My GEM, Dash Box Install

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jgt1942
Posts: 33
Joined: Sun Jun 07, 2015 1:41 am

My GEM, Dash Box Install

Post by jgt1942 » Sun Mar 26, 2017 5:45 pm

First let me say that I've been super slow to get the ball rolling and it is still a work in progress and have a big thanks to Teken and Ben for getting me to my current state. I purchased my equipment (2-GEM and 1-DB) late August 2015 and started the install shortly after receiving everything. Basically my house is all electric, just over 3000 sq feet of living area which is heated and cooled, I have just over 1000 sq feet in the basement, it is not heated or cooled. All of the ceilings except the living room are 10 feet, the living room is 12 feet, located in Prescott, AZ. The exterior walls of the house are constructed from E-Crete which is an autoclaved aerated concrete block, see http://www.e-crete.com/ for more details. It is NOT concrete like we use in a sidewalk, it is much lighter in weight and easy to cut with a handsaw. The big downside of the E-Crete is that water can pass through the block therefore nothing is below ground level and you need to watch for any cracks in the stucco to ensure water does not get to the block. We have a Santa Fe design, rather than a flat roof it actually slops from the front parapet to the back of the house with about a 2 foot drop over a distance of about 60 feet. The insulation is a foam spray, about 8" thick on the underside of the roof and inside parapets. we have 32 solar panels where each panel under ideal conditions should generate about 230 watts but I have never see it produce this much. The house is shaped like the letter "y", has 32 corners and sit in a cavity of Granite rock.

One of the reasons for installing the Brultech equipment was an attempt to discover why our electrical bills are so high, we see a low of about $150 and a high of about $330, this is with 32 solar panels. Per American Solar the panels are producing electricity within spec and per the POCO (APS) their meters are working correctly and stated that I'm just using a lot of electricity.

It is obvious that I'm using a lot of electricity but the big question is what is using the electricity. Both American Solar and APS stated that because their equipment was working as expected they could not help me.

After several rounds of looking locally and trying to find somebody that could help I started to explore the possibility of monitoring and discovered Brultech. After several email and phone calls we were able to determine what I needed and the order was placed. Shipment and receipt was fast and now the ball was in my court.

Installation was for the most part easy, I have one main panel (this of course feed the entire house), one sub panel in my garage/workshop and one sub panel inside the house that feeds the entire house and our second garage. The following image identifies the location of the electrical panels.
House Plan top half.png
House Plan top half.png (96.53 KiB) Viewed 14447 times
Electrical Panel Location
Electrical Panel Location
Electrical Panels.png (80.44 KiB) Viewed 14447 times
A = Location of main house panel on the outside wall
Following is the image of the Main panel outside the house., The meter on the left is the main POCO meter, the meter on the right is for the Solar feed back into the POCO power grid
Main House Panel Outside Before.png
Main House Panel Outside Before.png (363.34 KiB) Viewed 14447 times
B = Location of the garage sub panel on the inside wall, one GEM with a wireless module is located just to the left of the sub panel, electricity for the GEM is provided by an outlet that I installed in the bottom of the panel
Following is an image of the (A) garage sub panel (B) the wireless GEM, (C) the outlet I added to power the GEM
Garage Panel with cover removed sm 4.png
Garage Panel with cover removed sm 4.png (361.47 KiB) Viewed 14447 times
C = Location of the office panel, the 2nd GEM is located in the fire sprinkler shutoff access which is in the closet behind the electrical panel. The GEM is connected to the DashBox in the same access area via RS-232 connection. The DB is connected via Ethernet cable to an Ethernet switch in the wiring box located in the closet behind the electrical panel.
Following is an image of my office electrical panel
Electrical Panel in office.png
Electrical Panel in office.png (757.32 KiB) Viewed 14447 times
Following is the area behind the fire sprinkler shutoff (this is where the GEM and DB will go
Fire Sprinkler Access Door A&B 02.png
Fire Sprinkler Access Door A&B 02.png (402.91 KiB) Viewed 14447 times
Following is an image of the (A) wiring box in the closet, (b) the fire sprinkler access panel
Ethernet Panel 02.png
Ethernet Panel 02.png (299.35 KiB) Viewed 14447 times
Following is an image of my kit from Brultech and a few other supplies I purchased locally.
Brultech Elec Monitor Supplies 02.png
Brultech Elec Monitor Supplies 02.png (883.48 KiB) Viewed 14447 times
jgt1942
jgt1942
Posts: 33
Joined: Sun Jun 07, 2015 1:41 am

Re: My GEM, Dash Box Install

Post by jgt1942 » Mon Mar 27, 2017 3:12 am

The following contains more details about the actual install.
Working with Ben we determined the necessary hardware for my house. I used an Excel Spreadsheet and even today I often refer to it. I've included the file and suggest you modify it for your installation. As you view the spreadsheet you will see that I have
- Identified the electrical panel and within each electrical panel I have identified
- The circuit breaker position
- The size of the breaker
- If the breaker is a single or double
- The BrulTech CT
- The CB number this is a repeated column but I found it helpful to have the information in the two locations.
- The GEM channel that the CT is connected to
- What items are attached to the BC. This identification is still a work in progress. Knowing what is attached is very helpful when determining what is placing a load on that breaker. You are welcome to use my spreadsheet for your install.
Terdik Breaker Analysis.xlsx
(15.44 KiB) Downloaded 604 times
Following is an image showing the before and after of the CT installation in the Office electrical panel. You cannot see it but in the bottom left corner I had to punch out a knock-out and I installed a rubber grommet to protect the CT wires. As you can see the additional wires starts to make it a bit messy.

NOTE: I highly recommend that you turn OFF the electricity in the MAIN house panel.
Office Panel B&A.png
Office Panel B&A.png (1.09 MiB) Viewed 14447 times
NOTE: I highly recommend that you turn OFF the electricity in the MAIN house panel. Sorry to repeat this but it really is important that you turn off the power. To install the CTs on your breaker wires you MUST, loosen the screw holding the wire in the breaker, physically remove the wire from the breaker, slip the CT over the wire, reinsert the wire in the breaker and then retighten the screw. During this procedure it is highly possible that you will touch something and get a jolt of electricity that could end your life. Play it save and ensure the power it turned off. I have several UPS units for my computer and they all started to sing when I shut the main power off. So I had to manually power each of them off.
Following is an image showing a close-up of a few CTs installed.
Circuit Breaker with Current Transformer.png
Circuit Breaker with Current Transformer.png (708.73 KiB) Viewed 14447 times
Following is a before and near after of the GEM installed in the Fire Sprinkler shutoff access area.
A = Office electrical panel on the other side of the wall
B = CT wires coming from the office electrical panel
C = GEM Note the messy wires, I'm planning to clean this up a bit but I should have done it when I installed the wires.
D = CT Wires from the Office panel
E = DB
F = Electrical outlet I installed to power the GEM and DB. I should have also installed an electrical bulb to make it easier to see in this very dark area. I used a flashlight, it worked but an electric bulb would have been much better assuming the light from the bulb would not be shining in my eyes.
G = Ethernet cable running from DB to Ethernet switch in the Ethernet wiring panel
Fire Sprinkler Access Door A&B.png
Fire Sprinkler Access Door A&B.png (1.01 MiB) Viewed 14447 times
I'm sure that you have noticed the breakers and wires are labeled. I used a Brother P-Touch printer that is connected to my computer. Brother has a nice application (P-touch Editor) to print labels and also has label templates that you can download. The printer also has a keyboard that can be used to enter what you want on the labels but the P-Touch Editor is MUCH easier to use. For some of the labels I just used either Scotch tape or masking tape, I much prefer the Brother labels.

Following is an image of the Garage sub panel, just to the left you can see the GEM. From the sub panel to the GEM I installed plastic pipe to ensure nothing would hit the wires and break the connection.
Garage Panel with CTs Installed 02.png
Garage Panel with CTs Installed 02.png (706.4 KiB) Viewed 14447 times
On the outside of the house where the main panel is located I installed plastic pipe to contain the CT wires running from the panel to the GEM on the other side of the wall.
Main House Panel Outside B&A.png
Main House Panel Outside B&A.png (582.43 KiB) Viewed 14447 times
Following is a before and after of the CTs installed in the main panel. This panel proved to be much more of a challenge to install the CTs mainly because several of the wires are 8 gauge and it just does not want to bend easily. Also the distance from the panel through the plastic pipe to the GEM inside the garage was more than the length of the CT leads. More on this below.
Main House Panel Outside Before&After.png
Main House Panel Outside Before&After.png (648.93 KiB) Viewed 14447 times
To solve the short CT lead issue I installed a terminal strip in the main panel, connected the CT leads to it and then ran a grounded shielded wire from the terminal strip to the GEM, see the following image. Again note the mess with the wires. Again I should have done it correctly.
Main Panel Outside 01 Terminal Strip.png
Main Panel Outside 01 Terminal Strip.png (580.06 KiB) Viewed 14447 times
NOTE: The terminal strip is secured to the back of the panel with two self-tapping screws. To make it MUCH easier to insert the wires from the CT and going to the GEM I removed the terminal strip and left it suspended in the air. After all the wires were inserted and the screws holding the wires were tightened I then reinstalled the terminal strip.
OK I really did clean up some of the wiring a couple days ago, following is the before and after of the main panel outside the house.
Main Panel Outside 01 Before & After Rewire.png
Main Panel Outside 01 Before & After Rewire.png (852.84 KiB) Viewed 14447 times
Attachments
Main House Panel Outside After.png
Main House Panel Outside After.png (330.54 KiB) Viewed 14447 times
jgt1942
jgt1942
Posts: 33
Joined: Sun Jun 07, 2015 1:41 am

Re: My GEM, Dash Box Install

Post by jgt1942 » Tue Mar 28, 2017 4:16 pm

OK the quest continues. While the above summarizes the install there was a HUGE time gap between the initial install and today. The good news is that I'm back on track. Recently Teken has devoted a LOT of time helping me get through some configuration errors and a few connection errors. It appears that I now have everything correct but that really remains to be seen.

I've started some analysis in an attempt to discover what is using all of my electricity. Prior to the installation determine such was very much of a shot in the dark, possibly I'd hit the target but it was highly likely that I would not. Plus if it did hit the target it was near impossible to confirm or the wait time for the confirmation would often be months. Now the confirmation can be either instant or worse case one day. This is a HUGE improvement.

Following is my approach. As a first step you have to determine what are the top consumers. This can be obtained by looking your Top Consumers view. Open the DB and by default it displays the Overview and in the bottom right you see the Top Consumers.
Top Electrical Consumers .png
Top Electrical Consumers .png (115.61 KiB) Viewed 14422 times
When I zero in on this section I see something like the following.
Top Electrical Consumers 2017 0327 1338.png
Top Electrical Consumers 2017 0327 1338.png (24.78 KiB) Viewed 14422 times
thus for men the top four are
1 - Water Heater #1
2 - Exterior HVAC
3 - Office
4 - Ref/FP/Ent Cent - I have two breakers tied together in the GEM. This is going to make it difficult to determine where the problem resides. I looked at my GEM and I have a few unused channels thus I will be able to break these out. Initially when I was installing I realized that my 40 breakers in the Office panel would not allow me to monitor all 40 breaker because the GEM only has 32 channels. Thus during the install for some dumb reason I combined too many CTs.

So what to do. Since the water heater is the biggest user it is the obvious choice, following are some possible steps.
Step 1 I need to determine how much and when. For this I used two different views, (1) Monthly (2) Daily as in the following images.
(1) Monthly Click Overview > Calendar > select the channel > Change the units to $
View Month 2017 03.png
View Month 2017 03.png (82.78 KiB) Viewed 14422 times
(2) Daily Click Channels > use the dropdown to select the desired channel > change the date to ensure you will see a full day > click the Apply Changes button
View Daily 2017 0325.png
View Daily 2017 0325.png (75.34 KiB) Viewed 14422 times
After I had the view I could perform additional analysis
View Daily 2017 0319 Analysis.png
View Daily 2017 0319 Analysis.png (37.66 KiB) Viewed 14422 times
NOTE: You may have noticed that in the above images because I've already made some changes before capturing all the necessary images I don't always have the same channel and the images are from different days.
Other facts also see the following image
- I have two 50 gallon electric water heaters (A & B). I'm only using one, thus the obvious question is why do I have two heaters. When building the house one of the "experts" (he claimed to be an expert) suggested that I really should have two heaters. After moving in we quickly realized that this was totally unnecessary. During the install another "Expert" (the plumber) was instructed to install the necessary valves so either heater could be swapped in/out of service. Just a couple of months ago I discovered that this was done incorrectly and I corrected the install.
- Both heaters are plugged into 240v outlets (C) and each outlet is a seperate breaker in the office panel
- One outlet, identified as heater #1 also has a digital timer (D). Before I had the BrulTech, shooting the the dark I listened to another "Expert" and he stated that I could save at least 15% of the electrical cost if I did not heat the water at night. There is a savings but it is not 15%, more on this later.
- There is a circulating pump (E). When designing the house my wife and I were impressed by model homes that had almost instant hot water in all the taps thus we copied their efforts and installed a pump.
- Circulating pump timer (F). After moving in and receiving a few VERY high electrical bills I quickly realized that we did not need the circulating pump running 24x7. With the timer installed it runs about 12 hours a day. This reduced the electric bill by $35/month.
FYI - Whole house water filter (G)
- Water softener (H)
- Landscape drip water system (I)
Water Tanks In Basement.png
Water Tanks In Basement.png (930.02 KiB) Viewed 14422 times
OK so now you know the top issue and some facts supporting the issue. Lessons learned at this point are:
1 - I think the top lesson is I should have considered on-demand water heaters more than I did but during the build obviously a LOT was going on, I had the input from a lot of different "Experts" and relied on them more than I should have.
2 - About 2/3 of the house is on a slab and the hot water pipes are buried under the slab in the soil about 1 foot deep. While they are insulated the insulation is nowhere what it really should be. Lessons learned from this - should have suspended the floor system rather than using the slab method. Also we could have routed the pipes in the walls, e.g. up the vertical walls into the attic area (for me this is conditioned air space). Also I could have put geothermal pipes in this area and heated/cooled the house.

My next steps regarding the hot water.
1 - I've already switch the tank being used to plug into the outlet with the digital timer. After some analysis I determined that I "might" be able to save a max of $13.50/month by using the timer. I already had the timer, I had installed it thus at this time why not. I just set the timer to turn off at 2100 hours and back on at 0815 hours. I've very interested to see what the recovery time will be when the timer turns on and the hot water tank recovers. This of course must be subtracted from my $13.50 savings. The recovery time must be completed before my time of day rate changes from $0.06/kWh to $0.14 (winter) $0.18 (summer) rates.
2 - I need to check the temp of the hot water, possibly I could reduce the temp
3 - Possibly install an insulating blanket/insulation on the tank. If the tank does not have an insulation value of 24 or higher then additional insulation should be installed. A tank that is warm to the touch needs additional insulation. Check with the POCO and see if they offer insulation kits and possibly will install it. When I place my hand on the tank it is cool thus I suspect this will be very low payback.
4 - Shorten the hours when the circulating pump is on - I mentioned this to the wife, let's just say she was not excited about the idea. Thus I have an uphill battle to educate her.

If you have some suggestions, please let me know. Either post in this thread or send me a PM.

The saga will continue, stay tuned.
jgt1942
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