Device to alert when appliance is on

Hi All, I am looking for a sensor to provide a notification when an appliance is switched on. In this instance it is my Solar iBoost+. This is just to provide remote monitoring when the iBoost is either on or off (when I am exporting solar to the grid) not to control the device or change its state - reporting only. I can’t use a normal power outlet as it is all hard wired and ideally want to avoid messing with it. The ideal solution would be some sort of stand alone zigbee/z-wave CT clamp for the cable. I appreciate there are numerous home energy monitors out there, but that would seem overkill for this application. Is anyone aware of such a device or clever ‘out of the box’ idea that would achieve the same thing? Obviously this would need to be ‘edge friendly’ given the impending changes.

Do you mean something like this?

It’s intended for whole home monitoring, but people here have used them for individual appliances like dryers - yes it’s overkill but I don’t think I’ve seen a smaller version with a lower current rating or anything like that.

Note that you have to put the clamps on individual wires, so if it’s all inside a single cable right now you’ll need to mess with it anyway.

I have looked at those before for different application, but i’m not trying to monitor current/usage, just detect a current and send a signal to ST so i can see at a glance if the iBoost has fired up (it is in a locked cupboard that is awkward to get to. They did used to have a remote display but they are no longer available and VERY expensive second hand.

I did consider an inline switch like a sonoff basic or similar - but obviously this would lose power when the iboost was off and could interfere when it is activated (not sure it it would default to ‘on’.

Just wondering if there is an alternative approach of detecting when the immersion heater is switch on perhaps?

Maybe there’s a spot on the water tank where you could place a temperature sensor and build routines around that reaching a certain threshold.

Something like a Fibaro / Qubino / Nodon might be a little more sophisticated than the Sonoff? You could power the relay from the supply side of the iBoost rather than the output side so it doesn’t lose power.

@SimonP

Have you checked this?
Link: DIY Smart Power Outage Monitoring Kit - The Smartest House

I hacked a Smartthings water sensor to monitor any power outage. It works just like the above-mentioned link.

I have a current sensing relay on one leg of the input line to my hot water heater. It is connected to ST through Konnected.io as a Door Open/close. I think there are some zwave/zigbee door sensors with inputs. I have ActionTiles tile with On/Off label linked to open/closed status of relay.

james

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