Brultech ECM 1240

by **roscoe** » Sun Nov 01, 2009 11:49 am

Just a note to say that after using this 7 channel energy moniter I keep getting more impressed. Only 180 usd for 7 channels including CT.

I have ch7 as a pulse counter taking the gas readings, so 6 electrial and one gas, pretty good.

It works in the UK with 240/50hz, a different firmware is supplied. I am even thinking of adding a second unit to increase to 14 channels, using 2/7 as internal temperature.

External software interface is various DIY (datbase, OPC-UA, file), but they now have a beta dashboard which is nice.

Not really seen any comments/users postings about the unit here, nor have I seen any comparable units for sale by other vendors. Maybe, someone can correct me.

by **Alexander** » Sun Nov 01, 2009 12:07 pm

http://www.brultech.com/HomeEnergy/ecm1240intro2.html

Alexander

by **Bwired** » Sun Nov 01, 2009 12:38 pm

What a terrible website finding the right information!,
But the product looks nice, are there any clear specification and what about sensors etc. Can't find any information on how separate devices are measured like a dishwasher?
Energy reading with conductors.. I don't like that, tried that before and was not accurate!

Ethernet not available right now, Xbee is mentioned?

We have partnered with www.check-it.ca, an online data monitoring company to provide "real-time" tracking of the connected loads. Historical data is also available...... see what loads were "on" while you were away or when you are away. OK we don't like that!!

There is a Homeseer plugin available http://www.brultech.com/homeseerscreen.htm

<hr noshade size="1">Pieter Knuvers
http://www.bwired.nl Online House in the netherlands. Domotica, Home Automation.

by **roscoe** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 3:49 am

I also found the website difficult to navigate, especially for the ecm1240 related technical, support and beta things. It used to be even worse, so I guess it is moving in the right direction. Frustrating quirklyness perhaps, but after getting personal assistance from Paul at Brultech I'm don't hold it against them.

The ecm1240 cannot resolve down to the individual device level, it is a current transformer based solution designed to be connected at the consumer distribution box. So how well it works depends on your electrical layout. The system easily can be expanded to operate with 3 units = 21 channels. I have just gathered all my 5 lights circuits onto one channel , cooking devices another, computer/it ring another. For me I cannot discrimatate between freezer/fridge/dishwasher, so in a comprise way it gets me mostly there, not perfect, but I am happy enough. If I really want to I can put a killawatt or the home-made zigbee version on the fridge, no real need for me.

I would like to mix and match plugwise and the ecm but the plugwise is still not out for the uk. But to be honest there are limitations with both approaches anyhow. What I mean is that on a plug based system I would like 20 plugs but economically I would probably be financially squeezed to 8 which isn't really enough.

I do not know how accurate the device is, I am currently doing a manual readings over a two week period to check the kWh, looks good enough for me. I did play about with Owl type ct basic units via rfx but they were very inaccurate because they only measure current, no pf adujstment and no accurate watt, a basic rough indicator. Totally mis-leading for my Neff induction hob. The ecm I think is some kinda super pic controller sampling and integrating watt seconds at 2 or 3 khz, individual readings are stored and totalised on the ecm unit.

I was not really too impressed with the various software, but hey everyone seems to want something different, however, I am using the early beta dashboard which I do like and hope it is swiftly developed further. It is quick for a home web based solution and very responsive running on an old notepad celeron at 600mhz. Interestingly, it uses some brultech engine code, some .net chart controls and asp along with cassini webserver and sqlite3 as the file datastore. Nothing hogging memory or cpu in that combo.
Here is a link from another brultech web page http://216.121.177.3:8080/

Deployment methods are like the software diverse, I have the zigbee and the etherbee it works and could also be used with offsite logging, it has a serial port and at some point I will revert back to this, no particular reason. I had thought about deploying the python script someone wrote on by Qnap Nas (8w embedded linux) but I have little linux/open-source I'm happy with xP embedded and the various microsft technologies.

The first 2 main channels have better quality ct that are clip ons, whereas the next 5 channels have basic single core cts, you can buy extras at 4 for $20 to combine channels.

Nice solution for me, anyone else in europe using one ?

by **roscoe** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 3:56 am

after the long reply above,... what I have for $180 usd

6 electrical channels logged including current transformers
1 gas meter connected by clip on reed switch (30) 0.01m3, pulses counter solution

by **Bastiaan** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 11:50 am

Doesn't seem to handle a three phase system?

by **roscoe** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 12:01 pm

I don't have 3 phase, it has no way that I know of handling total 3 phase power.
The unit uses a small psu which is also used a voltage reference to correctly calc real power per phase.
I think you can use it for split 2 phase loads, but if it was a bigger 3 phase system with multi single phase sub boards I would maybe deploy several units to get the number of channel readings and buy a cheap pulse 3 phase meter/device with pulse and use the ecm pulse channel AUX5 as a counter interface.

I have tried an owl for 3 phase but the accuracy was poor.

What (cheap) 3 phase interface would you recommend ?

by **Bastiaan** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 4:50 pm

Well there is a topic about the solution I use:

topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2809

it works fine for now.
I was just wondering if you start measuring 'groups' within your system and they are on another phase, having only one volt meter will make the readings not very accurate.
RFXCOM devices use three measurement point and I was wondering if they had something similar.

by **roscoe** » Sat Nov 21, 2009 3:56 pm

I don't see why you make the point about 3 phase on a home automation forum. Unless you have a Donald Trump tower block mansion, I think most people do just fine on single phase.

So the Ecm 1240 is great for single phase and from my records is surprisingly accurate.

It is also quite a bit cheaper than the rfxcom power solution and gives much much more information.

The brultech is a very practical solution because one house power reading does not really give the detailed information required, on the other hand buying 20, 30 or plugwise devices is just too expensive. So I think it hits the spot for me in a real world compromised manner.

by **Bwired** » Sat Nov 21, 2009 4:53 pm

There you wrong! A whole Lot of people in the Netherlands all have 3 phase installations.
I also have one, It's mainly because of electrical cooking instead of gas :-)

I tried this way (induction) of measuring my energy, but in my case it was way off, so not accurate at all.

<hr noshade size="1">Pieter Knuvers
http://www.bwired.nl Online House in the netherlands. Domotica, Home Automation.

by **roscoe** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 10:03 pm

I'll stand corrected and take your word for it, presumably due to electric heating rather than cooking. In the UK a 100 amp single phase supply is not a bill I would like to pay, never mind a 3 phase one !

I really do not known what accuracy Brultech quote, but I did a comparison for 6 weeks against the supply meter and was 1% out for the first 3 weeks and overall 3% out after 6 weeks. I thought that was pretty good.

Like yourself I tried it with a cheaper (Owl device) and accuracy was woefully bad, this was because it was a current reading sampled every 6 secs and also had no power factor calculation.

The brultech unit has much higher quality current transformers and uses some hardware pic controller sampling the voltage and current at 2/3 khz and holds internal watt-second totalised readings on board. When the PC interface queries the unit it then back-calculates watt on a sampled basis. All 7 channels get the same high sample rate and high resolution watt-second counters.

As for 3 phase I understand they have plans to bring one out, it is not something I need to solve right now, if so I could use the ch7 on the brultech to totalise the pulses from a 3 phase meter.

by **Bwired** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 10:40 pm

No not for heating mainly purely for cooking (consumer market)
Good to hear that the Brultech is accurate.

<hr noshade size="1">Pieter Knuvers
http://www.bwired.nl Online House in the netherlands. Domotica, Home Automation.

by **roscoe** » Tue Aug 03, 2010 1:19 pm

Just thought I'd bump this thread.

Fitted solar Pv and wanted a better way to do NET meter consumption, bought, sold, generated. Turns out the Brultech ECM 1240 I have has a NET metering option that does the polarised energy flow measuring and has virtual channels dedicated to expose these internal calculations. Perfect for seeing how these expensive solar pv panels are doing whilst still keeping the amount of energy controlled.

I have a simple write up here http://albacontrols.wordpress.com/2010/ ... -solution/

Another point that works well for me, is that the current meter is an old one I expect to get replaced in the near future, so the measurement is not meter type specific.