Tap on the individual circuits to get an in-depth look at that circuit's energy consumption.
Powerhouse Dynamics last week released a new version of its iOS and Android eMonitor app that enables snapshots of a home or business’ energy usage, down to individual circuits or appliances.
The company says the app is the first in the industry to enable users to drill-down to see real-time equipment operating profiles. This allows a homeowner or facility manager who receives a report of a malfunctioning HVAC unit or appliance to immediately view the status of the unit via a smart phone and determine the best course of action for resolving the issue.
The app works with Powerhouse’s eMonitor system that measures electricity usage by the circuit, which allows more detailed reporting of energy consumption and pinpointing of problems or wasteful areas than systems that only monitor whole-house or building energy use. The company has released commercial and wireless systems as well.
I reloaded my own eMonitor app for my home’s eMonitor system. The home “page” on my iPhone shows a meter with total electricity usage, and under that there’s a list of the circuits by largest current users. Slide a finger and you can see all the circuits. From there I can “drill down” to see graphical representations of power usage for that circuit in the past day, week or month, which is pretty handy.
You can see usage of individual circuits for the past day, week or month.
I'd like to see costs for more than the top users.
You can also see total usage over these times and projected costs of the top three users in the last 30 days. It may not seem like much, but to know I’m spending $17 this month on the subpanel in the garage, which mostly represents an old fridge, is a good reminder to get rid of that thing. (Though I still have a partner to convince). You can also see projected costs for all circuits. The ability to drill down is a huge plus for this app. I don’t remember that being a feature in the previous version of app, which I pretty much deemed worthless.
I can see this being a much more helpful feature for commercial establishments than little old me. But I can get into my eMonitor interface much more quickly and in a much handier fashion than with the usual web portal.
That spike on the left is an electric space heater, tsk, tsk.
The latest eMonitor app release also provides a range of other new features, including support for Powerhouse Dynamics’ commercial thermostat that enables up to 8 different set points per day, giving managers even greater ability to fine-tune heating and cooling systems. “Many of our customers are now empowered to impress their own customers” says Jason Roeder, Director of Energy Products and Services for Powerhouse Dynamics. “For example, in the case of restaurant guests who feel too hot or too cold – the host can simply use his or her smartphone and make the adjustment on the spot.”
The new eMonitor mobile app is available to eMonitor users for download for the iPhone from the Apple App Store and for Android on Google Play.
You may also like:
The Immense Importance of Connectivity
Green Tech Distributor to Launch
Case Study: Building a Green Electronics Installation Business
eMonitor Gets Smarter—And More Social
