![[VIC] Free PowerPal Power Meter (Usually $129) (Melbourne CBD + 20km Radius)](https://files.ozbargain.com.au/n/88/549388.jpg?h=4c330081)
This deal has been on before but was stopped due to COVID-19. I’ve got one and they’re a great device.
02-Nov-2020 Deal re-activated with easing of coronavirus restrictions
[VIC] Free PowerPal Power Meter (Usually $129) (Melbourne CBD + 20km Radius)
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chrisburnett on 03/07/2020 - 08:08 powerpal.net (22406 clicks)
Last edited 02/11/2020 - 10:27 by 3 other users
Last edited 02/11/2020 - 10:27 by 3 other users
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You may want to check your smart meter is compatible.
I've got the fronius smart meter. Any point in getting this as well
We're getting Solar installed next week with that Pristine Solar deal that was on here. Does the Fronius inverter come with the smart meter or is it an optonal extra do you know? I'm also interested if it's worth getting this PowerPal.
The Fronius Smart Meter is a paid extra - $250-300 I think. As its free get the Powerful (if you're in Vic)
Thanks, re-signed up - never got around to installing it at first because i was never home
Can we have one in QLD?
Sorry, free offer is Vic only at the moment - if you wish you can purchase for other states from our website.
Only inner suburb (20km)? No love for outer suburb?
No electrician required – the device sticks to your existing smart meter
So if you don't have a smart meter, it's not for you, regardless of your house type.
How is the data obtained ? Via connecting to the smart meter via wireless zigbee?
It got a light sensor that read the frequency of the small red led light on top of your household meter, apparently 1kwh translate to about 3600 pulse or something,
Nah mate it reads the blips of the led on the smart meter via an optical sensor so it’s able to report the usage in real time.
It uses BLE to connect to your phone to pass on the data.
It monitors the indicator light on the power meter. There is a video on the website which shows installation and how it works.
Have registered with them 6 times in last 4 months, but still heard back nothing!!!
Drop us an email to [email protected] with the mobile number you used to register and we'll chase this up.
I have one, pretty happy with it. Mine was installed 6 months ago, the battery is still at 100% so it should last it’s 10 years as described.
Remember to use the referral link!
No need for a referral link mate
Booo not available on the outskirts of Melbourne.
Does it need to be installed by someone and do they just send you the device?
They install it, because it is a government scheme, so they verify it has been installed and you have the app set up.
We're working hard to expand our coverage outside of Metro Melbourne and are actively recruiting new installers (interviews scheduled for next week).
Do sign up for the wait list and we'll contact you as soon as we've hired an installer for your area.
Their website is pretty basic and does not have details on warranty (ie. what happens if it breaks) and battery (how long does it last?) Seeing as the device only has one wire to attach to the LED I'm assuming its battery powered? how do you recharge and how often??
Read the FAQs it’s got all your answers.
https://support.powerpal.net/hc/en-us/sections/360003883793-…
thanks, i was looking for them but they were nested in support - cheers for the link.
It’s got a 10 year battery (youDon’t need to/can’t recharge) and uses an optical sensor and Bluetooth low energy for communication.
@hashtagbargain: thanks, also for others here is the direct link: https://support.powerpal.net/hc/en-us/articles/360025914634-…
"Powerpal comes fitted with high power batteries specifically designed for long life IoT applications and is rated to run continuously for 10+ years without user intervention under normal operating conditions."
Warranty available here:
https://support.powerpal.net/hc/en-us/articles/360037996673-…
Warranty is extended to 5 years for devices that we professionally install under the Victorian Energy Upgrades scheme.
ORDERED, thanks
Saw the installation video (DIY). How does it power itself though? From my understanding, it is just a camera monitoring the reading and sending out via Bluetooth. Or have I completely misunderstood?
I wonder this too, I assume it's just a super low power bluetooth/light sensor and it has a battery in there that lasts for years.
Powerpal is battery powered and has an (approx) 10 year battery life - check out:
https://support.powerpal.net/hc/en-us/articles/360025914634-…
Didn't know of this and tks Chris ( Hero ) on waiting list :)
Thank you stranger, I wasn't even aware of anything like this.
I had solar installed last year with a fronius inverter and the electrician said if I need realtime monitoring for consumption (generation is sent through inverter), then I need to spend another $300-400 for equipment and labor… pffAh good, I have been waiting for this.
We have solar, and so far I have manually compared the readings from our inverter with the daily report on the website of our energy provider. That gives us a good picture of how much we are saving with solar, but doesn't tell how much power each device is consuming in real-time. This will help (when it's dark at least).
Hi Ozbargainers, Pete Neal here - CEO and founder of Powerpal.
Great to see the interest in our product (and the positive feedback from those who had an install pre-COVID). We are a local Aussie tech business working hard to help households save on their energy bills.
Feel free to hit me up with any questions on the product or the partnership we have with the Vic govt for free installation under their Energy Upgrades program.
Any negatives ?
Wouldn't put my name to it if there was. ;)
You don't have an installer in my area yet. Is self-installation available?
Unfortunately the Vic Govt require installation by one of their registered installers (the program is as much about creating jobs as it is helping people saving on their bills).
We're working hard to expand our coverage outside of Metro Melbourne and are actively recruiting new installers (interviews scheduled for next week).
Do sign up for the wait list and we'll contact you as soon as we've hired an installer for your area.
Hi,
2 quick questions:1) I registered this morning but not sure if my meter is compatible , is there any way to check or installer will check?
2) What's the installation turn around time at the moment? few days or weeks?1) Drop us a photo of your meter to [email protected] and we can check for you.
2) If you are in one of the areas where we already have installers working then installation is usually within 2-3 weeks.
Thanks Pete , just sent the email to the mailbox you hilighted.
Request (1072)
Thanks Pete,
1. What does the meter installation involve, ie. turning power off, tapping into wiring etc?
2. Is any information ie. usage sold or used by the Government or a 3rd party?1) Check out the video here: https://www.powerpal.net/install
Note that for the Vic govt program professional installation is part of the free offer - no need to install yourself.
2) No, under the contract we have with the Vic Govt we are expressly prohibited from sharing your energy data with third parties, including the Govt themselves. The only exception is for aggregated statistics, averaged across all energy users or contractors who have signed an NDA (e.g. software developers) who help us actually develop the product.
Hi Pete, is the data it collects available via an API?
Not yet, but we're working on it! ;)
As of today there is a CSV export function in the app for offline data analysis.
Would really love this feature too! I'd love there to be an API so that we can get a complete picture of our energy usage! Just got it installed and was a little disappointed that it's only Bluetooth and "local". I think another device to be always on is not ideal.
Another vote for API please
Hi Pete,
Since your device communicates via BLE, do you provide an API so that I can pull the data into my own app (I've got a home-automation dashboard)?
Wasn't available in my area so registered my interest. Never received the confirmation text.
That's not good! Drop us an email to [email protected] with the number you used to register and we'll chase it up.
Thanks registered
If I move house, can I simply unplug and take it with me?
Sure can!
Any integration with HomeAssistant?
I registered but did not receive any sms. Not sure why
Managed to get the sms after 2nd attempt
That's not good! Drop us an email to [email protected] with the number you used to register and we'll chase it up.
I keep getting an error of 'failed to fetch' when i tried to enter my address to check for eligibility.
Then I tried a couple of other random metro Vic postcodes and all gave the same error. Has anyone encountered this issue?
Edit: seems to be a Chrome issue for me. Went via Edge and worked fine. Thanks OP
Thanks OP, just registered to receive mine.
Wonder if there are any trackers or meters for water as convenient as this one? Apart from the main water meter of course.
Do we need to be home?
Do you have to be present during the install? Or do a Saturday install if have to be present?
Yes, you will need to be home when the installer calls (this is the Govt's requirement not ours).
Yes, you will need to be home at the time of the installation (this is the governments requirement not ours).
Yeah you need to sign a form so the installers can claim the government credits. That's how they get paid.
I can track my usage with Agl App.
What’s new in this?
I guess you can move away from AGL app or Powershop app and still can have the capability to read your usage.
For me, I moved away from Powershop to enegeryaustralia for their $200 promo, I can still read the things in a couple months.
Just wondering what's the $200 promo that you mention?
Can you track realtime usage with AGL? Not the usual half hour blocks?
What's the difference between this product and the one already built into my smart meter? You can already see all your power usage live by logging in with login smart meter credentials.
This data you are looking at is not live, i.e. mine with Jemena is about 2 days behind. Yours may be less delayed but it is not live.
Mine with Jemena, I get immediate data.
On the top right side you’ll see a button “Get Latest Data” and it updates today’s data up to the last half an hour.
Mine behaves differently, just tried it now and the latest it has is 11AM yesterday
@Underlord: Good to see some Jemena Portal users here.
The way it works is that the meter collects the read every 30 mins, these are stored in the meter itself. The backend system then downloads it from the meter every 4 hour (batched).So when you use the “get latest data” button, it basically is fetching the last batched read.
So for example, if the batch runs at 10am, and you hit that button at 10.05am, then you will get the latest read at 10am. But if you hit that button at 9.55am then you are only getting the data that was collected at the 6am run.
Sometime the schedule may not be able to download the reads from the meter, this could be due to network congestion or other communication issues. In this case the unread data will simply “banked” up at the meter and will be tried again in next run. This is why some users are seeing data that’s older than 4 hours.
These collected data are then sent to relevant retailers on a daily bases.
So retailers data are at best always one day behind and whereas distributors are more up to date depending on how often they download the read from the meter.
Hope this make sense.
@OneEyePanda: Cheers for the info. That makes a lot of sense. I have found that the data seemed to be more current at times of the day seperated by 3-4 hours. Good to understand how it works!
Mine just has a 1 second delay. What model smart meter do you have, is your meter connected via 4G or ethernet? I would rather stick to the one built in because when something is free, your the product. In this case you are giving this company your useage patterns and allows them to see if you are home or not. Also allows them to send that data to power distributers so they can spam you and offer new deals based on your data.
With Powerpal, it's live so you can sort of monitor a certain appliance usage by turning it off and on and see the instant changes.
When will this offer end? I will move to a house at the end of the year.
There is no current end date on the offer, it will continue so long as the government keeps offering it.
BOO WHY ONLY MELBOURNE
Blame the NSW government :(
You can purchase it though
I was going to install one pre covid19 but couldn't schedule a time to be home for installation….
Thanks for the reminder! Now I'm always at home so will book again
For the DIY inclined, its literally just monitoring the LED pulse from the power meter - which damn near any power meter has, not just "smart" ones..
https://github.com/foxharp/irmetermon
https://learn.openenergymonitor.org/electricity-monitoring/p…Hi Associate..I am living in a unit. Only two units on the block. However meter is locked in a box by powerco. Can i still get this..?
It sounds like your meter is locked with a Victorian Power Industry Lock:
https://www.lockweb.com.au/en/lockwood-products/vpil/faqs/
We don't have access to the keys (see last item in the FAQ linked above for why).
Your installer will need you to unlock the cabinet to provide access to your meter when they come to fit your Powerpal. If you don't have a key reach out to your landlord and they should have one - you have a legal right of access to your meter.
Been using this in conjunction with Amber Electric for about 3 months (using the "waiting line" hack to jump the queue) and its bloody good!
Once they tie in live real-time pricing from Amber, it will be next level.I'm moving to amber, how did you connect both information together?
I've started to install smart switches at home and the idea is to get real data from powerpal and pricing from amber and disconnect unnecessary things if the kw price too high
Right now I'm using both the rough average prices that I plugged in to PP app, bi also simply just seeing my current usage in kW, then jumping across to the Amber app and multiplying that by the price (in cents).
It's one more step that is hopefully is auto done by PP app in the future, but for me it's still worth having right now as i can still see my direct actions and cost reductions (and savings) when the price in Amber/wholesale changes.
Let me know if you are still on the Amber wait list and want to skip itThanks, I'm managed to get the invite from Amber and another week to move to them.
I wish PP can allow the power usage in the API format so that I can 'instruct' my smart switches to be off during high price through Hubitat hub.
@BigLeviathan: Yeah, without it being always connected to your phone, only hope would be to link to a Pi with bluetooth.
Not sure what the battery life on the unit would be if it was "always connected".. Maybe it could only draw data every 5 mins or something?
This looks great, thanks!!
hi powerpal… very interested, sent you a pm
It seems it doesn't work if you live in an apartment (i put mine in Southbank)
Registered and within 10min got a call from power comparison company. Coincidence?
It's free. Your the product. Your probably gonna get more calls based on your usage patterns. Gotta make money some how.
Well it did say when I entered my mobile number that it will not be shared with anyone…
100% wasn't us!
Can I just get the device and install it myself at a later date?
I'll do it for $127 with free shipping