Zigbee Smart Meter Module (SEP1.1) and SCE

[Nishal]

I recently purchased the Smart Meter Module and SCE got it connected.  So I am seeing data from the Smart Meter in the ISY dashboard.  But I guess I  am at a loss of how to configure / set this up.  I have SCE with the TOU rate plan due to solar system.   Are there any steps on how to configure this setup in the system?  I see a lot of options in the configurations but I dont want to change anything as I have no idea what they do.  

[Nishal]

This is what I see in my dashboard

[lilyoyo1]

Did you attempt to do anything in the admin console? The dashboard is typically used for viewing your system and the admin console is for configuring your system

[Nishal]

I did try that and the Admin console refers to the dashboard for configuration of the electricity module.  I see a lot of options there also to configure it in the dashboard, just dont understand it. 

[Michel Kohanim]

@Nishal,

What exactly is it that you want to do? What you have is correct .

With kind regards,

Michel

[Nishal]

Sorry, got busy with a few things to get back to this.  I wanted to see be able to calculate my current energy cost for the month.  Being that I am on a Time of rate plan, the cost of my energy changes based on the time of day.   So was wondering how I can do that or is that even possible.  

[Nishal]

Just to add a little more.  I said Time of Rate above but I meat Time of Use. So my cost of electricity costs are different for the time period of 5-9PM and the rest of the day.  Also Summer versus Winter and Weekend versus weekday.  Today I love that I can see what my current electricity cost is in the ISY.  I can turn it on and instead of seeing kw, I see$ which to me is easier to understand and make changes.  But I can only configure a single cost for the electricity.  I went through all options and does not look like I can configure it.  Also I believe other providers send the current rate as part of the smart meter but SCE does not. So I would need to be able to configure it.  This way, I can just turn on my phone and see that I am paying $1 a hour right now and start yelling at people to turn crap off

[larryllix]

I am not on ToU as  have Net solar metering and my provider has never had a meter approved to handle the multiple rates but....
as a consequence I turn on everything I can during peak times because that is when the electrical energy is cheapest, being produced by myself and not making losses on the sale and re-purchase of my energy.

If I was on ToU, I would not try to duplicate the bill my meter provides as the meter is more accurate than anything I would ever meter and calculate. I worked in a local electrical utility for 34 years as a meter tech and we only ever found one meter that registered high. OTOH that was a mechanical meter and now I hear the CPU based meters can do anything at random now.

If I was on ToU I would build programs in ISY to raise my A/C temps during peak rate times and possibly higher an hour before the peak and shoulder rates dropped back so the discomfort would be low and the lower rate would bring the temperature back into comfort line, immediately after implementation. Possibly the reverse could be done by dropped the temperature an hour before the higher rate became effective. This is quite easy using ecobee thermostats along with ISY Polyglot ecobee NS. In the ecobee stats you can define custom "climates" and just turn one on when needed, with the fail back over to the schedule next "climate" schedule change. That works very well. You don't have to play with temperatures or even know what they are inside ISY.

Another thought would be to use your unused basement as a cold storage. Run the A/C more when rates are cheaper, and then run the circulating  fan more, with higher setpoints, when the rates are higher, bringing the cooler air up from the depths. The ecobees stats can do that, almost by themselves.

I have tried many methods using ISY programming, weather effects upon the house, and it got very complicated and not only needed many self checks written in, used 1-200 programs to accomplish, it failed quite often. The simpler things work much better. Leave the complex things to the devices that are designed to do them without fail.

The overall control also has to be minor for me, as I am sensitive to heat and cold changes, and my comfort is more important than saving $25-$50 per year. My ISY control over my HVAC is quite minor. It is more about keeping the zones balanced for me.

[Nishal]

Thanks for the feedback.  My electricity costs are pretty high due to a lot of waste.  So for me to be able to see live usage allows me to see what I can cut down on and make some changes to reduce that overall usage.  Not so much worried about AC as that is needed.  That's like people complaining about gas prices.  Well don't buy a gas guzzler if you look at gas prices or don't drive.  But otherwise, you need to pay for gas if you need to drive.  Just pay and move on.  

Any hoot, yeah so I just want to be able to make live decisions on things running to cut my bill.  When I say high, its high even with solar installed.  And SCE mandates TOU when you have solar.

[Michel Kohanim]

@Nishal,

We have a project with SCE that allows you to do all this. If you want to be included, please sign up here and, we'll try to get you approval from SCE. It's called Energy Expert and has your billing, TOU rates, costs, etc. both through Alexa and an App on your phone.

 

With kind regards,
Michel

[Nishal]

Awesome.  I am in.  Signed up.  Thanks.

[david056]

If I was on ToU I would build programs in ISY to raise my A/C temps during peak rate times and possibly higher an hour before the peak and shoulder rates dropped back so the discomfort would be low and the lower rate would bring the temperature back into comfort line, immediately after implementation. Possibly the reverse could be done by dropped the temperature off grid an hour before the higher rate became effective. This is quite easy using ecobee thermostats along with ISY Polyglot ecobee NS. In the ecobee stats you can define custom "climates" and just turn one on when needed, with the fail back over to the schedule next "climate" schedule change. That works very well. You don't have to play with temperatures or even know what they are inside ISY

[Michel Kohanim]

@Nishal,

Please note that this is a double opt-in. So, you should have a received another email from mailchimp for you to verify that you want to be part of this pilot. Please look for it and optin.

@david056, that's correct!

With kind regards,
Michel

[Nishal]

3 minutes ago, Michel Kohanim said:

@Nishal,

Please note that this is a double opt-in. So, you should have a received another email from mailchimp for you to verify that you want to be part of this pilot. Please look for it and optin.

@david056, that's correct!

With kind regards,
Michel

I checked my junk and emails.  Nothing from that address this weekend.  I tried to register again and it says already registered and waiting on verification of email.  

[Michel Kohanim]

@Nishal,

Thank you. I'll do it manually.

With kind regards,
Michel

[LFMc]

On 6/5/2021 at 10:35 PM, Nishal said:

Sorry, got busy with a few things to get back to this.  I wanted to see be able to calculate my current energy cost for the month.  Being that I am on a Time of rate plan, the cost of my energy changes based on the time of day.   So was wondering how I can do that or is that even possible.  

There  is also a node server called AMI-NEM_Meter that will take your ZS data stream and allow access to it in the Admin console. I am not sure if it has all the features you need for time of day billing, but you can look at it and see if it helps.