Anyone got a free energy monitor from eon?

Stupid web site needs flash to see anything other than the basic text. The small image next to "See a demo of the monitor" looks very much like a CurrentCost Envi but it might be a Trec, have a look at currentcost.co.uk.

I have an Envi it works well and squirts TTL level serial data out the back. I built my one TTL to RS232 convertor from the junk box or you can buy a TTL to USB adapter from CurrentCost. Though as Eon supply software one assumes they also supply the USB lead. The data stream is XML and the formating is published. There are various other bits of software available for other platforms.

It looks like the envi to me now I have seen both. I will have to wait and see what its like as I have just ordered one.

The image in the "see a demo" flash is of an Envi. Good bit of kit, especially for free. In the FAQ answer to the question "what's in the kit" say it's an "Envi R".

Forget to add this. It's a fun thing, I can't say it's saved us any energy but you can use the data to plot things like this:

Do you get energy consumption figures from this thing, or just power? It's dificult to accurately integrate from power to energy if the readings are discrete, much better if the device can do it for you continuously and export the integrated figure (which is after all the way you're billed).

Anyone had the energy monitor arrive from eon?

I was originally told 28 days delivery, which is now overdue, I contacted them and they said they've extended the delivery period to 90 days ...

I'm not surprised tbh. It quickly got mentioned on the moneysaving websites and this no doubt swamped them with orders. I too ordered one

- as an existing customer it gave the option when you logged in. I haven't seen or heard anything yet either. On the login page it just acknowledges the fact I ordered one.

On moneysavingexpert there is an npower offer of a free fridge/freezer for 900 people. You have to agree to have them monitor the energy usage of it over a year via broadband connection and then its yours to keep. The webpage to sign up was down yesterday but apparently its not on a first come/first served basis. They ask you questions to determine your eligibility for different household types.

Mine arrived today (via royalmail) battery powered transmitter with single phase clamp, 2x cheapo alkaline D cells, receiver/display unit with wall wart, USB cable (looks like it has embedded TTL-RS232 to USB converter), CD of software.

The plastic around the screw holding the battery door had snapped off in transit, but a bit of insulating tape will do, I'm hardly going to send it back ...

On Fri, 16 Jul 2010 12:44:22 +0100 someone who may be Andy Burns wrote this:-

From the photo on their web site it looks like a Current Cost one

A quick test with the kettle (rated 2400W at 240V) showed an increase of

it has icons for gas, oil and water. I did see this DIY project ...

Transco can fit one if you have lots of dosh. It's a box with batteries in it (D cells, IIRC) and provides electrical isolation from the meter connection.

They also have a standard price list item for disconnecting unauthorised circuits from their meter's electrical sensor.

All I need for my gas meter is a camera, some image recognition software (just numerals), and a display! .-)

These devices cannot produce a true power reading - they simply aren't monitoring the right data in order to generate that info. Use them as a rough guide to show increases and decreases in consumption. Some items (such as CFLs), they usually well over- estimate the consumption, but that's due to the strange current waveform a CFL draws. You real meter gets this all right though.

By inspection, it's not an electrical connection to begin with, the meter is "Pulse Ready" with an L shaped cavity and clip arrangement in the lower right corner of the index plate designed to take some form of reed-switch/hall-effect/opto-sensor.

See top of page 3

I'm sure they do ... perhaps blutack *is* the answer ;-)

I'm just going to count the flashes. No connection at all.

Yes, I'd considered using a camera, but the meter cupboard isn't convenient for a USB webcam, and using a capture card with a coax fed camera seems a faff, when the meter is designed with a non-contact pulse built in ...

It's usually much easier than that. There's often a disc or a pointer with high contrast or reflective areas which can be picked up by an optical proximity sensor, and gives you much higher resolution than reading the numbers.