[RE-wrenches] Home energy monitoring was (low cost DAS

[Jason Szumlanski]

We love the TED, but the Google power meter seems pretty useless in its
current version. The major disadvantage of the TED is that you can't
monitor it from the Internet unless you do port forwarding on your
router (or use the less than stellar Google Powermeter). There are some
third party applications out there, and it is open source, so new
applications may be developed to take advantage of the hardware. You can
view the interface on a iPhone using the browser. The interface is quite
good, with a just few things on my wish list. You can download data to
Excel for detailed analysis. The display is easy to understand for
novices, showing both kWh and $.

Jeff Irish made a comment about it being more of a "toy." The hardware
*is* a but chintzy. We had a display that did not communicate properly
in our first shipment. The documentation is a bit sad. The customer
service leaves quite a bit to be desired, but in their defense, I think
they are extremely busy fulfilling a backlog of orders. Tech support was
not interested in diagnosing my display issue - they just wanted to RMA
it. They would not advance ship a replacement unit.

The company has some apparent problems, but the product function is good
and 3M just invested in the company. I expect good things in the future.

If you want to view the interface live, you can check mine out at:
http://www.fafcosolar.com/go/TED
Note: MTU1=Net Utility Usage, MTU2=PV production, MTU3&4=Air
Conditioning.

Jason Szumlanski
Fafco Solar
http://fafcosolar.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2010 13:40:56 -0400 (EDT)
From: wlbryce at pineridgeproducts.com
To: "RE-wrenches" <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Home energy monitoring was (low cost DAS
	systems)

As for the TED, it does work and if combined with the google power meter
it is a good solution. I have used the Fat Spaniel for over 4 years on a
SWWP Sky Stream and I would never spend my money on that system.

Just my two cents from the wind side, and we never sell a system without
some sort of DAQ, so the end user knows what his turbine is producing!

Logan

> I'm looking at TED 5002-c. The Energy Detective tech says that you can
> monitor home usage as well as the inverter.  It's sent to a
transmitter
> and
> wireless to your computer to view energy usage and inverter
production.
>
> Any experience with this product?
>
> What types of home energy monitoring devices are others using out
there
> for
> their customers?
>
> --
> Alex Cozine
> NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer
> Brothers Electric & Solar
> brotherselectricsolar.com