monitor water, gas and electricity in the US

Post by **TeleFragger** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 9:59 pm

So is there a way to monitor this stuff in the US?
I beleive there should be no reason why I cannot buy a gas meter or water meter and install them in my house. This would be unseen by the gas and water company thus no issues....

so where can I get those?

also for electric... we have that big ol circle meter outside.. I did notice someone was making a way with a webcam to catch the black stripe every time it passes.... but I dont want a webcam outside of my house...

any help appreciated...
Thanks
Jeff

Post by **Bwired** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 12:07 am

Hi Jeff
I would go for the RFXcom Pulsemeter
check this link http://www.domoticaforum.eu/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=486
Try and find a watermeter with a pulsecounter which you connect to the rfxpulse too.
The water meters I got from a Dutch company Alaxy http://www.alaxa.nl There are several versions of the water meter with pulse counters I have one which counts per half liter of water.
Here you can find information on energy monitoring with the same electric meter you have
http://www.domoticaforum.eu/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=101
Hope this helps,
regards Pieter

Post by **TeleFragger** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 12:38 am

hmmm it is going to take some time to get there then.... not as easy as in the UK...

I do have the hobby boards master hub and using it for 1 wire temperature... however it is setup as a test bed right now... I need to get the rest of it working....and in place..
I do not know that much about 1 wire... can I integrate something like this into my hobby boards master hub?

Post by **linuxha** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 4:16 am

TeleFragger, the equipment used is the property of the utilities and they only use certain 'approved' equipment. Also adding hobbyist boards may look like a 'terrorist device' in today's USA (oh we're too scared out of our minds to use a little common sense, not that we had much to start with). If I were working for a utility and I saw a hobbyist board and/or laser mounted on a meter I'd have lots of concerns. So factor that in also. It would be nice if the utility gave us web access to the data (better if it were live but they won't spend the money on that).

Sorry to be a nay-sayer, just a word of caution.

Oh, btw you might look at Dr. Phillip Cheung's Power meter. I believe it to measure instantaneous power which may be useful to you (it's now in the box, your 'property').

Neil Cherry
Linux Home Automation
Author: Linux Smart Homes For Dummies

Post by **TeleFragger** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 9:21 pm

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by linuxha
 TeleFragger, the equipment used is the property of the utilities and they only use certain 'approved' equipment. Also adding hobbyist boards may look like a 'terrorist device' in today's USA (oh we're too scared out of our minds to use a little common sense, not that we had much to start with). If I were working for a utility and I saw a hobbyist board and/or laser mounted on a meter I'd have lots of concerns. So factor that in also. It would be nice if the utility gave us web access to the data (better if it were live but they won't spend the money on that).

Sorry to be a nay-sayer, just a word of caution.

Oh, btw you might look at Dr. Phillip Cheung's Power meter. I believe it to measure instantaneous power which may be useful to you (it's now in the box, your 'property').

Neil Cherry
Linux Home Automation
Author: Linux Smart Homes For Dummies
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

thanks for the reply... I didnt get a chance to check back lately...

yeah I am still going to look into this but low on my priority list..

now I know I can see my gas bill useage online and I think my electric bill too..not sure if it is broken down to just month or day, week, etc..... but I am going to check...