Cheapest zwave/zigbee plug to monitor energy usage?

Devices & Integrations
1

I have a smartthings zigbee plug that I started with, I later got a Lowes Iris plug and a generic Zwave plug that I believe is Enerwave(?)

They all work well for simple on/off functions.

The Lowes plug gives me the current energy usage, but it doesn’t keep a history like the smartthings plug.

The generic never seems to function well for actually setting automated on/off, and it doesn’t give me an energy usage readout either (maybe someone has a better device type they can recommend that might give me what I need?)

So now i’m on the hunt for more plugs, but I don’t really want to pay the higher price for the smartthings plugs. Does anyone have recommendations for plugs that work well and also provide energy usage information?

2

Does it need to be the small plug form factor?

The older generation Aeon labs works great, but it’s a bit larger.

http://www.zwaveproducts.com/shop/brands/aeotec/z-wave-smart-switch-open-box

You can get them for around $20. I have 4 of them and they work awesome. My washing machine is hooked up to one. It does keep historical usage and it can be reset within the device in the ST app.

2 Likes
3

I have a few Aeon z-ave plugs at home and they are pretty reliable. On sale quite often on Amazon.

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4

Lately, those plugs are hard to find at the lower prices.

5

Which is unfortunate. They are my favorite since they have a lead on both ends. The Iris and SmartThings work equally well with the right DHT. Actually I think I’m using the standard one for both brands now.

If you want historicals, you should set up something inside your network to properly collect/graph it.

6

Thank you, that’s exactly the type of thing I was looking for!

7

I’ve looked into this data visualization stuff off and on in the past, but have never set it up since it seemed like a bit of a process and I haven’t had the time yet.

For now, I’m just looking to be able to monitor stuff for the default 7 days within Smartthings.

8

If you need more of these, I am more than happy to sell you mine. I have 4, only 1 has been used others are unused. DISCLAIMER: it did not work with my SmartThings v2 Hub. It would turn On but never or rarely would turn Off. I have seen this issue logged by many other members as well as on Amazon reviews.

Still, if you are interested let me know!