First, I definitely don't want to sound negative about these monitors, and I hope the topic doesn't convey such a message. I figured it would catch owners' attention and hopefully they would provide some feedback.

I am interested in monitoring, and from my research the Brultech here seems to be the best. However, it will amount to what I consider a significant expense. I have read where others are putting in two or even more ECM-1240s to monitor their electrical usage, and that would run up to possibly $500. I wouldn't get that high, but could easily get over $300 if I got two.

I was hoping to find out if there is a practical benefit, such as finding out something is using much more electricity than thought and reducing consumption, is there a value-added when selling a home with one of them installed, or is the ability to monitor the usage and see neat graphs alone worth it?

For most people without a PV solar array, I would assume it is mostly curiosity, with some slim hope of finding energy wasters and/or changing habits that may actually pay for the installation costs of the monitor.

If you have a PV array, I assume you want some way (maybe some arrays already have this capability) to monitor the energy consumed versus energy produced.

I have used Kill-a-watts for years, but always forget to read them until a power glitch resets everything And then you have to punch all those numbers into some sort of spreadsheet to do anything meaningful.

The good thing is that by getting rid of energy wasters or changing habits, you "know" that you will save energy in the long run, even if you stop the actual monitoring. So it isn't like paying extra for a more efficient appliance, that then dies prematurely and eats up any anticipated savings.

As a geek, I just like looking at the graphs of the various circuits in my house. And I like knowing the monthly totals spent on hot water or HVAC to determine when/how a device should be replaced.

Has anybody done the math and really thinks their monitor has already paid for itself? That award may go to a large family that loves long showers and leaving every light on.

Like Wayne, I enjoy the graphs and also actually seeing the differences that I make to "things".

One area where it was extremely helpful was with my heater usage this winter. Last year I was tracking by hand, noting the on-off times for it. I did some extra work regarding insulating things this year and I can just pull up a graph or chart to see how it worked out. I had unusually frigid temps this year and KNOW that my propane-fired heater stayed off longer than it used to.

Another, more simpler, benefit to me was realizing that every time I hit the bathroom, I was flipping lites on along the way. One bath lite bar used 4 100W bulbs. "It's only on and right off...". Now it has 4 23W CFLs - less than one old bulb and it's also brighter in there.

Little things like are so easy to see the before & after with these devices, it becomes a game to lower any circuit that's being monitored.

And with the rolling blackouts we've had recently here, I have hard proof of when and how long they hit me with them.

So many of these little nickle and dime things are nothing short of ridiculous to me. It doesn't take many nickles & dimes to make a buck and these ECMs definitely help show me where I can.

I can't tell you how many times I've looked at the before & after graphs and said, "Wow..."

I was hesitant because of the price when I wanted to order two ECMs and 20 CTs. I bundled up a few circuits and have the "Unmonitored loads" staring at me. I want another ECM and more CTs.

This thing is worth every penny, IMHO, and I have zero regrets.

And, like Wayne, I think the graphs and charts are cool...

Another benefit is providing data for cost/benefit analysis of energy efficiency investments. For example, I am interested in a ground source ("geothermal") heat pump to replace an existing air exchange heat pump. Since my heating is all electric, there is excessive consumption on really cold days. However, my heating season is not too long, so the cost of a new system may not pay off for a very long time. Having a year's worth of data from the heat pump will add some accuracy to the analysis.

There is some short-term benefit in the HVAC area as well. The ECM monitor allows me to individually track the three 50-amp heat pump circuits: compressor, fan/coils, and extra coils. I was suprised at how often the resistance coils turn on - sometimes hourly for, I suspect, the 10-minute outdoor unit defrost cycle. Also, I'm not so sure the nightly 2-degree turndown on the programmable thermostat is such a good thing because it triggers the whole system to come on for an hour or more in the morning, with a whopping 15 KW draw. Given a few days of consistent temperatures, it might be possible to determine if I would be better off leaving the thermostat at a constant temperature.

Just seeing all the graphs is really cool It is addictive, and makes you keeping wanting additional units to cover every last watt in the house.

While I haven't done the calculations, too lazy, my units have definitely paid for themselves. I have found energy wasters I didn't know about (multi-room amplifier consumes 60W even when no zones one, laundry machine consumes 10W after end of cycle until door opened, etc). We have recently been moved to time-of-use electricity pricing. By seeing where/when power is being consumed, I have been able to reduce consumption and move consumption to off peak hours.

Once all the changes have been made, the graphs and values will allow quick checks to make sure nothing has come back on. I also display all the numbers for the household to easily see so they can see the impact of doing things.


Allan.

Now that is something I'm interested in too. I've been thinking about solar water heating, but I don't have any idea how much energy the water heater uses, so the potential savings is unknown too.

I have used the TED1000 for several years to monitor my total usage but just added solar panels last Nov. and since the TED 1000 does not graph negative numbers, I have been looking for a replacement. The Brultech seems to be the best bang for the buck but to monitor all my circuits, I thought I too would need more than one unit. But after drafting a layout of my house and all my breakers, I think I can get away with just one since many of my circuits have wall outlets, ceiling lights, etc. that rarely get used. In the beginning, I can just move around some of the CT's and monitor different circuits until I feel comfortable that I can eliminate the ones that really don't need constant monitoring. The geek in me also wants to see every watt being used but the logical (cheap) me says don't overdo it.
I also have used my Kill a watt to check specific appliances so I can see what they draw and that has come in handy as well.

I am hoping that the Brultech will help me convince my wife that I am not totally crazy but then that might be crazy...

Jeff in PA

I have the TED as well and a Watts Up Pro ES version. In fact, I still have the TED hooked up to the main legs. The WattsUp is great for individual devices but also means a lot of plug & unplug and, of course, is useless with hard-wired loads like my pool pump and swamp cooler. The Brultech actually tipped me off to a problem or two with both of them.

Those "rarely get used" circuits are the ones that amazed me the most. After tweaking enough of them, you can make a bit of a dent in overall consumption. They're those nickle & dime things that I mentioned. I never thought about them until I saw the graphs and the "after" differences made.

I have propane fired heat but the fan signature is still apparent. I also seem to think that maintaining a temp appears beneficial to me. I seem to get longer off-cycles and shorter on-cycles with that concept. With me, shorter run-times means less propane as well.

I have 4 or 5 computers running pretty much 24/7 and HAD some old CRT monitors that would be used for some. No more. It definitely justified me spending a buck or two on some newer flat wide screens. Same with the 12 year old 27' tube TV in one room. Replaced it with a 32" Vizio and the difference is amazing.

I really wish I had some power generating functions here so I could appreciate those functions as well.

Regarding the "cheap vs geek" battle - I think you'll end up succumbing to the geek in the long run. I know I did by the time I made the purchase.

On another note - I have my dual ECM setup MUXed to the Ethernet device which, in turn, is plugged into an old LinkSys wireless router I had laying around that runs on DD-WRT firmware. It makes the 50 ft wireless connect from garage to the network without any hiccups.

http://ecm1240.plotit.com/
http://www.plotit.com/ecm1240/pictures.htm

The benefits are endless:

Call home to daughter: "Did you do the wash yet?" "Yes, Dad."
Hmmmm..... I don't see any electricity being used today by either the washer or the
dryer.
Daughter: "Ummmm.... I was just in the process of loading it when you called."

From work:
See lights on in five different rooms. Call home and tell son "Can you just have the
lights on in one room at a time?"

From smart phone:
See energy usage on oven, and know that I need to drive home, because the wife
forgot to turn it off.

One day, I called home just before driving home, and I described the entire day to my wife!
Exactly what she did all day, from when she put her toast in the toaster, to her turning on
the coffee maker, how long she ran on the treadmill, how much TV she watched, when she
did the laundry, etc. Her response "Do you have hidden cameras mounted throughout the
house?"

I guess for superGeeks, it is just another tool to occupy their endless curiosity.

Our utility periodically sends out a mailer that shows how your electiricty usage compares to others with similar sized homes. We were using twice as much as the average. I figured there were two possibilities. One, our digital meter is miscalibrated or two we are using twice as much which begs the question why.

So, I started doing some research on what systems were available, their capabilities, and how that mapped to the problem I wanted to solve. To answer question #1 I needed the capability to monitor the mains. Since I figure the liklihood of a miscalibrated meter is small I figured I needed the capability to monitor individual circuits as well.

I looked at TED but was concerned about the reliability of power-line communications and the number of circuits I could monitor. I looked at a few others but capacity was always an issue. I chose GEM considering cost vs. capability, reliability, portability, and flexibility. I must say that the Brultech folks were very helpful and there seemed to be an active "community" to engage with.

So for me the benefits will be in answering my question and then being able to do something about it. Beyond that, I foresee being able to take the GEM with me to my next home. Other benefits have accrued as well. Now I have every circuit in my panel labeled and I have a diagram of the location of every switch, outlet, and wired load in my house and which panel circuit it belongs to. The next owner may appreciate this. I'm also going to be checking into whether or not there are any tax credits that might be applicable. The plots a definitely cool and really help you visualize where potential savings are and how they relate to your lifestyle. I'm also storing the monitor data which will be great for analysis.

Hope it helps!