Emporia energy monitor is lame, can't get the data I want, ESPHome?

[Quattrohead]

Maybe new accounts are on a different platform because I do get per second readings on all of my circuits on their website or app.
However the home assistant integration that taps into their servers does not get that same resolution at all, hence the local ESP alternative.

 

[mciholas]

Maybe new accounts are on a different platform because I do get per second readings on all of my circuits on their website or app.

I downloaded the CSV this morning.

Only the last 2.5 minutes were 1 second resolution of the the 1SEC.CSV file. The rest of the file was 60 entries for every minute with the same reading. Here are the last ~6 minutes of the 1SEC.CSV file for the main power (the rest of the file prior is all 60 second blocks):



It is like seeing a stack of cash but only the top bill is $100 and the rest are $1 underneath. They cheat to make you feel like you have 1 second data, but you really don't.

They obviously went to some length to develop a system to show SOME 1 second data, but then HIDE the rest under averaging. It took EFFORT to do this, so this is quite deliberate.

However the home assistant integration that taps into their servers does not get that same resolution at all, hence the local ESP alternative.

Are you sure you can download the 1SEC data? Or have you been fooled by only looking at the end of the file? If HA cant get it, it probably doesn't exist.

Mike C.

 

[Quattrohead]

It depends on how much data you try to grab, I just did 1 day and had the full per second data, then tried a month worth of data and is was as you said.
But, if you monitor the web portal or app, you will see "live" per second data.

 

[mciholas]

It depends on how much data you try to grab, I just did 1 day and had the full per second data, then tried a month worth of data and is was as you said.

I tried one day, I got a mix of 1 second and 60 second data. It appears the 1 second data is only stored when the app is open. Close the app and you don't get 1 second data.

But, if you monitor the web portal or app, you will see "live" per second data.

Not if you scroll back into the past in the app, I get 60 second blocks.

Example where it transitions:


The data just isn't there.

Mike C.

 

[mciholas]

I heard back from Emporia. After they kept trying to tell me how to download CSV files (which I knew), they finally understood my question was how to get 3 hours of 1 second data. it is already lame that 3 hours is all you can get, but at least I wanted that.

Their answer:

Mike,

The app has a time out every 20 min, which means if the app does not see any activity, it will close and average the seconds data to the minute.

If you just make sure you're not letting the app close in 20min, you will have seconds data in your CSV files.

We DO offer seconds resolution data, and it's available for 3 hours, as long as you keep the app opened!

In order to log 1 second data, you have to be constantly babysitting the app to keep that alive.

This is STUPID. Why have a data logger you have to basically monitor in real time?

In other words, if you are looking, they show you 1 second data. If you don't look, they throw it away and only save 1 minute data.

Think about the software effort it took to make this happen. Their server has to be aware if any app (mobile or web) is open, tell the sensor to send 1 second data only then, otherwise average data to 60 seconds, and store that data. This is bizarrely way more effort than simply storing the 1 second data directly.

These kinds of irrational design decisions are hugely frustrating.

Mike C.

 

[1201]

I heard back from Emporia. After they kept trying to tell me how to download CSV files (which I knew), they finally understood my question was how to get 3 hours of 1 second data. it is already lame that 3 hours is all you can get, but at least I wanted that.

Their answer:

Mike,

The app has a time out every 20 min, which means if the app does not see any activity, it will close and average the seconds data to the minute.

If you just make sure you're not letting the app close in 20min, you will have seconds data in your CSV files.

We DO offer seconds resolution data, and it's available for 3 hours, as long as you keep the app opened!

In order to log 1 second data, you have to be constantly babysitting the app to keep that alive.

This is STUPID. Why have a data logger you have to basically monitor in real time?

In other words, if you are looking, they show you 1 second data. If you don't look, they throw it away and only save 1 minute data.

Think about the software effort it took to make this happen. Their server has to be aware if any app (mobile or web) is open, tell the sensor to send 1 second data only then, otherwise average data to 60 seconds, and store that data. This is bizarrely way more effort than simply storing the 1 second data directly.

These kinds of irrational design decisions are hugely frustrating.

Mike C.

Get an inrush clamp meter and iotawatt and ditch emporia

 

[wattmatters]

This is STUPID. Why have a data logger you have to basically monitor in real time?

You're using the wrong tool for the job.

 

[Quattrohead]

I do not get the answer that they are giving you and it does not seem to be how it works for me.

 

[mciholas]

You're using the wrong tool for the job.

The tool vendor lied. It doesn't collect 1 second data. They went to extra lengths to make the tool defective.

I will be flashing it with ESPHome which should "fix" the tool to do what it is supposed to do.

Mike C.

 

[mciholas]

I do not get the answer that they are giving you and it does not seem to be how it works for me.

Tell me exactly how you get it to work. Emporia doesn't seem to know how, so you are doing something special.

The only way I can get 3 hours of 1 second data is to have the app open and constantly keep messing with it so it doesn't go to sleep. 3 hours of that is ridiculous.

Mike C.

 

[seropaul3]

I'm considering purchasing an Emporia Vue Gen 3 monitor (has wired ethernet and more reliable screw terminals for CTs).

Does anyone know if the ESPHome flash code will also work on the Gen 3 hardware?

 

[mciholas]

Does anyone know if the ESPHome flash code will also work on the Gen 3 hardware?

It seems like the ESPHome community is actively working on this based on this thread:

Emporia Vue Gen 3 Support · emporia-vue-local esphome · Discussion #264

Back in June, a FCC entry for 2AS6P-EMV3A (https://fccid.io/2AS6P-EMV3A/Internal-Photos/Internal-Photos-6584145) went public, which shows the gen 3 device should still be ESP32 adding ethernet, and...

github.com

Based on the progress so far, I think they will get it to work well. The code is unlocked, so it can be changed, and the changes in configuration seems manageable. Looks like they may have a little bit of calibration and tweaking to do, but seemingly getting close.

I'd give it a little bit to see where the ESPHome progress gets to, and I suspect it will become an "officially" supported port at some point.

The changes in Vue 3 over Vue 2 are very meaningful. The use of pluggable headers helps reduce the issues with the tiny phone jacks (I've had problems with that on the Vue 2). And the presence of an Ethernet port is very helpful when Wifi issues are present (such as range and interference).

Mike C.