OWL Energy Saving Electricity Smart Monitor £34.77 + £24.95 Delivery. Usually $200 in Aus

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• 

  Gavman on 30/01/2012 - 22:42

  +1

  do u connect it to the main switch? what does it involve? Also does it show $ as i see it uses pounds

  • 

    mattypoika on 30/01/2012 - 22:49

    +1

    You can change the pounds into dollars, it also can have different tariffs for peak and no peak times. It connects around a wire near the power box, take about 10 mins to set up.

    Here is the CM160 manual it explains it all

    http://www.naturalcollection.com/download_docs/OWL+USBmanual…

  • 

    [Deactivated] on 30/01/2012 - 23:05

    +1

    There are three pieces in the CM160. The LCD panel is in your house, doesn't touch the mains. There is a battery powered transmitter goes inside the mains box. And there is a clamp that plugs into the transmitter and clamps around the main feed.

    The clamp doesn't touch the metal inside the main feed, so it's pretty safe. It uses induction (i.e. magnetic field) to figure out the current. In theory you should get an electrician to install it though.

    • 

      orange123 on 30/01/2012 - 23:10

      I cbb getting an electrician because that would double the price. It seems like an easy setup. Whats the worst that could happen?

      • 

        Elijha on 30/01/2012 - 23:36

        +12

        well an early entry into the Darwin Awards could be considered the worst.

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  orange123 on 30/01/2012 - 22:46

  I read reviews about this model in the post but the software seems like crap. Has anybody used this model before?

  Is there any other alternatives that anybody recommends?

  I have 3 phase power at home if that helps identify a model.

  • 

    [Deactivated] on 30/01/2012 - 23:00

    +2

    I have two of these OWL CM160s. They are brilliant and I highly recommend them.

    They will work with 3-phase but you'll need to buy 2 additional clamps. The CM160 is only bundled with a single clamp (enough for single phase) but the transmitter supports three clamps. You need one clamp per phase.

    • 

      mattypoika on 30/01/2012 - 23:06

      Did you buy yours from Hills?

      • 

        [Deactivated] on 30/01/2012 - 23:28

        I bought mine off eBay.

  • 

    mattypoika on 30/01/2012 - 23:01

    +1

    for the 3 phase you'd need to get a differnt cable

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003QJTS3W/ref=sc_pgp__m_…

    • 

      orange123 on 30/01/2012 - 23:07

      Thanks guys.

      Just noticed I need to find out the thickness of the cables first for the extra sensors. So would I need to buy 3 sensors or can I use the one that comes with it and buy 2 sensors? Or depends on the thickness of the cables?

      Also by how many seconds is the "realtime" reading delayed by?

  • 

    endotherm on 31/01/2012 - 09:52

    This looks like a copy (maybe under licence?) of the original Clipsal Cent-a-meter, designed right here in Australia. http://www.clipsal.com/homeowner/products/energy_efficient_s… They've changed the display and added some features in the newer model. Had one for years (I found a tariff dymo label on the back that I put on there in 2004!), they work really well.

• 

  Geewhizz on 31/01/2012 - 06:45

  If you're in Qld, don't forget you can get it, including installation, for $50 through the energy smart scheme, (and get a water efficient water head and a few cfl fluoro lights thrown in. When we got ours done we'd already switched to cfl's so I scrounged around for what incandescent bulbs I could find and popped them in. I figured with the price of cfls at the time, having a few spares on hand wouldn't go astray.)

  The electrician who came did mention that when buying cfls that you should look for those that are rated 240v, not 230 as is common in those coming from Asia, as the 230s burn out faster.

  Back to the energy meter, I've been told that if you're in the Brisbane City Council area, they will also rebate you the $50 charge for the energy smart visit, so in effect it ends up free.

  I'm not sure if any other states are offering a similar service?

  • 

    Pobman on 31/01/2012 - 09:06

    Bit of a dodgy electrician you had there. The person we had through that scheme was useless, knew less than me about energy use. Just went through a script of things, never mentioned the 18 year old 1.5kw pool pump (now replaced with a low power model). The monitor you get in that scheme is also a cheaper unit, well it was for us.

    The offer has changed now, the give 5 bulbs and some plugs. Still a good deal, but it's the blind leading the blind with regards to some of their staff.

  • 

    [Deactivated] on 31/01/2012 - 09:08

    +2

    Your sparkie is protecting his turf, 230/240 they're actually all 250v+ and they burn out for a variety of reasons, including component quality & surges. But if you can get a unit installed for $50, now that is a bargain!

    But then again, I use whatever electricity I use, it's not like I'll see the monitor & think wow, I know it's 35°, but I'll save $2.50/hr if I turn off my air con & TV and just read a book. No, I'll think 3hrs of air cond & TV is one less pint I'll have @ the pub

  • 

    jmone on 31/01/2012 - 18:08

    Australia has officially been 230V since 2000 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mains_electricity). In theory there is a transition phase where all the "new" devices should be rated as 230v. That said the Electrical Generators are exempt from the std and you can find you street running well above this. As a result we tend to get our mains over 230V (but you can call your electrical supplier if there is high voltage on your line as they have the ability to change this at the local transformer). Such overvoltage situations are not as bad as you may think but can lead to a short life span on devices with a lower rating.

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  Taita on 31/01/2012 - 09:14

  we have one from steplight.com.au . won it in a competition.

  Very happy with it. helped bring the bills down because we could easily see if the usage was high. We even changed some of our appliances when we saw how much electricity they used (like kettle, toaster and iron, and ofcourse, downlights)

  • 

    Domingo on 31/01/2012 - 09:22

    How much do you use your toaster?!?!?!?

    • 

      Taita on 31/01/2012 - 11:03

      everyone at home loves toast :/

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  [Deactivated] on 31/01/2012 - 09:22

  Amazon UK isn't shipping any of these to Australia:

  "…We're sorry. This item can't be shipped to your selected destination. You may either change the shipping address or delete the item from your order by changing its quantity to 0 and clicking the update button below…"

  • 

    mattypoika on 31/01/2012 - 09:36

    If you follow the link they are. You can;t get them from OWL because they have their distributor here charging $200. Get it from Energy Saving Online store.

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Owl-USB-Connectivity-CM160-Electrici…

• 

  John Dough on 31/01/2012 - 09:41

  If you have a smart meter, hold out for the next models like this that will monitor usage by the Infra Red LED flashes from the smart meter. That way the device will be as accurate as your (calibrated) smart meter, which we all hope is quite accurate :)

  I have tried to research how it works, and all I have found so far is that Smart meters emit an LED pulse whenever 0.01 KWH is used/supplied (they have a dual LED for feed in such as solar)
  EDIT: 1000 pulses per KWH, so a pulse every 0.001 KWH

  These LED pulses can then be calculated by a device to give an extremely precise usage log. I am not sure if anyone should rush out and buy right now, but I think this will become the ultimate way to monitor usage in the future if you have a smart meter.

  i.e http://steplight.com.au/education/monitor-energy/ew4030-watt…

  • 

    aml276 on 31/01/2012 - 12:10

    I have solar and a new smart meter but only see 1 LED so does it flash at different rates or colours to display the buy in and feed back rates?

    • 

      John Dough on 31/01/2012 - 12:21

      I believe that is a different LED. The red LED is for a different purpose, I think it might just show that the meter is functioning.

      The LED pulses that the smart meter produce are Infra-red and cannot be seen by the human eye. The link for the unit I posted above shows some pictures of the sensor that can pick up the infra-red pulses, you can see it stuck next to the spot where it should go… (Up in the top right of a typical Victorian smart meter)

      I hope that helps. I will be getting one of these types of units to monitor the power consumption to keep the bastards honest!! I am not sure yet if it will provide solar input readings though, I can't find information other than speculation. I can however see 2 Infrared LED's on my meter (close together though) so I assume one is output and one is input…

      • 

        Vader on 31/01/2012 - 13:22

        The red LED is supposed to flash 1000 times for each kWh used. The flash on/off cycle seems to take longer when energy usage is low. I can't see how it would show more than just grid usage.

        The infrared LEDs are most likely for utility use only. Their personnel (meter readers) can connect a device to it that can download usage statistics from the meter and potentially upload new firmware or new operating parameters to the meter. I doubt they'd want consumers interfacing with the meter that way.

      • 

        John Dough on 31/01/2012 - 14:10

        I agree, it probably can't show anything more than grid usage after researching, but for most people that would be exactly what they want, and using this method it should be exactly as accurate as the meter itself. These other cable clamp units are renowned to be inaccurate.

        Yeah not sure exactly what the infra red ones will be able to do yet… will wait and see…

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  aml276 on 31/01/2012 - 12:58

  Thanks for the info. I have the EM1000 smart meter that is displayed and coincidentially I am with Energy Australia but it's not branded as such like the image and the red 'power' LED is where the branding is in the image. I will take a look a the meter when I get home in the area that the sensor has been applied to see what is there.

  I have a mate that can get this Jarcar grid connect solar meter for $120 + del so might just stick with that. http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=MS6167

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  rpmccarthy on 31/01/2012 - 16:32

  Monitors like the Owl and Jaycar units will often require an electrician to install. They use current sensor clamps which clamp around your main electricity cables.

  The difference with the 'EW4030' is that is uses a simple 'LED sensor' (homes and businesses with 'smart' or 'digital' meters can install themselves). As far as I know, this is the only product like this available at the moment. Has anyone seen another? (either here or overseas)

  This page provides more general information about the different types of energy monitors (EW4030 vs. regular sort) to the specific page linked above:
  http://steplight.com.au/wireless