Cheap Onzo Energy meter - £8

[saaby93]

It's gone again. Sensor rechargable battery gone flat.
With the piece of paper or initial film between the clamp it may not be picking up enough energy.
With the paper removed it reads double the kWh

[TonyRPH]

saaby93 said:

It's gone again. Sensor rechargable battery gone flat.
With the piece of paper or initial film between the clamp it may not be picking up enough energy.
With the paper removed it reads double the kWh

If your battery was low, it's likely the readings will be incorrect.

As I said in an earlier post, I just put 3 Alkaline "AAA" batteries in mine and it's still reading fine after 6 weeks.

[saaby93]

TonyRPH said:

If your battery was low, it's likely the readings will be incorrect.

As I said in an earlier post, I just put 3 Alkaline "AAA" batteries in mine and it's still reading fine after 6 weeks.

Unfortunately it doesnt seem to be that - I wish it was
I measured the battery pack when charged and it's around 3.8V volt i.e. 3 x 1.3V cells
Pressing the power button either gives about 4 flashes or a single long flash if it's paired
It does seem that without the bit of paper it charges, with it, it doesnt
With the piece of paper it gives correct reading, Without it, it doesnt

I've also run it a few times with 3 AAA cells
With the piece of paper it gives correct reading, Without it, it doesnt

[nutey]

TonyRPH said:

If your battery was low, it's likely the readings will be incorrect.

As I said in an earlier post, I just put 3 Alkaline "AAA" batteries in mine and it's still reading fine after 6 weeks.

I've been trying rechargeable AAA batteries and they work ok for a while but then the sensors loses connection. So you've just put normal, non rechargeable batteries in?

[TonyRPH]

nutey said:

I've been trying rechargeable AAA batteries and they work ok for a while but then the sensors loses connection. So you've just put normal, non rechargeable batteries in?

Yes, just standard alkaline batteries.

In the sensor / transmitter, there's a separate connection for rechargeable batteries (a small plug) so rechargeable batteries won't charge without being connected to that.

[saaby93]

yep recharbales wont charge in the standard slots
Pressing the power button on the sensor should make the LED blink if the battery is ok
Mines alive again - the immersion comes on overnight which must be enough to charge the sensor battery pack.
It still reads 6kW for the super kettle

[Dave.]

Is it just the kettle which seems wrong, or everything?

Have you tried different outlets? (Not on the same breaker)

[nutey]

Ok, set of Duracell's finest installed. Let's see how it goes today. Seems pretty accurate compared to the labels on the kettle, hoover etc.

[saaby93]

Dave. said:

Is it just the kettle which seems wrong, or everything?

Have you tried different outlets? (Not on the same breaker)

Good point
1.5kW ceramic heater reads 3kW

[Dave.]

Watts your daily totals been? Do they correlate with your bills? I hope not!

Have you tried the sensor on a different cable at the meter? Perhaps it's reading the cable it's wrapped around, and the adjoining one? (I know it shouldn't, but it's worth a try).

[s p a c e m a n]

Mine arrived on Saturday, 4am this morning I'm standing there in the dark with a cereal bowl in one hand and my phone in the other as a source of light

It flicks between 0 and 15 watts, is 15 as low as it reads? I still had one TV and the Xbox on standby (can't get to the socket), a couple phones were on charge and obviously the fridge freezer.

[Converse2020]

Mine also showing a claimed 5000 watts from the kettle or about 2500-3000 watts from an 800w microwave.

Somethings not right, but then the daily usage total doesnt seem don’t too bad - certainly it’s not x2 or x3 higher than I’m expecting to see from my meter readings.

[croyde]

Between around 11pm bedtime and 6am I seem to be using 2kwh per night.

Some stuff on standby, no heating, everyone asleep but my daughter has a massive fan on all night as she says she can't sleep without it.

My electricity paper bill has me at an average of 12.4kwh a day, and I'm almost using that up and we don't even have the combi boiler central heating on yet.

I was away this weekend, so no dad running around to tell people to turn stuff off.

Daughter had a shower Sunday morning, 3x35w down lighters and an extractor fan still on 8 hours later when I returned home.

[tr7v8]

Mine currently doing around <16kWH per day. Mind you I work from home & wife seems to have to have lights on everywhere.
She sits in the bathroom in broad daylight with 90watts of downlighters on as well. I also have a dehumidifier on 24/7 which draws around 300+ watts as well.

[Slushbox]

My gOnzo seems to be behaving itself, with alkalines in the sensor and display. My EAC, entered as 10kW/h per day x 360 is now showing as 10.5 on the meter, so it's calculating 'something.'

The novelty is wearing off. Having condemned the household to living in the dark, eating semi-frozen chips, and falling down stairs at night, I now have to decide whether adding another £5 worth of alkalines is going to save any more money. :-)

Also I noticed that putting a set of rechargeables into the sensor, but not hooking them up to the red wire charge link sent the displayed wattage down. Rechargeables are 1.2 vdc (?) and alkalines 1.5 vdc, so perhaps the sensor is prone to battery voltage?

Edited by Slushbox on Monday 12th November 09:55

[saaby93]

Converse2020 said:

Mine also showing a claimed 5000 watts from the kettle or about 2500-3000 watts from an 800w microwave.

Somethings not right, but then the daily usage total doesnt seem don’t too bad - certainly it’s not x2 or x3 higher than I’m expecting to see from my meter readings.

A least the real smart meters should be more accurate.........

Is there something about the word smart that seems to question its use
Same with so called smart motorways

[croyde]

I get a 1500w to 2000w spike when using the microwave or coffee machine.

But the microwave is rated at 800w.

As others have said, the novelty is wearing off and all I'm doing is getting stressed over saving a few quid.

I just have to accept that my combined fuel bill DD is £140 a month and get on with it.

I'd save a lot more if I stopped using the car

[Dave.]

We're at about 10-12kw a day.

We've come to the conclusion that the only way we can save real money is by not showering or cooking, or save pennies by unplugging the router, taking the bulbs out of the fridge/oven/microwave etc.

But happy enough that it cost less than £7 to find out.

[Slushbox]

Dave. said:

We're at about 10-12kw a day.

We've come to the conclusion that the only way we can save real money is by not showering or cooking, or save pennies by unplugging the router, taking the bulbs out of the fridge/oven/microwave etc.

But happy enough that it cost less than £7 to find out.

Amen. I did make a big change in the summer by ditching the electric cooker for gas:

September bill: 217.0 kWh @ 12.60p/kWh = £27.34 (plus standing charge) which is 7 kW/H per day. Not far off my guesstimate.

So I think, as confirmed by the idiot-meter, there is nothing else to turn off.

[croyde]

I see you are on 3p/kwh less than me. Who are you with?

If I may ask. Ta