Cheap Onzo Energy meter - £8
Discussion
croyde said:
I see you are on 3p/kwh less than me. Who are you with?
If I may ask. Ta
You may. We're with Octopus. Some dual-fuel tariff thing. Double check the prices first as they may have gone up since the summer. If I may ask. Ta
Full bill:
Energy Used 217.0 kWh @ 12.60p/kWh £27.34
Standing Charge 31 days @ 18.00p/day £5.58
Slushbox said:
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.
I bought mine because Bulb reckon I'm using 10kWh a day which I struggle to account for since there's only me, & I don't have 30 minute showers. The gOnzo is showing maybe slightly under 10kWh but I'm can't see where it's going as the only thing that runs all the time is the fridge freezer. While it's a few years old I can't see that replacing it is going to be economic.So I think, as confirmed by the idiot-meter, there is nothing else to turn off.
Mr Pointy said:
bought mine because Bulb reckon I'm using 10kWh a day which I struggle to account for since there's only me, & I don't have 30 minute showers. The gOnzo is showing maybe slightly under 10kWh but I'm can't see where it's going as the only thing that runs all the time is the fridge freezer. While it's a few years old I can't see that replacing it is going to be economic.
I cannot fathom out why the 'target' kWh on mine is creeping erp to 10.5 (per day) when the danged thing is otherwise saying I've used less. Perhaps it is forecasting a Great Tempest. Perhaps it foresees Trump declaring war on Hampshire, or an imminent asteroid strike. Perhaps it runs Linux. Perhaps a thousand mysterious elves creep out at night to charge their iPhones up when I'm asleep. On the upside, I've had a fortnight's excitement for £7.95 and bored several people to death in the pub. No-one now sits next to me at the bar. My phone's stopped ringing.
A snip for eight quid.
Mine has arrived, there's no manual in the box. The main unit is fine, it had 3 AA batteries in it, and it's showing stuff on the screen.
The sensor has the cruddy battery pack inside. The one contact that's visible in the shrink wrap isn't too good, I'm not sure how much if any of it will clean off, as it is with the pack connected, there's no light with any button presses.
So I tried putting some AAA batteries in there, but the middle bay spring on the left is short, so the middle battery of the 3 is loose and not contacting both ends of the bay. The bottom spring contact is also cruddy. I've given things a quick wipe with WD40, no go on the sensor so far.
So those who got their sensor working, what did you do?
The sensor has the cruddy battery pack inside. The one contact that's visible in the shrink wrap isn't too good, I'm not sure how much if any of it will clean off, as it is with the pack connected, there's no light with any button presses.
So I tried putting some AAA batteries in there, but the middle bay spring on the left is short, so the middle battery of the 3 is loose and not contacting both ends of the bay. The bottom spring contact is also cruddy. I've given things a quick wipe with WD40, no go on the sensor so far.
So those who got their sensor working, what did you do?
TonyRPH said:
What consumption is the meter displaying at various times during the day?
There must be something drawing power which should be indicated (even if sporadically) on the display?
In general I think the meter is working quite well. The quiescent state is around about 150W ish which is stuff that is on standby (printers, TV etc) & this goes up to around 300W whe the fridge freezer kicks in & the kettle makes it shoot up to 2600w.There must be something drawing power which should be indicated (even if sporadically) on the display?
I think I may have a suspect in the fridge freezer though. I dug out a power meter I bought for a project & stuck the FF on it overnight & in 12 hours it's used 1.22kWh. That would mean about 2.5kWh a day which is a quarter of the total house consumption. It must be 20 years old so I guess it's not surprising it's not as good as modern ones but I didn't realise it was that bad.
Now 2.5kWh a day is around £128 a year which is way over what the online sites say a FF should cost to run (£25-£40 a year).
So thanks to the OP I've not only spent £6.38 on a meter but now I've got to spunk out £300 on a new fridge freezer.
Anyone know if the display can run from usb without batteries. Ours had new batteries in last thursday and is down to one bar, im not putting new batteries in weekly.
Hopefully the sender unit will last a little longer or its going in the bin.
If i was to spend more than a fiver on a unit what could you get. Say up to £50.
Hopefully the sender unit will last a little longer or its going in the bin.
If i was to spend more than a fiver on a unit what could you get. Say up to £50.
bazza white said:
Anyone know if the display can run from usb without batteries. Ours had new batteries in last thursday and is down to one bar, im not putting new batteries in weekly.
Hopefully the sender unit will last a little longer or its going in the bin.
It says to run the display on USB and seems to work ok without batteriesHopefully the sender unit will last a little longer or its going in the bin.
Are you using AAA in the sender rather than the rechargable pack?
It doesnt say how long those last
saaby93 said:
ST_Nuts said:
Mines lost signal despite being only meters away from the sensor 
Are you still using the rechargable battery in the sensor?If you press the grey button on the sensor does the yellow led on it blink
The buttons are awful
Edited by saaby93 on Tuesday 13th November 09:02
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