Benpointer

Hi all, I am thinking of buying an Emporia Gen 2 Vue Energy Monitor with 8 or possibly 16 50A sensors to help further improve our energy efficiency. We have an all-electric, well-insulated house but the running costs are now going up with recent energy price rises. The house has underfloor heating run from a Mitsubishi Ecodan 85 ASHP. We also have 4kW of PV panels, solar hot water and MVHR. I'd like to be able to monitor the electricity use in detail hence the potential Emporia purchase. I know these devices hold the data on a cloud, with potential future risks that that poses but still they seem the best option at the moment. I have some questions which I cannot get clear answers to from the Emporia website. If someone has one of these units or knows the answers to my questions, I'd appreciate any thoughts... The device has two 200A clamps which need to go around the L and N supply leads into the distribution box. Why both leads? Just curious. Does this device measure the live voltage or make a voltage assumption to calculate the power level? Can I measure the PV panel output on this device too? If so how? If we are feeding into the grid will the monitor distinguish that, or see the power going through the supply leads as an absolute value (i.e. will a 1kW feed into the grid from our PV panels look like we are using 1kW from the grid?) The instructions say the clamps have to be fitted inside the consumer unit (CU). Anyone know why? The issue for me with fitting them inside the CU is that the ASHP, UFH, MVHR and solar water are all on one CU circuit, so I wouldn't get any granularity about the individual demand from each of those devices... ...Also, is it safe to open the consumer unit to fit those clamps, if the main switch is off? (Obviously I can be careful not to touch any bare wires but it sounds a bit scary to me!) If I clamp a 3-core cable (e.g. the individual supply to the ASHP) would I get a double reading, or zero? (i.e. would the currents running through the live and neutral wires be added together or cancel each other out?) Sorry, that's a lot of questions but if anyone can answer some of them, I'd be grateful. Many thanks Benpointer

Hi all, Just to briefly introduce myself: We completely refurbed a 1960s bungalow 10 years ago, building a SIP two storey extension, more than doubling its size, adding cavity and external wall insulation to the original bungalow at the same time. We installed underfloor heating driven by a Mitsubishi Ecodan 85 ASHP. We also added 4kW of PV panels, solar hot water, MVHR, and rainwater harvesting. We did all that back in 2009-10 and at the time I got a lot of help from the old Navitron forum. Since when we have been enjoying the house and been very pleased with the results. I have joined Buildhub now because: Whilst originally the PV FITs were covering our electricity costs, that's a long way from true now. So I am looking at what further efficiencies we might make. I think we will do another house project in a few years, maybe a new build but we'll want it to be as efficient as possible, so I could be seeking thoughts, ideas etc. As an aside I am secretary for our small village hall, which is a converted stone 19th chapel. The heating costs have gone through the roof (as does most of the heating tbh!) so I might be looking for any ideas members have about managing heating costs for a building that is unoccupied most of the time. I apologise that it looks from that list as though I am just on the take but hopefully, with our experience of a major eco-rebuild I can offer some ideas in return. Anyway, that's me introduced! Benpointer