Slashdot Mirror
Real-Time Power Monitoring Options?
tedpearson writes "I've wanted for quite a while to be able to look at my electricity usage in graphed form, both real-time and historical data. There seem to be a number of options for power monitoring in existence: some that hook into Google PowerMeter, others to Microsoft Hohm, and some that are standalone units. I've also seen DIY projects using Arduinos for reading the data and sending it to a computer. But I haven't found anything that is quite what I'm looking for, and I am hoping the Slashdot community can give me some advice. What I'm looking for currently: Some sort of device(s) that a) accurately measures power usage, b) allows me to access the data for storage in a database for my own graphing/analysis purposes, c) will work with MacOS (doesn't require Windows), and d) doesn't cost more than $150 or so. DIY is fine, though I don't understand circuit design, which is keeping me from designing something myself."
He's just getting you back for all the times you played kitchen-implement drums while he was trying to nap.
Hug him for it.
Are you saying you're un-lazy enough to walk a few feet outside and read your meter? And write down the reading? Every five minutes? For a month?
Yes, it's very easy to track your average monthly power usage, it's right there on your bill. It's also easy to check your instantaneous usage by looking at the meter. What the OP wanted to know wasn't just a point measurement, but a running graph to see how it varied from hour to hour throughout the day.
Pound! Bang! Bin! Bash! is this a shell script or a Batman comic?
Of course PG&E really wants the capablity to charge us double on the hottest days
Wait, you mean they want the capacity to raise price when demand spikes, so as to help the market forces discourage use when reduced use causes the most benefit to the market, and thus allow them to stretch out their infrastructure allotment and help save the planet?
Shocking, SHOCKING I say! :)