I have an (outdoor) septic pump I want to monitor and I’m looking for ideas. I bought a GE/Jasco smart outdoor outlet hoping it might include a current monitor (didn’t unsurprisingly) but it also doesn’t even send a status as far as whether the load is active or not, it can only control the outlet.
Does anyone know of a way to monitor at least the activity of a connected load? I’ve found indoor-only solutions and an iDevices device that does what I want but with no programmatic interface that I can see.
If you haven’t had a septic pump, these things are a pain. If a line is clogged or a $20 float switch goes out it can destroy a $1500 pump (with install). If I know it’s running too much I can simply unplug it and fix the issue.
I am using a Zooz device for my outdoor tankless water hater:
It’s been close to 6 months with zero issues. You can remove the smart plug and reinstall a dumb one and then use this device inside your cover. I changed my water heater power code to a right angle so everything fits.
the Aeon Labs and Aeotec plugs are pretty well supported. You want one that will tell you KW or watts, and if your internet happens to be up and your ST shard happens to be functioning correctly, then you may be able to detect the overcurrent or undercurrent condition and send an automatic shutdown and notification. Or just notify for long runtime, whatever.
as for the weatherproofing, I would put it in a weatherproof box since I like the plugability.
In practice I think the 100%-cloud aspect makes the above unreliable, so safety should be hardwired - if pump is energized AND current is low/overcurrent/lost differential pressure then stop pump and do not restart.
How long running dry does it take to burn the pump? if less than an hour then are you really going to get the the notification reliably and act on it, under that time? Better than nothing, but hardwire is best.
I’ll take a look at those, I had seen the whole-house monitors but these might do what I want.
The pump could conceivably run for a day without burning out but I agree about a hardware solution. Since the plumber was already in it I had him install a float to detect overfill, which will eventually happen if it’s running but not making progress. If I can detect it before that, all the better, but there is a safety.