapes and sizes for ceiling fans, chandeliers, wall sconces, etc.

I recently gathered up all the loose bulbs kicking around. I've got a small box of incandescent bulbs - dregs from a much earlier time; replacement units that never quite found their way into a socket. Many of these were installed and replaced (by CFLs or LEDs) others were spares never installed. I confess that, long after CFLs were dominant, I would opt for an incandescent bulb in a few places where I valued the "instant on" ability, dimmability, or the warmer lamp color. And I've got some clear globular lamps that were bathroom vanity lighting for many years.
 

I've also got a much bigger stash of CFL bulbs. These were much more finicky - I'd buy bulbs that took too long to warm up, bulbs that were slightly different colors, bulbs that were slightly smaller or larger or enclosed. Over time, I replaced most of the bulbs in my home with CFLs, and over time, most of those got swapped out for more efficient and friendlier LED bulbs - I've really enjoyed watching LED technology come into the marketplace, prices to drop, features to improve. Since the CFLs did indeed last longer than incandescent bulbs, there were a lot fewer opportunities to swap them out organically.

So now I've got a bin full of bulbs. I'm too much of a yankee to throw them out  - perhaps envisioning an end-times scenario when older technology bulbs might come in handy. Been interesting to watch this particular bit of technology shift and change over my lifetime.

Draining a Dehumidifier

Documenting my little "never want to empty that dehumudifier bucket again" project.


(A) Bought a small drain hose ($7, Loew's) which screws onto the dehumidifier drain, directing extracted water into

(B) The reservoir of the sump pump (Little Giant model VCMA-20ULT, $45 online including shipping and handling). When reservoir is sufficiently full, the pump turns on, sending water through a check-valve into

(C) 3/8" plastic tube, which I've run up the wall, into the ceiling, and down to the

(D) washing machine drain, where it empties. The pump turns off when its reservoir is empty, and the check valve keeps the water from flowing back into the pump reservoir.

The only improvements I might make are:

(1) Place a shallow plastic tray or container under the dehumidifier and sump pump in case of some sort of failure or loose fitting. Just an extra level of safety....

(2) Run the drain into a large container with a tap or faucet (like a water cooler) which I could then recycle for houseplants / grey water. Although I'd have to be sure that did not overflow.....

The pump is very quiet, I almost never catch it working, especially compared to the relatively loud dehumidifier. I also have purchased a high current receptacle timer, designed especially for motor drive appliances, to cycle the dehumidifier (on at night, off during the day) if the cycling starts to bug me.

The Model VCMA-20ULT is perhaps a bit overkill (20' Head, 1.3 Gals/min) for my application, but there was not much difference in price between this and the next size down, so I thought it best to be conservative.

High Temperature Thermostat

One of my side jobs is doing facility support for my local yoga studio. They have some unique HVAC requirements - specifically thermostats that have higher than normal set-points.

Most commercial thermostats go up to 90°F or 94°F maximum. I was able to find one thermostat - the Jackson Systems Model T-32-P which can be programmed up to 122°F heating set-point.

It actually seems to be a very versatile device, with a ton of flexibility for many different systems:

• Up to 3H/2C conventional and heat pump systems
• 7 day programmable
• Large backlit display
• Auto or manual changeover
• Keypad and/or setpoint lockout
• Smart fan logic for commercial control
• Adaptive recovery
• Optional indoor sensor (T-32-S1 or TS-32-S2) or outdoor sensor (T-32-OTS)
• Outdoor temperature display with optional outdoor sensor (T-32-OTS)
• Available with integrated Modbus communications (Version 2.20)

We've got three of these installed right now - two in a large studio (forced air and baseboards, both heat only, and programmed for automatic warm up and night settings) and one in a small studio (heat / cool / forced air, no programming) and all are working great. 

Summer Peak Savings

EnergizeCT, the energy saving arm of Eversource, has an interesting web page devoted to reducing peak demand: CT Power Update: Demand / Air Quality - with a tool that maps forecasted and actual demand.

My suspicion is that, as smart metering rolls out, utilities such as Eversource will begin to pro-rate energy based on time of use (peak / off-peak) and perhaps even ding consumers for peak demand and/or low power factor, as they do commercial and industrial clients.

On the same page, they are also promoting a "Wait Until 8" program to encourage consumers from running major appliances during peak demand hours (12 noon - 8 pm). Things like dishwashers, clothes dryers, swimming pool pumps, etc. that could be run more consciously.  

Tesla Energy: Powerwall Home Battery

The internet (and public radio, for that matter) is abuzz with the launch of the Powerwall Home Battery, by Tesla Energy. 

Link through to read the details, but here are some highlights:

• Applications include load shifting, decreasing need to sell solar power back to utility, and back-up power. 
• Two primary capacity ratings, 7 kWh (daily use applications, $3000) and 10 kWh (back-up applications, $3500)
• Does not include inverter. 
• Ten year warranty.

Sorry, Elon Musk, but I need to rain on your parade. As the owner of a small condo (1200 square feet, including the basement, which is finished as my office) that has electric everything (heat, hot water, dryer, stove and oven), and as an electrical engineer concerned with energy efficiency, I happen to monitor my home energy use. I'm not a spendthrift - I've converted all the thermostats to digital / timer, all my lights are CF or LED, I keep the heat at 65F when I'm around and 58F overnight or when I'm out.

In February this year (admittedly brutally cold), I used an average of 175 kW-Hr per day.

 April (not quite warmed up, but more typical of a regular month), it fell to 60 kW-Hr per day.

So tell me just how useful your 7 or 10 kW-Hr worth of battery is going to be for me?

Yes, if one is burning fossil fuel for heat, cooking, clothes drying, hot water, has a modern energy efficient home, then I imagine 10kW-Hr could give you close to a days worth of power, if you don't dry your hair, turn on the A/C, or switch on a space heater. And it seems to be that if the bulk of home energy use is still coming from fossil fuels (to run a home for 12 hours on 10 kW-Hr, that seems to be a prerequisite) we're not really that revolutionary.

Edit: And because this has been sticking in my craw for a day or so, I did some additional digging.  According to the US Energy Information Administration:

In 2013, the average annual electricity consumption for a U.S. residential utility customer was 10,908 kilowatthours (kWh), an average of 909 kWh per month. Louisiana had the highest annual consumption at 15,270 kWh, and Hawaii had the lowest at 6,176 kWh.

909 kW / month = 30 kWh / day. And with most of the USA averaging 4-5 hours of peak solar production, (let's call it 8 hours of solar power), our "back-up" is going to need to supply at least 16 hours, or 20 kWh of demand. Twice the Tesla device capacity.

This is not rocket science (oops, bad analogy, I'm a big fan of Space-X). Folks have been using battery back-up in UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supplies) for decades for critical applications (computers, networks, patient care, etc.) - in much higher power ratings. But truth be told, it's really not all that cost-effective, most applications switch to some other form of energy storage for extended outages. Perhaps there's a mechanical solution (magnetic bearing flywheel? compressed fluid?), a thermal one (some form of heat engine), a chemical one (fuel cell), or something else. 

I like what you are trying to do. But it's sad that in all the interviews I've heard and stories I've read today, nobody has really done the math. 10 kW-Hr is not nearly enough capacity to take a typical home off the grid, even on a sunny day.

Follow-up: Bait and Switch - Electric Supplier Edition

Lawmakers Seek To Ban Variable Rate Electricity Contracts

Lawmakers signaled Tuesday they would revisit the controversial third-party electricity supplier market and seek to ban variable rates in residential electricity contracts.

It will be the second consecutive year the legislature aims to address consumer complaints about third-party suppliers, who they say attract customers with deceptively low teaser rates that quickly expire and leave consumers open to paying variable rates well above the standard rate available from a utility company.

Hugh McQuaid | Feb 24, 2015 3:44pm

Thanks to CT News Junkie for keeping on top of this!

Space Heaters = Power Quality Headaches

It's the time of year when space heaters begin appearing under desks, in alcoves, and in cold corners of offices in homes and commercial spaces.

"Looking for the space heater" is often my first check during a power quality audit in the winter - because electric space heaters are often the culprits in many power problems. 

• Fuse blowing or circuit breaker tripping
• Voltage drop problems
• Overheated connections or receptacles
• Neutral-ground voltage issues

A typical space heater will draw 10 - 12 amps at highest setting, and sometimes higher. This is close to the maximum rated for a 120 VAC, 15 Amp receptacle or circuit - which often also feeds lighting, office equipment, computers, etc. So a circuit or receptacle that has been perfectly adequate all year long is suddenly a problem. Coupled with laser printers (another power quality culprit) and it's a wonder anything works in the office this time of year.

If you need a space heater, check to see if you can get a dedicated outlet or circuit to power it - so that its current draw (and resultant voltage drop) do not affect your sensitive equipment. Remember that receptacles are often daisy-chained, so the empty outlet you find to plug your heater in may still be on the same circuit. And that same "daisy chain" may also be the point of failure - connections or splices in an upstream box or receptacle may be the place where the space heater added load causes a failure.

Here at the PowerLines home office, we've installed a dedicated 15A circuit - to run the space heater in the winter, and the air conditioner in the summer.

Bait and Switch: Electric Supplier Edition

I received a letter this afternoon from Verde Energy, my electrical supplier.

 

The big news: 

• Your current generation rate is 0.0999/kWh. You are currently under a fixed plan, which means your generation rate will remain fixed until 12/14/2014.
• Your generation rate will be 0.2099/kWh in your next billing cycle. 

Yes, you are reading that right, my energy rate is going to more than DOUBLE next month. The letter is dated 12/31/14 and arrived 1/5/15.

Needless to say, I hopped right on this, and procured a different supplier with a much more reasonable rate (the CL&P standard rate is, at present, 0.12629/kWh) - but I'm still pissed off that, from 12/14 through whenever the new supplier kicks in,. I'll be paying 21 cents / kWh.

And for what it's worth CL&P is damn useless here. I visited the Electrical Supplier website at www.energizect.com and was directed to the CL&P phone line to return to standard generation rate. The "electrical supplier" option was a simple pre-recorded message, and when I punched through to get an operator, it was a 30 minute wait. I hung up, and went to sign up with a different supplier.

Imagine how many people would ignore this letter or not notice until the next billing cycle. I'm planning to put the expiration date of the next contract period into my phone to get a reminder next year BEFORE the rate expires.

Electrical deregulation is, as far as I am concerned, a big freaking boondoggle in line with consumer credit - with all these independent energy producers playing fast and loose with "come on" rates and then, after the honeymoon period, lowering the boom, and hoping they get a few people who miss the transition to a "screw you" rate.

Winter Heating: Humidity and Apparent Temperature

Having problems getting and staying warm this winter? Finding yourself pushing the thermostat up past your usual comfort range?

The problem might be related to low relative humidity. The colder the outdoor temperature, the more heat must be added indoors for body comfort. However, the heat that is added will cause a drying effect and lower the indoor relative humidity, unless an indoor moisture source is present.

As an example, a comfort level of 70°F at 50% RH feels more like 65°F at 20% RH, a very typical humidity for a home without humidification.

Apparent Temperature for Values of Room Temperature and Relative Humidity

Many central heating systems incorporate automatic humidity controls; however there are often non-functioning or in need of service. Alternately, you can purchase a warm-mist or cool-mist humidifier.

Finally, there are solid (and cost-effective / green) tips to be found here: 6 Ways to Humidify Your House (Without a Humidifier)

See also: 

• Tips for Maximum Efficiency and Comfort  (ACCA Ohio) 
• Winter Indoor Comfort and Relative Humidity (infoplease)
• Cool Mist Vs. Warm Mist Humidifiers (Sylvane)

Standard Time and Resetting the Clocks

Daylight Savings Time ended this morning at 2:00 am. and like most of us, I've spent the morning checking, and resetting as needed, the household clocks and devices with timers.

Some things auto-reset:

• Windows based PC and laptop
• iPad
• iPhone
• Roku video player

Some "clocks" had to be manually reset:

• Bedroom alarm clock (digital)
• Yoga room clock (digital)
• Car stereo clock
• Television clock 
• Analog living room clock
• Kitchen clock (one of those Sieko "catch the GPS wave" clocks that never seems to be right)

I rarely if ever wear a watch, so if there are a few hanging out, it's a coin toss whether it's set to standard time or daylight savings time, depending upon when I last wore it. 

Clocks associated with energy savings and monitoring:

• Digital thermostats (four devices) 
• Mechanical timer for the basement dehumidifier
• Front porch timer
• Efergy power / demand monitor 

Clocks arbitrarily integrated into appliances:

• Microwave oven

I've gotten lucky on that one, most modern kitchens have a host of clocks - stove/oven, coffee maker, refrigerator, crock pot - but I've got older / lower cost appliances. That being said, I am sure I will come upon some clock in the next few days that has escaped notice.

Most have been pretty easy / intuitive to change, although the front porch timer (integrated into a standard wall switch) is tiny.  Occasionally I'll come across a clock that seems inscrutably resistant to adjustment, but not this time.

Someday, all of these devices will be connected to the internet, and all this stuff will happen automatically. But not today....

MyLight: Automated Night Lighting

The MyLight: Automated Night Lighting came across my social media transom this afternoon. 

The Mylight collection is a series of innovative LED-light products designed to enhance one´s lifestyle — delivering comfort and safety in your home. The Mylight is motion activated and turns on and off when you need it so no more fumbling for switches at night. It provides a soft indirect light for night time use.

While the individual pieces seem fairly simple and straightforward, it's a nice packaged concept - a couple of strings of warm LED lamps, a motion / light detector, a plug / power supply, and hardware to mount it under a bed or cabinet. Priced reasonably ($32 for a single sensor, $45 for a dual sensor unit, on sale). I'd be happy to put one under my bed - but the video makes me think that a nursery, bathroom or child's room would be even more useful.

Checking Outlets

An electrical outlet tester is an invaluable tool for any homeowner, do-it-yourself-er, or professional working in the electrical or energy field. There are many different types of devices that all qualify as "outlet testers" - and here we'll review the capabilities (and limitations) of the various devices.

The basic outlet tester (~$5 from home improvement and big box stores) provides a quick check of outlet wiring, and the presence of voltage on an outlet.

It can spot an open ground, open neutral, reversal of hot / neutral, or hot / ground. And it gives a quick "OK" check. Perfect for a quick check of all outlets in a space, checking on a repair, or confirming power at outlets, plug strips, etc.

For a few dollars more (~$10-15) one can get this device with a GFCI test button - pressing the button places a small (~ 20 mA) load between hot and ground. A properly wired and functioning GFCI outlet or circuit breaker should trip. Again, a good "quick check" for GFCI outlets in kitchens, lavatories, exteriors, garages, and other wet locations. It's especially handy if (for instance) a string of outlets is supposedly wired from a single GFCI outlet - one can check each outlet to confirm it's actually fed from the GFCI outlet and wired correctly.

Now, both of these devices are fairly limited in capabilities. They do not place a significant load on the source, so cannot identify loose or corroded connections, nor determine voltage drop for distant outlets. They cannot discriminate between the grounded (neutral / white wire) conductor and the ground (green wire / safety) conductor. Mixing or intermingling neutral and ground connections can cause electrical noise, safety concerns, and magnetic fields.

More advanced outlet testers are available to provide more thorough inspection and analysis of electrical outlets.

The first feature is the addition of an electrical load to provide some indication of voltage drop. Typically measured in percent based on rated load - the National Electrical Code suggests that "5% voltage drop under rated load" is "adequate for good service". Voltage drops exceeding 10% are possible - depending upon conductor size, run length, and condition of connections / junctions. If one is (for instance) using such an outlet for a home office in the far end of the building, with a laser jet printer, space heater, or mini-fridge, light flicker, low voltage, transients, and other problems may ensue.

A quick survey of outlet testers that measure voltage drop include:

• Suretest (Ideal Industries) - Various models, $300 - $400
• Extech Instruments - CT70 / CT80 AC Circuit Analyzer, $150 - $250
• Amprobe - INSP-3 Wiring Inspector Circuit Tester, $300 - $400
• General Specialty Tools & Instruments - CA10-AC Circuit Analyzer, $100 (great value, especially as it's advertised to measure neutral and ground conductor impedance!)

These devices incorporate a variety of options and features (digital metering, testing of neutral and ground impedance, PC interface, etc.) 

As a power quality consultant, I carry a small outlet tester with me to any site that might involve 120 VAC AC power issues. Such a device permits a rapid survey of all receptacles in an area or space, often spotlighting the problem area quickly - my report includes a table of all outlets tested, eliminating the need to open up each and every outlet, and allowing me to focus on specific problems.

In addition, grounding issues (especially intermingling of neutral and ground wires) can cause ground loops, ground noise, and magnetic fields. So if I'm looking for noise issues on a higher voltage or dedicated electrical system, checking out all of the nearby AC outlets is a good way to be sure there's no sneak path for ground currents or noise.

Nobel Prize in Physics - Blue LEDs

The Nobel Prize in physics goes to three men who gave us blue light-emitting diodes, used daily in your smartphone screen - Washington Post / Oct 7, 2014

A little "Residential Power and Energy" shout-out to these gentlemen - Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura. When I was cutting my engineering teeth, there were red LEDs, amber LEDs, and green LEDs. But without blue LED's, it's impossible to make white light (red + green + blue) and as a result, low energy LEDs were not useful for things like video images or illumination. They were used quite early for traffic lights (red, amber, green - works out!)

Now, "white light" LEDs, based on this discovery, permeate our world. My smartphone, low power flashlights and lanterns, low power residential lighting. I'm pretty sure there is not a single room in my home that does not use these in some way.

Red, blue, and green light combine to make the bright white produced by LED lightbulbs. Bulbs using blue light-emitting diodes are more efficient and have a longer lifetime than old fashioned bulbs (up to 100,000 hours, compared to 1,000 for incandescent bulbs and 10,000 hours for fluorescent lights).

Wonderful to have something so practical, and uniquitous, recognized by the Nobel Committee.

Efergy E2 Classic Energy Monitor

I recently picked up a small energy monitor for my home / condo, made by Efergy Technologies Limited. I'm always looking at new / low cost ways to monitor, measure, quantify electricity and power. The price point here was minimal ($100). The functions and feature set (monitoring demand, wireless display that can be moved throughout the home, USB interface to access data and produce reports, software to facilitate all that) all looked great.

Here's a quick review.
Technical Capabilities

Strictly speaking, the device is a CURRENT monitor. There are two clamp on current probes, but no voltage connection point - it calculates demand based on a fixed voltage, and presumably a unity power factor. I have not determined it it measures average current or true RMS at this point. It samples data on a 10 / 15 / 20 second rate. It's not super accurate, as a result, but it's "close enough" and certainly can provide a good comparative measure of energy usage over time.

It also has a third current probe "port" so can presumably monitor three phase power as well. It appears to be designed for a world market: 50/60 Hz, multiple nominal voltage settings, and multiple rate / tariff units.

Installation

The monitor was easy to install. Two clamp-on current probes (A) were connected to the mains coming in. I have a 100A panel, the probes appear to be sized for 200A maximum. The probes are not spring loaded, but use a nice little plastic latch / clip for secure connection, and since there is no voltage monitored, the vector / direction of the probe does not matter. I'm comfortable sticking my fingers in a live panel, but to be safe, kill the power before installation.

These are connected via a fixed cable to a transmitter (B) which is powered via 3 x AA batteries, or an optional DC supply. The company claims battery life of 8-10 months is typical for both transmitter and monitor.

The wireless display / monitoring unit (C) can be located anywhere convenient; I placed it atop the panel for the photo. It's powered via 3 x AAA batteries. The transmitter / monitor are linked via a simple push-button procedure. I had no problems getting them to talk. The expected range is 100 - 200 ft. although I found signal was sketchy up on the second floor. 

The past week I've had the wireless display sitting on my desk as I've worked, and have enjoyed (yeah, I'm an engineer, what do you want) watching the kW measurement track up and down as I work throughout the day. 

Monitor / Display Unit

The display for this device has some rudimentary information. There are three values available:

• Energy Now (KW) 
• Cost (per day) based on present energy ($)
• CO2 (per day) based on present energy (KgCO2) 

In addition, the device displays all of these parameters as an Average (over the life of monitoring, with energy in KWHr) and History (scroll through a daily, weekly, or monthly tally of demand, cost, and CO2)

The device allows you to set up variable rate (single or multiple) in cost / kWHr, and a CO2 usage factor.

The display is pretty rudimentary; and if I were relying on that I'd probably check out the Efergy Elite True Power Meter (more sophisticated measurement, more advanced display, temp & humidity) but that  device does not have "in the box" communications capability to a PC, and I am all about the data.

Software

The free to download software, elink, is pretty spiffy.  The basic HISTORY function displays demand on an hourly basis (per day), a daily basic (per month), or a monthly basis (per year)

 

Under the MANAGE function, the user can look at individual days, do a weekly comparison (for instance compare individual weekdays or weekday vs. weekend), as well as a month by month comparison.

Finally, there are some advanced options of tracking actual usage vs. planned usage, setting up complex utility tariff schedules (for those working with peak / off-peak billing) and adding multiple utilities (so one could presumably compare different rate schedules with actual historical demand data)

Reports

Last but not least, the software gives the option of generating a Daily or Monthly report - selecting a specific time period, and creating a PDF report. The "Add Stickie"feature is not all that intuitive or well documented, but from the main HISTORY page you can create comments on notable usage or patterns which would be great if one were creating a report for users, management, clients, etc.

The exported spreadsheet is pretty rudimentary: Date / Time / KWHr / Daily Max / Cost / Stickie Note(s). Including the Stickies is a nice touch. But really, the PDF report is pretty much all I might need.  

Using the Efergy Demand Meter

I can think of a lot of ways to use this device.

Professionally, it would make a great tool to do short and simple residential / small business demand audits. Hook it up, perhaps do some walking around turning things on and off and recording the demand, then leave it connected for a week and generate a report, with recommendations for savings.

As an end-user, I'd probably first characterize the household energy consumers. I'll be able to (over time) generate the cost (in electricity) for things like a load of laundry, a shower, a hot bath, and factor those in a bit. Might even consider replacing older / less efficient appliances. And although I've gone through the condo pretty well in terms of replacing incandescent bulbs and other energy hogs, perhaps I'll find something I've missed - most consumers who have been less fanatic than I will probably find a lot of room for improvement.

I can also watch the electrical demand on a real time basis, and if I've left something on (stove burner, iron, etc.) I should be able to spot that quickly.

Bottom line, really nice piece of technology - really well designed (hardware and software) and useful.

Thermal Imaging for the Homeowner

I've had an infrared thermometer in my tool bag for many years. These devices, small point and shoot meters often with a laser "sight" to ensure proper aiming, do a great job of measuring temperature of terminals, conductors, circuit breakers, transformer cores, etc. and I can be very useful for troubleshooting or diagnosing electrical problems.

Once a significant investment ($100-$200), prices have dropped considerably. This one, the General Tools IRT207, is under $40 from Lowes or Sears;  you can find low end devices for under $20 from some outlets.

Pricier "thermal imaging cameras" are a more recent innovation, which take still photos or video of infrared emissions. Running $2000 and up, these are out of range of most home-owners and small commercial users; but have become mainstays of home inspectors, electrical contracting, energy engineers, etc. And while prices have dropped (and features and capabilities have risen) these devices are still out of reach for most consumers.

But recently, several devices have become available in a much lower price range. While I am sure there are competitive units out there, I'm going to spotlight two different devices from Flir Systems.

First, the FLIR TG165 Imaging IR Thermometer  is a neat cross-over device; an infrared thermometer with a small (80x60 px) video image. The video is a little gung-ho for my taste, with driving rock music and Monster Truck Rally voice-over such as:

• "...not your old-school spot radiometer..."
• "....download images and data, and whip up a report later..."

Nevertheless, it seems like a great little device, and at ~$500 retail, it's dropped into the affordable range for many.

Next, and more exciting (to me) is the Flir One: Thermal imaging device for your iPhone 5/5s. This is a case for the iPhone device that includes a thermal / infrared imaging device. At $350 it's even more affordable than the handheld device, has a bigger image size, although perhaps less "point and shoot" ability (laser sight, etc.)

The applications of these types of devices are pretty broad for the creative home-owner, business owner or hobbyist, but some of the things I've stumbled across over the years include:

• Electrical inspection
• Mechanical inspection (fans and motors, automotive belts, pulleys, etc.)
• Energy conservation (checking insulation, windows, doors, ducts, walls, roofs, etc.)
• Checking for insects / pests / vermin in walls (apparently they produce a thermal signature)
• Checking  plumbing fixtures.
• Checking / calibrating cooktops and overs
• Seeing in the dark (security)

How to Save Money and Energy Despite Having Electric Baseboard Heat

When I purchased my most recent home, one of my big concerns was the heating system - specifically, electric baseboard heat. I've been living with gas heat for years - hot water baseboard, forced air in Hartford. I was concerned about comfort, of course, but mostly I'd heard much about the high cost of electric heat.

Now there are many innovative adaptive heat controls out there (the Nest device is particularly interesting, and worth it's own blog post at some point) - but for the most part these low voltage controllers are not designed to work with line level voltage used by electric baseboard heat.

Savings Opportunity #1: Zoned Heat

Balancing the cost of electricity, electric heat brings one big benefit - it's inherently zoned. Which means, instead of one thermostat for the whole residence, or perhaps two (upstairs / downstairs), most electric baseboard heaters have independent heat controls, called thermostats. My space (a small condo) for instance, has seven thermostats: living room, kitchen, master bedroom, spare bedroom, two bathrooms, and the basement. So there is a lot of possibility for fine tuning the heat - to heat just the spaces I commonly use, and perhaps save some money.

Savings opportunities include turning down the heat, and closing off unused or little used spaces, and  turning heat down in the bedrooms during the day, and other living spaces at night.

Savings Opportunity #2: Install Digital Thermostats

When I moved in, all of the thermostats in the place were old-school electro-mechanical devices. There was no visible temperature reading or feedback, the rotary dial was exceptionally coarse (with a resolution of 10ºF) , the calibration was highly suspect, and the heat control was simply ON / OFF. If the temperature dropped below a set point, the device turned on 100%, the space heated, and the device eventually turned off.

Such a system is prone to "heat creep" - with the resident feeling a little cold and turning up the heat without a lot of thought to what the actual temperature is (and then acclimating to the higher temperature), and without a good reference to turn heat up or down consistently.

So the first step in saving money is to install a Digital Thermostat. Such devices are available at home improvement stores for about $25 each. Make sure you purchase thermostats intended for line voltage (120/240 VAC) as opposed to low voltage devices intended for oil / gas furnaces.

An aphorism I picked up in the corporate quality world was "If you measure something, it gets better" and the digital thermostats have a thermometer on them providing immediate feedback to the resident. So instead of simply "feeling cold", the resident can look and see the actual temperature. It's amazing how much things like health / energy / activity, as well as the ambient humidity and outdoor light level, affects a person's perception of temperature. So with a digital thermostat, the resident can now see that the room temp is 65ºF (or whatever the comfort level is) and put on a sweater or sweatshirt rather than nudge it up a bit.

In addition, the digital thermostats have a much finer resolution (1ºF) which means even if the resident decides to warm it up a bit, s/he can restrict that to a few degrees. Finally, the digital thermostats use proportionate triac controls - which means that the heat is not simply ON / OFF, but might have four settings: ON / LOW / MEDIUM / HIGH. As the temperature drops, the heat turns on LOW - and if that's enough to warm the space, it never gets past that. So the heat control is more subtle / even and therefore more comfortable.

The electrical installation is fairly simple - comparable to changing a light switch. The only complexity is that the older thermostats are DPST (Double Pole, Single Throw) - which is to say they break both lines (in many cases, the baseboard uses 240 VAC with two hot lines). The digital device is SPST (Single Pole, Single Throw) - so one of the baseboard lines needs to be connected directly.

Savings Opportunity #3: Install Programmable Thermostats

Now, simply adding digital thermostats still leaves a lot of room for energy waste - if the resident neglects or forgets to turn the thermostats down at night or during unoccupied periods. In addition, turning the thermostats down at night means waking to a cold home. the next step is to add programmable thermostats to key areas: the living room, the master bedroom, the basement. This device is a bit more expensive: $50 at home improvement stores.

It has the same general functions as the digital thermostat, but adds a programmable function. The device shown in the photo permits four different timed settings per day (typically WAKE / LEAVE / RETURN / SLEEP) and can be programmed differently for weekdays (Mon-Fri) and weekends (Sat-Sun).

An example of heat programming: 

• Drop the house down to 58ºF at night; some folks like a cool house to sleep
• Prior to normal wake-up time, heat the house up to 65ºF or a comfortable temperature. 
• During the day, drop things down to 62ºF (if at work or out of the house). 
• Increase heat to 65ºF in the late afternoon for the remainder of the evening. 

One of the benefits of a programmable thermostat is that if the resident wants it a little warmer, or happen to be hanging in the living spaces during the day, they can bump the thermostat up confident that it will reset at the next timed change, and not leave the house warm indefinitely.

One downside of programmable thermostats is the need to program the thermostats and maintain the clocks (daylight savings time). The Wikipedia article cited above in fact notes: 

Difficulty with usability in residential environments appears to lead to lack of persistence of energy savings in homes...In addition to potential increased energy consumption, digital programmable thermostats have been criticised for their poor usability. 

But if one is committed to energy (and cost) savings and thoughtful about programming these devices, they can provide real savings. Hopefully, in the future, "smart devices" (such as the Nest device designed for low voltage systems)  that communicate and self adapt to resident patterns and habits will eliminate the need to manually program devices in the future.

Additional Savings: Cleaning Electric Baseboards, Positioning Furniture

In addition to thermostat upgrades, cleaning baseboards periodically will help to improve airflow - even a thin layer of dust will impede the convection flow such devices rely on. In addition, keeping space in front of such devices will prevent hot spots and permit even heating - consider using bricks or pieces of wood to space furniture away from heating units and permit greater air flow.

Wrapping an Electrical Power Cable

This one is a little obscure - but a great place to start. Anyone working with electrical power should learn the best way to wrap a power cord or cable - called the Over / Under Wrapping Method. Whether you use your electrical cords for outdoor equipment, holiday lighting, or home improvement, wrapping a cable properly can save time when it comes to use the cable, and add years to the cable or cord life.

If you want to get away from the coiled cable look (even after you've unwrapped your cable!), and you want to be able to unwrap your cables fast, and want your cables to store without added tension (just say NO to the carpenter's elbow wrap!), then try the following method. It's a little difficult to explain, and may take some practice, but once you have it down you can wrap cables faster AND better than ever before - by the way, this is the method most professional roadies use. 

Proper Cable Wrapping /  Sweetwater.com

A few comments about this video:

First, "...they'll just wrap it up like it's an electrical cord...". In reality, electrical cords get just as tangled, twisted, and damaged as video and audio cables without proper wrapping and stowing.

Second, the demonstration here is fine for smaller cables (audio or video), and shorter lengths. But for longer and/or larger cables, you will probably need to make a larger diameter loop, and rather than pulling back an arm's length (as shown) take a full two wingspan across the body and two arms. The over / under technique still works.

I learned this skill working in the video production field. I always assumed it had naval origins (seems to be the best way to wrap a line for quick and twist-free deployment, and sure enough, it's known as faking a line in those circles) But you can learn it as well.