New Brultech Energy Monitoring Model (ECM-1240) due in 2009

[brownsl]

I am quite excited about the 1240. Will it be possible to use two of these in the same house? I have 400 amp service with 2 200 amp panels. Off of one of the 200 amp panel is a 100 amp sub-panel for an addition we recently built. So we have 2 water heaters, 2 heat pumps, and 2 air handlers. I would like to monitor both 200 amp feeds, the 100 amp sub-panel, and then all the larger loads. I do not even think I could do all this with only two. I would also like to be able to log outdoor air temperature.

Shawn

 

[Macca]

Gidday Spudooli, I am in Wellington, NZ and am using the ECM1220.h - so they can be used in this hemisphere at present if you change the power supply for a NZ version.

BtechRep, how long before you may have a 240V 50Hz southern hemisphere version of the ECM-1240?

 

[AnthonyZ]

If you have any other questions or doubts, please feel free to post them so that I may clarify them.

Paul

I hate to do it on a public forum but, since emails aren't answered at sales at brultech dot com, is Brultech looking to work through dealers/resellers?

 

[personalt]

a little off topic but i figured someone who knows about the brultech could double check my math.

I own a three family that has a house meter, house meters has only hall lights and fire alarm, pulls 1.17 amps 24-7 no more/no less. I dont have the brultech here just a standard electricians amp meter.

when calculating KWH I thought it was 1.17amps X 120 volts= 140 watts or .140 KW

.140KW*24 hours*31 days=104 KWH per month.

my bills however are showing 200kwh plus per month.

is my math right?

 

[mdiehl]

Question #3 - If I only measure one phase can I double it to get the power used by both phases?

The web page (and the first post) lists a lot of typical 240V loads (dryer, range, water heater) connected to a single Aux channel, so that would be my guess. It won't be entirely accurate using one CT if the load is 240/120.

Since my A/C only pulls 20A at 240 when running, I could use one of the Aux channels to monitor it. But I'm guessing (I didn't run out and check them yet) the AL wires are bigger than the 0.27 max I.D of the Micro CT. A CT with a larger opening, or since CT's are commodity items the ability to use whatever CT you want and set the specs for it.

What's the deal with the "optional dedicated potential transformer". Does this replace the wall wart or is it for something else?

According to the FAQ, the 1220 version samples 2000 times per second and averages the readings.
Same sampling rate for the 1240 on all channels?

How often can the unit be queried in real time?

What if there's a bug in the firmware? Is there any way to upgrade it?

For that matter, is there any detailed information available online about talking to these things? On the Brultech website I'm finding lots of graphics, a few references to packet lengths, but nothing technical.

I would like to point out that the information on the website is preliminary and not very descriptive at this point.

Originally, these Aux channels were to monitor current for the purpose of load detection. This has since changed from the original concept.

There are now five Aux channels each capable of monitoring a 120V or 240V load each. For any of the Aux channels, a second CT may be used for 120Vloads.

The Aux channel measure true power/energy and the measurements are processed by a dedicated processor ensuring that no processing power is taken from the main CH1/CH2 processor.

Each Aux channels are processed using approx 3KHz sampling rate, including the voltage sample.

The optional PT option is included to satisfy the request of some who wished to monitor the line voltage from 240V rather than only one phase.... probably rarely will be required...

As for the Micro-CTs, we also have a slightly larger version with an opening of 0.35" for aluminum wired services.

The ECM-1240's main processor will be flash upgradable using the RS-232 port.

We were reluctant in posting too much information since this device has been going through some changes.

If you have any other questions or doubts, please feel free to post them so that I may clarify them.

Paul

You're doin' fine Paul. Don't feel too rushed on the release, I'm sure that all of us would rather have all the t's crossed and i's dotted on the Hardware before going out the door into our hot little hands Once that's right we can do the Firmware and Software stuff here in the "field", but its sure hard to have to send "hardware" back...

Of course many years ago I once heard an Engineer (EE) say with extreme confidence that "hey, that's easy, we can do it in Software"...turns out they couldn't...

 

[Btech]

If you have any other questions or doubts, please feel free to post them so that I may clarify them.

Paul

I hate to do it on a public forum but, since emails aren't answered at sales at brultech dot com, is Brultech looking to work through dealers/resellers?

Anthony can you please forward your email to me [email protected] so that I can look into why you didn't get a response.

 

[personalt]

Paul,

Lets say I have a 240 volt air handler, can I run both legs/phases of the AC power through the same CT and have it add the voltage? My one semester of EE in college before I changed majors tells me that I think there would be a canceling effect?


I actually have (2) 240v air handlers and (2) 240v ac units.

How can I monitor this with the least amount of channels? I could care less as far as separating 1st floor and 2nd floor AC units. If I could put both AC units and both air handlers through one or two CTS I would be most happy.

I have your current model and honestly have been having a lot of issues with it. All my power wires run through a chase in the garage and the CAT5 extensions run their too. When I am pulling 8amps at the panel(measured by my amp meter) I am seeing 18 amps on brultech. I am fairly certain it is due to the fact that the cat 5s run in this same path as the electric wires. I think I plan to upgrade to the new unit as I can then send the DATA from the unit to the PC. Any upgrade deals?

 

[Btech]

BtechRep, how long before you may have a 240V 50Hz southern hemisphere version of the ECM-1240?

We have received sample 230V 50Hz wall transformers from our manufacturer. Once we launch the ECM-1240, we will begin testing for 230V / 50Hz Countries

 

[Btech]

I am quite excited about the 1240. Will it be possible to use two of these in the same house? I have 400 amp service with 2 200 amp panels. Off of one of the 200 amp panel is a 100 amp sub-panel for an addition we recently built. So we have 2 water heaters, 2 heat pumps, and 2 air handlers. I would like to monitor both 200 amp feeds, the 100 amp sub-panel, and then all the larger loads. I do not even think I could do all this with only two. I would also like to be able to log outdoor air temperature.

Shawn

The ECM-1240 will have a total of 7 individual power meters each capable of 120V or 240V split-phase loads. The people who will provide web hosting for us say that they can accomodate two ECM-1240s... 14 channels Aux 5 may be used with a temp sensor, although it will rob that channel's ability to measure energy.

http://brultech.com/HomeEnergy/ecm1240intro.html

 

[Rupp]

Paul,
Did you ever receive my last PM?

 

[mdiehl]

Concerning the ECM-1240...its February, "is it soup yet"???

 

[sic0048]

Lastest update on the Brultech site was on Friday and they are hoping to list the ECM-1240 for sale on Monday 2/9 (as in tomorrow). The update said they were going to work through the weekend to try and wrap everything up for the Monday release. Not sure if it will be ready or not, but that is the latest.

 

[sic0048]

Well it is Monday and there is nothing listed on the Brultech web site. So I guess they didn't make their deadline. Hopefully it will be anyday still.

BTechRep - Any chance for a Cocoontech discount like we experienced on the first model?

 

[sic0048]

Just another update from the Brultech site.

Update on ECM-1240 Availability: (Feb 11, 09)

We are doing our best to release the ECM-1240.

The good news is that the test units which have been running for some time have been performing excellently.

The ECM-1240 now has the ability to monitor up to three(3) 15A breaker circuits on a single AUX channel. This feature is useful for grouping circuits such as "bedrooms". ... There is more good new to come.

Once again, this product is very important to us and we are doing our very best to make it available soon.

So the ability to monitor several circuits off one AUX channel is pretty exciting. Of course there is no way to break down individual usage for each breaker if you install it like this. But more options is always better

I guess the have a good excuse for the delays too. But I want to know what the "More good news to come" is all about. :angry:

 

[personalt]

Paul,

Lets say I have a 240 volt air handler, can I run both legs/phases of the AC power through the same CT and have it add the voltage? My one semester of EE in college before I changed majors tells me that I think there would be a canceling effect?


I actually have (2) 240v air handlers and (2) 240v ac units.

How can I monitor this with the least amount of channels? I could care less as far as separating 1st floor and 2nd floor AC units. If I could put both AC units and both air handlers through one or two CTS I would be most happy.

I have your current model and honestly have been having a lot of issues with it. All my power wires run through a chase in the garage and the CAT5 extensions run their too. When I am pulling 8amps at the panel(measured by my amp meter) I am seeing 18 amps on brultech. I am fairly certain it is due to the fact that the cat 5s run in this same path as the electric wires. I think I plan to upgrade to the new unit as I can then send the DATA from the unit to the PC. Any upgrade deals?