monitor power meter wheel

auto_man

auto_man

Member
Hi, I poked around on the forum but couldn't find anything. I am wondering has anyone tried to monitor their power meter via the spinned wheel on it. I was thinking with an ir emitter and receiver you could possibly detect the opening in the wheel. With a simple counter you could detect the speed which would correlate to the number of kwn you are using.

I believe this is how the black and decker power monitor works.

Any help appreciated.
 
I don't remember anyone here doing that but I do remember reading a good article somewhere about a person that did just that using I believe a laser pointer.
 
Did some Google searching and I think THIS is what you mean.

Also CHECK THIS OUT! Seems Black and Decker already has a product that can do just this. Might have to look into this further so see if we can integrate this with a typical home automation system. :)
 
Yea, the B&D is the same one as I posted. If you figure out a way to intercept the signal let us know. Jon tried on the HomeSeer message board and stated it was an odd frequency. I was hoping the ACRF or RFXCom receiver would work but unfortunately it didn't.
 
I am familiar with the black and decker and the other solution. Like BraveSirRobbin, I read an article where someone built their own, but I can't find it. I would like to build my own though, the reason for building my own is so it will be tied into my web server. Also, because I think I can do it for plenty less than 100bux and if I get a solution I can then share it with everyone. I suppose i will have to just try it in the next week or so with a couple different types of leds and lasers and see what works.

I just watched the video on installing a power meter they just have what looks to be and led emitter / receiver pair.
 
You're looking for this I think...

I think he's since moved on to Indigo as a platform and this is no longer on his site but is available from the internet archive. I built an identical model a few years ago and it worked great until the power company changed my meter to a digital one...

Terry
 
mustangcoupe said:
I beleive you can also use those digital ones Terry to get a signal, though not the same way, I think you need to count the pulses on the optical output or something. Ive seen it before.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it has an infrared LED on the face that seems to flash in proportion with KWh used, but the location gets crazy morning sunlight which totally washes out any attempt to count the pulses. There's no way to shield it from the sun without hacking off the power company. A Brultech or TED seems way easier these days anyway...

Terry
 
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