Note: The information contained in this periodical weblog may be outdated. This was my personal weblog published before January 1, 2015. Since then I have been the co-owner and Principal Solar Designer at Florida Solar Design Group.

Wattvision Energy Monitor is an Accounting System for Your Household Electricity Usage!

I recently set up a Wattvision meter on my Fort Myers, FL home to evaluate its effectiveness. I have to say, I love it! It definitely clues you in to how much energy you are using, when you are using it, and what appliances cost to operate. The device pays for itself by identifying power hogs. For example, I cut down the time my pool lights come on each night because they were consuming 600 watts! On the other hand, I decided to run my fountain longer each day because it uses next to no energy.

The charts on the Wattvision website are excellent. You can view real time, hourly, daily, and monthly data, and can download raw data to use in spreadsheets for further analysis. Take a look at this chart from last Monday.

Wattvision Consumption Chart

What can you learn from the chart? Here is my analysis of what happened on Monday (list numbers correspond to numbers on the chart):

  1. The baseline load for my home is around 400W at night when we are sleeping. This energy goes to digital video recorders, chargers, TVs, coffee maker, and other appliances that draw a small amount of energy constantly, plus some outdoor landscape and security lighting. The little bumps show the times when the refrigerator is running.
  2. The water heater starts up about 4-5 times a day just to keep the water in the tank hot. Around 6:00 am we got up, took showers, and got ready for work. We used a substantial amount of hot water, and the water heater ran for a long period of time, costing us about 50 cents per hour of operation. Around dinner time the water heater worked during cooking and dish washing, and came back on as we got ready for bed.
  3. My variable speed pool pump is scheduled to run at low speed from 9:00 am to noon, and again from 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm.
  4. The pool pump ramps up speed from noon to 2:30 pm to give the automatic cleaner time to work and get adequate pool filtration.
  5. The baseline during the evening increases as we use lights, watch TV, and use computers. The fountain and outdoor lighting also comes on at dusk.
Every day is different, as we have varying work and entertainment schedules. What the data so far tells me is that I should try to reduce my baseline load, and that I could benefit greatly from a solar water heater (shame on my for not installing it yet!) I’m already satisfied with my pool pump operating cost, as this went down tremendously with the variable speed pump. My lighting costs are not outrageous, but I could use some LED lights for fixtures that run a long time like my kitchen lighting.
I’ve learned from analyzing other days that my well pump uses a significant amount of energy, and a small change to my outdoor lighting cut my lighting costs nearly in half. The clothes dryer take an unbelievable amount of power, and days when my wife is home are the most energy intensive (that tells you who does the laundry around here).
I’m looking forward to learning about my air conditioning costs in the summer. Based on my electric bill fluctuations, I anticipate quite a shock.
You can learn about your home energy use by getting a Wattvision monitor installed by Fafco Solar. We’ll even help you analyze your consumption!

4 Comments

  1. WattVision is great and should be put in every house in order to conserve energy and also save money!!

  2. Author

    I agree that all homes should have some sort of energy monitoring. The utility companies are rolling out smart meters in Southwest Florida, but that’s not enough. Homeowners and business owners need to understand what individual appliances, fixtures, and devices are costing them money. So many things are out-of-sight and out-of-mind. Case in point are the pool pumps and Air Conditioners around Southwest Florida. These are crazy energy hogs, and there are energy efficient alternative readily available! I learned that my water heater is bleeding my bank account dry, and I’m not willing to sacrifice the luxury of hot water whenever I want it and in whatever quantity. There are alternatives for that, too!

    Wattvision is the accounting system needed to manage your energy budget.

    1. Author

      Great analogy. Maybe someone has used the API to make a cool speedometer readout for current energy use. An odometer for energy used today would be awesome, too! I need to work on that.

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