Best home energy monitor? Sense, emporia, etc?

[karamazov]

I'm in the market for an energy monitor that can help me track the energy usage of various loads, with the goal of helping me identify where it makes sense to start looking for more efficient solutions (i.e. a heat pump vs my current AC/furnace). I need it to accurately meter my individual loads to calculate how much I could save with a more efficient alternative.

I've read some good things about the Sense Solar, but also seen some reviews that say it doesn't do well identifying resistive loads.

I also have more than one main panel ( wellhouse with 230v pump) so if I went with something like the Emporia I would need at least two units (from what I can see it only goes up to 16 and my home main panel has more than that).

Does anyone have experience with these products? What would your recommendation be?

 

[Wnuk]

I have the emporia and have been pleased with the results. I find it to be very accurate when compared to monthly usage on utility bill.
You have 16 individual circuits but keep in mind it does total usage with CT around each main lug. What I’ve done is monthly monitor of certain circuits and once I had the data I needed moved the CT’s to other circuits.

It’s helped me identify a very inefficient dehumidifier I never suspected, some phantom loads I was unaware of, and also made me more conscious of my usage. The biggest load (aside from my EV) was a water heater using about 13kWh per day. Since it was 25 years old I went ahead and replaced it with a heat pump water heater And could not be happier. Now my daily consumption for hot water is only 3kWh per day. Couple that with no need to run that hog of a dehumidifier in the same room as the HPWH and I’m saving over 6000 kWh per year this year.

 

[karamazov]

I have the emporia and have been pleased with the results. I find it to be very accurate when compared to monthly usage on utility bill.
You have 16 individual circuits but keep in mind it does total usage with CT around each main lug. What I’ve done is monthly monitor of certain circuits and once I had the data I needed moved the CT’s to other circuits.

It’s helped me identify a very inefficient dehumidifier I never suspected, some phantom loads I was unaware of, and also made me more conscious of my usage. The biggest load (aside from my EV) was a water heater using about 13kWh per day. Since it was 25 years old I went ahead and replaced it with a heat pump water heater And could not be happier. Now my daily consumption for hot water is only 3kWh per day. Couple that with no need to run that hog of a dehumidifier in the same room as the HPWH and I’m saving over 6000 kWh per year this year.

That's awesome. I didn't even think to move around the CTs, makes a lot of sense.

 

[BentleyJ]

I'm also using the Emporia Vue 2 energy monitor with 2 CT's for the mains and 8 branch circuits (it has connectors for up to 16). As Wnuk mentioned above, you probably don't need a CT for every circuit, just the important large users, the main CT's will total everything else on the lesser used branch circuits.
The only complaint I have with Emporia is the lack of NET metering for the 50A branch circuit CT's. This feature is only available for the Mains CT's at this time. Their tech service told me the feature would be added but so far it hasn't happened and one of my solar systems feeds into a subpanel so NET metering of both mains and 1 subpanel is important.

 

[Quattrohead]

Emporia Vue 2 for the win.

 

[mgdean]

I have had a Sense unit for the last four years. Over the years I have picked up many energy monitoring Kasa plugs. They sink right up to Sense and allow me to name them as specific devices. Now I can pinpoint loses or show drops when I replace devices. Not sure about Emporia, but I hooked the Sense CT's to the mains of my distribution panel in my front yard. That one unit monitors 5 electrical panels throughout my farm and house. The 25 Kasa monitoring plugs are attached to anything from chicken tank heaters, to engine block heaters, refrigerator, freezers and anything else I need to "control" or track. What I have found is knowing how much energy is important, but knowing when you are using it is key.

 

[MurphyGuy]

I have IotaWatt. Been using it for almost a year and I love it. No 3rd party needed, no privacy concerns, and if they go out of business it will NOT become a paperweight.

 

[karamazov]

I have IotaWatt. Been using it for almost a year and I love it. No 3rd party needed, no privacy concerns, and no worries that if they go out of business it will become a paperweight.

Now that seems like my cup of tea. Do you just monitor loads or do you also monitor grid import/sell?

 

[Kornbread]

I have IotaWatt. Been using it for almost a year and I love it. No 3rd party needed, no privacy concerns, and no worries that if they go out of business it will become a paperweight.

Give us the 411 on IOtawatt, where to get it, and how to get it up and running locally. Can it measure dc?

 

[GregTR]

I like my Emporias. They're cheap and work great. You can also flash them and get them integrated into home assistant for a lcoal only cloudless access. https://github.com/emporia-vue-local/esphome

 

[RGH69]

I have had sense installed for over a week now. Since I have the solar feeding a critical load panel, Sense doesn't appear to be able to cope with that. It has not figured out 1 device yet. Sense support has not responded. I will be returning it.

 

[MurphyGuy]

Now that seems like my cup of tea. Do you just monitor loads or do you also monitor grid import/sell?

Both loads and the grid lines in and out.

Give us the 411 on IOtawatt, where to get it, and how to get it up and running locally. Can it measure dc?

Get it straight from their website IotaWatt.com

Follow the install directions. It's very easy.

I don't think it can measure DC

 

[Will Prowse]

I love my emporias. Never had a single issue and they come at a great price.

 

[fromport]

I have had sense installed for over a week now. Since I have the solar feeding a critical load panel, Sense doesn't appear to be able to cope with that. It has not figured out 1 device yet. Sense support has not responded. I will be returning it.

Loooong time sense user. Sense works only with oldschool grid tie systems only. As soon as you talk anything hybrid/AIO it totally loses it.
Anything that has a secure/critical load panel behind inverter, it will not be able to function/recognize.

 

[Ampster]

I have had the Emporia for a couple of years. I recently purchased the Emporia EVSE and charge my EVs from excess solar.
I tried a Sense several years ago but had difficulty having it identify my loads including my EVs.

 

[svetz]

The IotaWatt is frequently favored over similar products like the Emporia Vue as the data isn't stored on the web. @FilterGuy says the Sense is "okay". Check out @MurphyGuy 's post for a fabulous installation of the Iotawatt. The Energy Detective (TED) seems to be a cross between the Iotawatt and Sense. There are also two other products I've heard about: the GEM monitor and the RIO. Or, if you're handy there's the DIY (WIP) approach.

So far I've just been using a clamp meter and an energy meter.

 

[ChrisFullPower]

Emporia!

And if you run Home Assistant / ESPHome you should flash it with the custom firmware that's available. Keep your data local and 3 - 4 sec refresh time!

 

[fgerin]

The Emporia looks great, but probably quite expensive.
Maybe good to have a look at Shelly's 3EM https://www.shelly.cloud/en-be/products/shop/shelly-3-em

On my side, I used mostly a cheap plug meter (Chacon) for individual appliances. Then I added an Eastron in the main panel... With both I covered all my needs.

 

[z_zk_z]

Deleted

 

[Kornbread]

How can I measure dc as in pv production, battery charge/discharge, etc., and get that into HomeAssistant?