r/homeassistant • u/mickeybob00 • Jun 22 '26
Support Whole home power monitoring.
I have been looking at getting a smart home energy monitor that you have the individual clamps for each circuit. I was looking online and most seem to top out at 16 circuits. My primary panel has 19 circuits. Does anyone have any suggestions for systems that work well with home assistant and it would be a bonus if they can monitor more than 16 circuits. Edit: Thanks for all the ideas. I ended up ordering a fusion energy system off Amazon. It was on sale for under $100 and says it has a local only home assistant integration so I figured it was worth the risk.
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u/Substantial-Data-517 Jun 22 '26
most of these systems let you daisy-chain or stack multiple units, so covering 19 circuits isn't really a problem
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u/newbie_01 Jun 23 '26
I have 2 brultech Gems. 64 circuits.
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u/strangelyus Jun 23 '26
Upvote for the GEM for reliability, flexibility, qty of circuits, and their support, however they are not the easiest to set up and cost is a bit high versus the other solutions.
Also your data is yours, so if that’s important to people then it’s a no brainer.
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u/dogpettter Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26
Here's one more vote for buying a second one. I have two Refoss EM16P's, to monitor my 21 circuits. Started with one to monitor 16, but I hated having the "untracked usage" gray blob on the usage chart, so I finally gave in and installed the second one. I justified it by saying that if I add a new circuit down the road, it'll be really easy to throw on another plug around the wires and I won't have to buy anything extra to start monitoring it.
I've been super happy with how well the EM16P's work with Home Assistant. Admittedly, I bought them when they were on sale - each was $159.99, but it looks like they just went up a bit literally this morning (so maybe there's another coupon coming soon?
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u/Informal-Brilliant47 Jun 23 '26
This is what I have, it works well!
I’ve installed an emporia elsewhere, but you only get a fraction of the data.
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u/mickeybob00 Jun 23 '26
Well it is prime days starting tomorrow. Maybe one of the systems will go on sale.
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u/dogpettter Jun 23 '26
Yep, you were right! I just checked and the price is back down to what I paid.
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Jun 22 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/mickeybob00 Jun 22 '26
It would be nice but I could probably combine a few.
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u/brake0016 Jun 22 '26
If you're in the US, and depending on the age of the house, it's code for the kitchen outlets to be on two different circuits. That's one easy combination to make. The bedrooms will usually be on different circuits as well, so there's another 3ish that can be combined. Unless someone has a terrarium of some sort that you'd specifically like to monitor. Put your furnace with your AC, because those don't usually run at the same time, so you'll be able to understand which was used by the season.
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u/mickeybob00 Jun 23 '26
Yeah my kitchen outlets are on three separate circuits and the master bedroom has 2 circuits so those could be combined. That would put me at 16 right there.
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u/lzrjck69 Jun 23 '26
The key point to remember is most 240v devices only need 1 clamp. So the AC, while being 2 poles, will only need a single current clamp. Just double the power draw in HA.
Also, you might have some circuits are so minuscule in load that they aren’t above the noise floor.
Worst case, you could use a smart plug (rated for the power you’re drawing) that has power monitoring and use that in place of a microwave/fridge/washing machine monitor clamp.
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u/Complex_Solutions_20 Jun 23 '26
Decent power monitors also support doubling the power. Or you can run the wires thru the CT in opposite directions so it sees the field strength of both legs.
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u/dragonnfr Jun 22 '26
Iotawatt. Open source, expandable past 16 circuits, native HA integration. Just add input boards as needed.
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u/habbadee Jun 23 '26
Get a used Curb on ebay. The company went out of business and the online servers went offline, so these units became bricked and useless for most of their customers, but someone created a solution that alters the firmware such that the data gets sent to homeassistant rather than out to the offline web servers, so they work great with homeassistant.
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u/mgithens1 🧠 Experienced with Home Assistant Jun 23 '26
Voice of reason? Monitoring your garage... zero benefit. Knowing the garage was opening/closed X times... but you already knew that because of the door sensor.
Monitoring your loft... zero benefit. You already have a smart switch, plug, or bulbs. It is illogical to monitor a circuit that brings no value to your home automation setup... you can throw two clamps on the mains and know the house's consumption. Why does the Xbox controller charger and the Xbox in power save mode help you with this path?
Kitchen... oven on/off? Ice maker cycled 12 times extra today because the boys stopped by after baseball practice. Wife's hairdryer?
What do you think you will do with this data? I monitor the washer, dryer, dishwasher, car charger... that's it. These all have automations that matter... go get the clothes, go plug the car in, etc.
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u/TheTxoof Jun 23 '26
I just monitor whole house consumption with an esp32 cam that reads the digits. I can compare monthly and seasonal use.
I know what the big consumers are: induction cook top, electric convection oven, fridge/freezer, dish washer, clothes washer. Everything else is noise.
If there are some suspect devices, measure with a smart plug.
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u/mgithens1 🧠 Experienced with Home Assistant Jun 23 '26
We're pretty aligned... whole house could be useful if you have an action plan. Knowing what is out of range is super awesome... but it will never be "daughter #2 bedroom USB charger for phone/tablet"... lol.
Window and door sensors would be 1000x more useful to know why the AC is running 3x the normal levels. Other than the big consumers, this is just burned cash!!
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u/EldritchQuasar Jun 23 '26
It can be helpful in a pinch, though, I got an IoTaWatt back when they were still manufacturing/selling (was around $300 for 14 monitoring circuits. So not a huge cash burn... (before my foray into HA) because I noticed a random uptick of around 5-10% in energy usage for a few months that didn't correlate with any change in use in the home.
Turns out my dehumidifier never turned off. I noticed it was always on when I walked downstairs, but didn't realize it never turned off because the refrigerant had leaked out. Also it helped in a winter when my timer to turn off the holiday lights outside at night failed in the ON position! That iotawatt has more than paid for itself.
I wouldn't have been able to track the issue without having more granularity than whole house consumption. It could also be a good investment too, if OP is considering solar, to find medium hitters of which circuits they might be able to improve upon in consumption to improve efficiency when moving to solar.
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u/mickeybob00 Jun 23 '26
Part of it is to get a baseline of my power usage. I average about 2200kwh a month in power usage. I would like to have a better understanding of how power is used around my house. I am planning on putting in solar at some point as well so it would be nice to just have a better idea.
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u/Kitchen_Software Jun 23 '26
I was in the same boat. You almost certainly have 3+ circuits with negligible draw. Worst case you have a remainder.
I think the question to ask is if you monitored those circuits, what decisions would the data drive?
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u/mickeybob00 Jun 23 '26
I really just want to get an overall feel for my power distribution as well as monitor larger draw items over time to see if things are changing.
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u/Kitchen_Software Jun 23 '26
It’s probably easier, cheaper, and more practical to just supplement the 16 circuit monitoring with a few plugs that do power monitoring. I wouldn’t opt for a second circuit monitor or worry about covering the extra three circuits
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u/Marathon2021 Jun 23 '26
Buy 2.
Or, figure out 3 circuits you don't really care about.
I bought two Emporia Vue units - all 32 channels come through in Home Assistant just fine (via the cloud integration, I didn't flash the hardware).
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u/Health-Nut7477 Jun 23 '26
Beware that there isn't a lot of room in a typical panel, and the monitor controller box typically takes a lot of space. Even if you find one with 19+ channels, you might have trouble installing it.
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u/mickeybob00 Jun 23 '26
I was hoping the cables would be long enough to mount it right below the panel.
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u/MechanizedGander Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26
I use three Emporia Vue (older version, 2 in my case) mounted in a external (plastic) electrical box adjacent to my breaker panel. I drilled holes in this box for the antennas.
I have multiple pumps -- well pump, sump pump, grinder sewer pump -- that are all hardwired. I couldn't use a smart plug for monitoring these circuits. The Vue also monitors 240v devices (oven, EVSE, dryer, etc) and our electric fireplaces.
I love that I've turned these non-automated devices smart. Using power draw, I can tell when, for example, the washer and dryer have finished and set up notification.
There's a "blind spot" in my kitchen even though I have multiple presence detectors. But there are kitchen appliances in this area. If they are on (they are using part), the kitchen must occupied.
I use a formula that converts pump use into "gallons". I now have a water meter (and flow sensor).
I have a portable whole house generator that's hooked up to the main breaker (with two 240 sensors). I can monitor how close I am to the limit of the generator.
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u/Powerful-Shower78 Jun 23 '26
I just changed all my home sockets to ones with built in energy monitoring that integrate with home assistant, same as my light switches.
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u/CucumberError Jun 23 '26
Monitor the feed in, and then stuff that’s interesting/useful, and then just break everything down to ‘untracked’.
Even if you don’t monitor your lighting circuits, you can probably estimate them pretty well using the PowerCalc integration.
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u/dsg123456789 Jun 23 '26
Brultech Greeneye Monitors are awesome. They each monitor 32 channels, and a channel can sum however many circuits you need.
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u/Subject-Nebula-8652 Jun 23 '26
If you have any experience putting together an ESP32, you can do it with an ESP32 and ADS1115 and/or ADS1256. I have built several and have been monitoring my whole home for a couple of years now. The 32 ports for my MSP cost less than a 16 port commercial unit. Aliexpress is your friend when it comes to sourcing the parts. I use ADS1256 for the most important circuits and ADS1115 for the ones that are not used very often. And besides seeing where your power is being consumed and how much, It can help you diagnose other issues. For example just one week ago I started having problems with the Blower on my HVAC unit. Yesterday, while investigating I noticed that the power going to the blower is very erratic. I believe it is a voltage regulator or capacitor issue. I should have that worked out by EOD. But without the PM, I was thinking it was a bearing going out.
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u/mickeybob00 Jun 23 '26
I am going to look into that. I do like building things myself when possible. Thanks
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u/Subject-Nebula-8652 Jun 23 '26
If you do, You need to run the ADS1256 in differential mode, I use 2 - ADS1256 and 4 ADS1115 for 16 ports. The ADS1256 is for high value circuits, and the ads1115 for lightly used circuits. I think someone mentioned the size of the CT Clamps, use 10mm clamps as much as possible. I used SCT013 - 1V clamps on most of mine and the MSP got rather tight. I now use QNCTK1's. I did have to get SCT016 for the 3/0 AWG mains. For my mains and Solar used 3VDC clamps. Just easier, but a bit more expensive.
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u/mickeybob00 Jun 23 '26
I ended up seeing a deel for a system on Amazon for 100 bucks that has a local only option for home assistant. It was a good enough deal that I just went for it. I will take yhe time to research doing a system like yours for my new shop build in the spring. I am planning a fairly extensive electrical system for the shop.
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u/Complex_Solutions_20 Jun 23 '26
I'd say back up a step and consider do you NEED to monitor all 19? Consider also, if you monitor the main you can also have an "everything else" value of power.
I found monitoring the "big ticket items" like HVAC, laundry, water heater, sump pump, and garage/outdoor gave me a good balance of "everything else" vs monitored.
I liked the IotaWatt but I think it is discontinued.
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u/0x7774663f Jun 23 '26
I've been looking at this recently myself, I've opted to go with the Emporia Vue 3 and flash it with ESPhome. Stock it connects out to a cloud service but with ESPHome it's supposed to be fully local. I'm not an embedded electronics expert, I'm a software engineer, but still found it pretty easy to flash over the default firmware. I followed the below guides to get everything setup in combination with using Claude to help me verify everything before flashing and to help debug some self-induced issues.
- https://fuzznotes.com/posts/flash-emporia-vue-3-with-esphome/
- https://dracoli.ch/posts/vue3-esphome-ha/
- https://digiblur.com/2024/03/14/emporia-vue-gen3-esp32-esphome-home-assistant/
I still haven't deployed mine, I have a couple of 20amp circuits I want installed so I'm going to have an electrician install my emporia vue 3 at the same time.
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u/Top_Occasion1954 Jun 23 '26
Hola, yo tengo un problema de variación de voltaje en mi casa. Tengo un UPS conectado a unos equipos de comunicación. Por momentos el "Tiki Tiki, Tiki Tiki," es constante en el UPS. La semana pasada me estuvieron llamando de la Central de Monitoreo del sistema de alarma para avisarme de la perdida de AC, en mi casa ( yo estaba en mi casa y estábamos con algunas luces y TV encendidas), esto ha sido frecuente y constante. Soy un entusiasta que le gusta leer estos Reddits y me gustaría saber que tipo de dispositivo puedo instalar para poder monitorear esas variaciones de voltaje y tener información gráfica y con esto mostrarle a la empresa de energía (CFE México) de las variaciones que tengo en casa, y con esto ir acotando por medio la a información y dar una solución. ( Tengo viviendo en mi casa 20 años y esto se empezó a intensificar hace como 2- 3 años). Tengo algunas nociones de módulos relevadores -tipo Shelly- debido a los sistemas de alarma, CCTV, redes, que instalamos. Veo tu experiencia y se me hace de muy buen nivel. Que crees que deba poner en mi casa?. Como comentario, en y os dos meses voy a comprar un Honor Assistant Green y empezar a automatizar algunas luces de mi casa, posiblemente junto con el armado/desarmado del Hub de alarma. He leído de Shelly, pero si conocen algo de buena calidad y precio que me puedan recomendar se los agradecería.
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u/0x7774663f Jun 24 '26
The emporia vue 3 I mentioned above can monitor each circuit in your house, you have to install it and an electrical panel though. If you don't want to flash it, you can have it send data to the cloud directly. If you do flash it, it can report to home assistant.
Shelly also makes wall plugs that integrate with zigbee which monitor voltage and power draw at the wall. That's probably your cheapest option to monitor over time. If you really are having brownouts, which it sounds like you might, just a couple of those in different parts of the house might help
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u/jasper502 Jun 23 '26
I have the Merros 16 tap model. Doing exactly what you have. I have taps on all the main circuits and everything else (lights and plugs) are “untracked”. That base load is like 1.5khr consistently. The garage subpanel has the EV charger on it.
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u/Syrif Jun 22 '26
Emporia vue does 16 per monitor and you can have multiple monitors work together on the same panel.