Energy Monitoring - Fine tuning a program

[Teken]

Back ground: I am using the Green Eye Monitor (GEM) which monitors and tracks the energy in my home which is integrated with my ISY-994iZ Pro.

 

I would like to fine tune my programs to be more specific in detecting the completion of the following appliances.

 

ie. Dish Washer, Clothes Washer, Dryer.

 

I am able to detect final power cycles of all three devices and their standby power. For this example we have the clothes washer at its peak consumes 363 watts & in standby consumes 3 watts.

 

What is the ideal program to using the above values to alert me the wash is done?

[Michel Kohanim]

Hi Teken,

 

Are you also able to sense when those devices are turned on? i.e. from idle to first cycle?

 

With kind regards,

Michel

[Teken]

Yes I can sense when any of the devices turn on and what power value is present.

 

The problem I am seeing is that when the voltage in the local area fluctuates this affects my programs from initiating.

 

I have used all forms of <, >=, >=, IS, IS NOT.

 

I believe the solution is to have a power range for the initial sense / start. Then use the known standby power signature to indicate the end of the cycle.

 

But craft it in a way that compensates for the swing in voltage from the POCO.

 

This also brings me to another on going problem with the existing power values.

 

In the next 5.0 firmware release there must be a box to enter a value. Instead of picking predefined values that go linear then all of the sudden jump into blocks of power options.

 

Ie 500, 600 watts etc.

 

 

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[Michel Kohanim]

Hi Teken,

 

Got it. This said, I don't think the 5.0 will solve the issue since there needs to be a definite event that starts the cycle. Have you tried a SynchroLinc?

 

With kind regards,

Michel

[Teken]

Hi Teken,

 

Got it. This said, I don't think the 5.0 will solve the issue since there needs to be a definite event that starts the cycle. Have you tried a SynchroLinc?

 

With kind regards,

Michel

 

Hello Michel,

 

I would like to use the full capabilities of the energy module that interfaces with the GEM / ISY. This was the primary driver in investing so much money into this project from the on set.

 

I would rather not invest anymore money into another device (synchrolinc) which would only address some appliances but not others such as the dryer or any 240 volt device. I believe this problem can be easily solved if I was given some basic examples to nudge me in the right direction to craft some programs.

 

I am unsure why there is such a disparity between the options for those who use the *Electricity Module* vs *Status* via the drop down list.

 

At the moment some guidance in crafting a simple program would be most helpful to determine when these appliances are done their cycle.

[MWareman]

@Teken, I'm currently triggering ISY notifications from a couple of zwave switch/power sensor devices (http://www.amazon.com/Aeon-Labs-DSC06106-ZWUS-Z-wave-Energy/dp/B007UZH7B8), and its been working very reliably for me. If it will help, I'll post the programs when I get home.

 

I, myself, will be installing a GEM in a couple of weeks... So I also have this fun coming I suspect.

Edited July 14, 2014 by MWareman

[Teken]

@Teken, I'm currently triggering ISY notifications from a couple of zwave switch/power sensor devices (http://www.amazon.com/Aeon-Labs-DSC06106-ZWUS-Z-wave-Energy/dp/B007UZH7B8), and its been working very reliably for me. If it will help, I'll post the programs when I get home.

 

I, myself, will be installing a GEM in a couple of weeks... So I also have this fun coming I suspect.

 

Michael,

 

That would be most helpful and I thank you.

[MWareman]

In my case, my Aeon Labs DSC06106-ZWUS is seen by my ISY as 'ZW 005 WASHER - Energy Meter' and 'ZW 005 WASHER - On-Off Power'. The 'On-Off Power' node switch the outlet on and off - and the device reports current usage thru the 'Energy Meter' node as 'Current Power - Watts'. The device also tracks 'Total Power' (in kWh) and 'Current Voltage'.

 

I set the following as zwave parameters for the device:

Parameter(bytes) Value Purpose
1(1) 1 Report Multisensor as Voltage
80(1) 1 HAIL on change
90(1) 1 Enable change reports
91(2) 50 Min W change for report
92(2) 5 Min % change in wattage for report
101(4) 4 Send Watt in group 1
102(4) 8 Send kWh in group 2
103(4) 2 Send Multi for group 3
111(4) 600 Time interval group 1
112(4) 600 Time interval group 2
113(4) 600 Time interval group 3

I have a integer variable to track the device - in this case iPower_Inuse_Washer. In my case - I find quiescent is tiny - but opening the door causes a light to illuminate - and I didn't want to detect that. So - I trigger on exceeding 2W. 

 

My program to detect the washer being turned on:

If
        Status  'ZW 005 WASHER - Energy Meter' > 2 Watts (Current Power)
    And $iPower_Inuse_Washer is not 1
 
Then
        Resource 'Pushover L - Washing Machine On'
        $iPower_Inuse_Washer  = 1
        $iPower_Inuse_Washer Init To 1
 
Else
   - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action')

My code to detect the washer being turned off:

If
        Status  'ZW 005 WASHER - Energy Meter' <= 2 Watts (Current Power)
    And $iPower_Inuse_Washer is not 0
 
Then
        Resource 'Pushover L - Washing Machine Off'
        $iPower_Inuse_Washer  = 0
        $iPower_Inuse_Washer Init To 0
 
Else
   - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action')

Hopefully, this is useful to a GEM - and it reports changes in the power value in such a way that programs can trigger from it. It sounds to me (from your report) like the GEM integration does not result in programs triggering in the same way zwave reporting does.

 

Can the GEM call the REST API on triggers - and set or unset a variable on ISY that you can trigger from?

 

Michael.

Edited July 15, 2014 by MWareman

[Teken]

Hello Michael,

 

I have revised my program to reflect yours and will report back in a few days regarding success / failure. I thank you so very much for taking the time to share your monitoring programs with me.

 

Will your variable program only fire off one e-mail / resource to push over? I wanted to confirm this because I don't want to receive 999999999999 pieces of mail tomorrow when I test this out.

[MWareman]

In my case, it fires once when the machine starts, and again once when it stops.

 

However, it depends on power not dipping below 2W during use - at all. If that happens you may need to add a wait in the 'Then' of the programs before the notify - sort of a denounce wait of just a second or two. If the power recovers, the 'Then' will be canceled and the notify not sent.

 

Michael.

[Teken]

In my case, it fires once when the machine starts, and again once when it stops.

 

However, it depends on power not dipping below 2W during use - at all. If that happens you may need to add a wait in the 'Then' of the programs before the notify - sort of a denounce wait of just a second or two. If the power recovers, the 'Then' will be canceled and the notify not sent.

 

Michael.

 

Hello Michael,

 

Yes, that has been the on going problem here as late. The voltage in my area has been rock steady for years (always 120 VAC). Now for whatever reason it has fluctuated from 120 - 126 VAC which in terms of (monitored) watts that is an increase of 2-10 plus watts from the base line I have programed for.

 

Which causes all kinds of headaches in crafting a ISY program to perform certain actions and e-mail alerts. What is your experience in using the (IS) operator?

 

I want to be clear on how its supposed to work so any insight would be helpful.

 

As I expect if I use the (IS) operator for example: Dryer IS 5 watts, the system should only fire off if its at 5 watts. But for what ever reason it appears to me anything above 5 watts trips this operator?

 

Isn't that the whole point of the equal and greater than operator? >=

 

I believe its either my lack of understanding of how these operators work, or they simply do not function as intended, or there is a variability in the operator that is unexpected.

[Michel Kohanim]

Michael,

 

Thanks so very much!

 

With kind regards,

[MaddBomber83]

Another thing to consider is how badly you need to know the second it is done.

 

If $State_WashingMachine.Power > $Int_WashingMachine.Average Then

     Wait 2 minutes

     Send Notification

[Teken]

I have written the programs taking into account voltage swings and hope they operate as expected.

 

This would be so much easier with a box to enter high / low values then to use the current method.

 

 

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