I’ve been trying to find a device to help me monitor the energy use of two or three outlets in the house. My criteria for the device, with the most important first, is: officially supported by ST, in-wall form factor, and z-wave plus. I’m struggling to find a device that meets the first two, much less all three. Couple options I’ve considered. Would love to know if I’m missing something.
iHome SP8 - Officially supported, but not in-wall or z-wave. After reading @JDRoberts recent post in a similar thread, maybe Z-wave isn’t the way I should go. However, I’ve read several threads where users are having issues with iHome, and I’m still not clear if I can get the energy monitoring from the SP8 into ST easily. It is on sale right now on Amazon.
Iris smart plug - Not officially supported, nor in-wall, but z-wave. Relatively cheap.
Centralite plug-in module - Officially support, but not in-wall or z-wave. Cheap.
Enerwave has “smart energy” duplex outlet - It is in-wall and z-wave, but not officially supported. The model in the app is the non-energy sensing version of the outlet. Expensive at the sources I can find.
Aeotec nano switch/dimmer - Is in-wall and z-wave, but not officially supported. I’m not sure there is even a custom DTH w/the energy features if I wanted to use it.
So yea. Not sure where to go here; any feedback is welcome.
One more parameter you’ll need to specify… The number of amps that the device needs to support.
In the United States, it is typical for devices intended to control a light switch to only handle 8 to 10 A. For example, the Aeotec smart energy Switch Micro is an in wall device that does energy monitoring, but can only handle a load of up to 10 A and is described as being a lighting control.
However, a device which is intended to control an outlet normally has to handle up to 15 A, just in case somebody plugs in a vacuum cleaner or hairdryer. The US model of the Aeotec nano can handle up to 15 A
Yes, it will be used to measure plug-in loads…entertainment center, computer, coffee maker, etc. So the device rating should be 12A minimum, preferably 15A.
And after reading your post about mesh networks and energy metering, I’m thinking about non-zwave solutions, but is the iHome the only option that is officially supported?
You could consider WeMo insight and use IFTTT for indirect integration.
I don’t know if smartthings can get the energy monitoring from the IHome or not.
If you want to use a zwave or zigbee monitoring device, lots of community members do. Just look for one that has either a long reporting interval or a configurable one. And don’t use too many within 1 hop of each other.
Thanks folks. I knew about the WeMo Insight, but for some reason didn’t add it to the list. I think in that same class (not officially supported, plug-in, non-zwave) is the iDevice plug-in too.
I had heard about the Zooz siren, so knew about the brand, but not that they had an energy monitoring plug. After some additional research, it looks like Dome also has a small, z-wave, plug-in device that might be worth considering.
The problem with the above of course, is none of them are supported by ST right out of the box. Unless the Labs version of one of the WeMos covers the Insight, which it doesn’t explicitly say.
Does anyone know of a in-wall energy measuring device that works with ST?
