After giving up Emporia, this Refoss EM16 affordable circuit monitor has become my electricity manager

[Yvetteyin]

Living in Sacramento with solar panels, two EVs, and a house full of energy-hungry gadgets, I’ve been obsessed with optimizing every watt. After testing a few energy monitors, the Refoss EM16 has genuinely surprised me with its balance of affordability and precision. Supports 16 circuit channel monitoring, suitable for high energy consumption scenarios such as home solar systems and electric vehicle charging piles.

The 16-circuit granularity lets me track solar production vs. consumption circuit-by-circuit. During last month’s heatwave, I noticed our AC was draining stored solar power by 11 AM. Comparable performance to premium monitors at a fraction of the price!

But I really want to know, how do you balance battery reserve % vs. peak shaving? I’m torn between maximizing self-consumption and keeping backup power for outages. In addition, What is the sampling rate for the EM16? I need it to be much less than 15 minutes. I want to use it to notify me when the 15 minute power is going to exceed a certain value, so I need to aggregate at a higher granularity. Does anyone know?

 

[bgreet]

Just curious, what was the issue with emporia? Works fantastic after flashing with esphome

 

[1201]

Joined yesterday, only one post and it's to push a product.

Yeah, smells like spam.

 

[TacoMeat]

Just curious, what was the issue with emporia? Works fantastic after flashing with esphome

Is there an easy way to flash with esphome or do you still need that flashing work bench thing?

 

[CaySol]

I installed the Refoss over the weekend. Works and exports the data to Home assistant easily.

 

[Yvetteyin]

Has anyone ever used circuit coefficient settings?

 

[going_commando]

View attachment 287716

Has anyone ever used circuit coefficient settings?

Lol. PG&E with DIN circuit breakers and whatever that mess is?

 

[Quattrohead]

Smart Home Energy Monitor with 16 50A Circuit Level Sensors, Measure Power Usage in Real-Time, History with App (16 50A Circuit Level Sensors) - Compatible with Home Assistant - Amazon.com

Smart Home Energy Monitor with 16 50A Circuit Level Sensors, Measure Power Usage in Real-Time, History with App (16 50A Circuit Level Sensors) - Compatible with Home Assistant - Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

Here is another one that seems the same.
I just flashed my emporias yesterday, making the connections and flashing was the easy part, trying to figure out how to actually do it was the hard part for my simple non-programming brain.
But to be fair once they were flashed in ESPhome they immediately appeared in home assistant with all of the pertinent data, super nice.

 

[1201]

Smart Home Energy Monitor with 16 50A Circuit Level Sensors, Measure Power Usage in Real-Time, History with App (16 50A Circuit Level Sensors) - Compatible with Home Assistant - Amazon.com

Smart Home Energy Monitor with 16 50A Circuit Level Sensors, Measure Power Usage in Real-Time, History with App (16 50A Circuit Level Sensors) - Compatible with Home Assistant - Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

Here is another one that seems the same.
I just flashed my emporias yesterday, making the connections and flashing was the easy part, trying to figure out how to actually do it was the hard part for my simple non-programming brain.
But to be fair once they were flashed in ESPhome they immediately appeared in home assistant with all of the pertinent data, super nice.

this one "circuit setup" works locally in home assistant right out of the box.

Expandable 6 Channel ESP32 Energy Meter Main Board

Introducing the CircuitSetup Expandable 6 Channel Energy Meter – the ultimate tool for monitoring and analyzing energy consumption in your home or workspace. This cutting-edge meter provides …

circuitsetup.us

I already use the iotawatt but i need about 5 more channels so Im considering getting this one and ordering the cts from aliexpress to save some money

 

[Skypower]

“Living in Sacramento with solar panels” + “During last month’s heatwave,”

I’m in Sac and I certainly don’t remember a heatwave in February. Unusually cloudy for CA.

 

[Backyard]

I’m in Sac and I certainly don’t remember a heatwave in February. Unusually cloudy for CA.

I'm in the Sacramento area too. Heat wave would have been 60° if you can even call it that

 

[Skypower]

Refoss on Amazon “frequently returned item”
Noticed a few Emporia copycats now.

 

[CaySol]

This video walks through flashing and he suggests the Refoss if you don’t want to go down that road.