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British Gas / Electricity Monitor

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Cara2

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Posted June 15, 2011 at 4:39PM

Does anyone have the above as advertised on the TV?

I do and thought mine was faulty as it does not hold its charge. Basically I charge it up for hours on end and then disconnect from the mains. After 2 or 3 hours its looses its charge, along with all the information I have programmed in.

I am now told this is normal - it is meant to be plugged in at all times apart from the odd time necessary to take it into another room etc.

Is it just me or does that seem silly that it has to be plugged in all the time using electricity? (I am told it uses only a small amount of electricity to be fair). Doesn't it defeat the object of saving electricity by having it plugged in constantly? It looks very portable, but really it isn't.

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woodchip

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Posted June 15, 2011 at 7:52PM

How can it monitor if its not plugged in?

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Cara2

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Posted June 15, 2011 at 8:58PM

A circular ring (best description) is clipped around 2 main wires leading out from main box. I am told it detects the amps.

The Monitor then picks up the signal wirelessly.

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Cara2

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Posted June 15, 2011 at 8:59PM

Oh and the Monitor can be plugged in anywhere, not necessarily in the room with the circular clip.

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ßeta

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Posted June 16, 2011 at 12:53PM

Fairly useless piece of kit. As it assumes Voltage and does not actually Measure it.

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st-clares

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Posted June 16, 2011 at 3:14PM

I am not personally familiar with this piece of kit, but from Cara2s description it appears to detect the current flow in the the live feed to your consumer unit/fuse box using magnetic induction. As there is no means to detect the mains voltage it will assume a standard 230 volt supply. The supply voltage will vary during periods of high usage both within your premises and also due to external distribution losses, but should not exceed + or - 2.5%. The unit will use the formula Voltage X Current x Time in hours to give kilo watt hours i.e. units of electricity. If the unit has to be plugged in to work it may use the houshold wiring to transmit the data to the room unit. The British Gas advert appears to indicate the gas supply is monitored is this so, if so, if so how?.

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st-clares

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Posted June 16, 2011 at 3:17PM

Correction The formula shoud be divided by 1000 to give KWHours.

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ßeta

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Posted June 16, 2011 at 4:01PM

Most modern domestic Gas Meters now have a pulsed output. All you need to do is attach a pulse block to the meter and then in-turn connect that to a wireless device.

Pulse block for Sensus U6 Gas Meter

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oresome

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Posted June 16, 2011 at 4:13PM

I did get a similar device provided by EON.

Switched it off when we went on holiday and have never bothered switching it back on since. The associated software was flakey, the clock lost several minutes every week and it didn't tell me anything I didn't already know regarding consumption.

As well as assuming the voltage, the device is only accurate for appliances with a power factor of 1 which probably excludes electric motors, TVs, some CFL lamps etc. but does give a reasonable estimation.

You wouldn't be able to tell your provider that their meter was inaccurate on the strength of this device though!

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ßeta

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Posted June 16, 2011 at 4:18PM

Power Factor is only considered on Three Phase Supplies as you don't get any current lag on single phase supplies.

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Cara2

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Posted June 16, 2011 at 6:35PM

The Monitor does not monitor Gas usage.

I actually found it a good 'eye opener' on my use of electricity, even though it may not be highly accurate. It has made me far more aware of turning things off when not in use.

It was just the fact that it had to be plugged in surprised me.

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