[TriEmbed] Question: On/Off Sensor for Hot Water Heater

[Mark Sidell]

If money is not an issue, Veris sells on/off current sensors with digital
outputs. (As others have noted, since a water heater is a constant load,
on/off is all you need.) I used the H800 to monitor my water heater. I
clamped it around one of the hots, in the electric panel. Be careful with
that, of course!

    http://veris.com/product_results.aspx?keyword=H800

As an aside, I use a couple of Continental Control Systems WattNode Pulse
units to measure power usage for the mains and heat pump. These devices
output pulses at a rate proportional to power.

   http://www.ccontrolsys.com/w/Home

I feed the pulses to a Hobby Boards 1-wire dual counter board, which a
computer reads at regular intervals:

   http://www.hobby-boards.com/store/products.php?product=Dual-Counter

On Wed, Jan 14, 2015 at 3:12 PM, Rodney Radford <ncgadgetry at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Great board (current sensor) and a decent price ($18), so I will
> definitely add it to my list of future projects.
>
> However, I was wondering if there wasn't a simpler way to do this - my hot
> water heater has a light that comes on whenever the heating coil is on, and
> goes off when the coil is off. That light is a neon light, so there is an
> almost zero chance it will not work.
>
> It would be easy to add a light sensor over that light and sense it, and
> that may be a cheaper solution for you.
>
> However, if the $18 is not too high, that option does give you the option
> of not only knowing it is on, but also measuring the wattage - a very nice
> plus.
>
>
> On Wed, Jan 14, 2015 at 3:05 PM, Dwight Morgan <dwight.w.morgan at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Thanks Shane!
>>
>>
>>
>> This is interesting. Right much of the article was a bit over my head
>> right now but I can see this may be an option for me. I need to do a little
>> more research on it – look at specs closer. I appreciate the info.
>>
>>
>>
>> Dwight
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* Shane Trent [mailto:shanedtrent at gmail.com]
>> *Sent:* Wednesday, January 14, 2015 2:43 PM
>> *To:* Dwight Morgan
>> *Cc:* Triangle Embedded Computing Discussion
>> *Subject:* Re: [TriEmbed] Question: On/Off Sensor for Hot Water Heater
>>
>>
>>
>> Dwight,
>>
>>
>>
>> Here is pre-built board that might do what you want. It's a good read
>> about using Hall Effect sensors for monitoring AC current.
>>
>>
>>
>> http://moderndevice.com/new-products/current-sensor/
>>
>>
>>
>> Shane
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Jan 14, 2015 at 2:15 PM, Dwight Morgan <dwight.w.morgan at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> Hello All:
>>
>>
>>
>> I want to monitor when my hot water heater is on and off using my Arduino
>> UNO. I have done research on sensors and it looks like the best choice is
>> the ACS712 Hall Effect Current Sensor.
>>
>>
>>
>> My water heater has two 4500 Watt elements at 240 Volts. So the
>> calculated current draw is 18.75 amps since only one element is on at a
>> time.
>>
>> My question(s): First, is the Hall Effect sensor a good choice and
>> second, if so, will the 20 amp rated one work okay?
>>
>>
>>
>> Also, if this is viable, I think I will try to use Cat5 cable to pick up
>> the signal which will be about 100 feet away. I’m not sure exactly about
>> the connectors yet.
>>
>>
>>
>> All advice is appreciated.
>>
>>
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>>
>>
>> Dwight
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>>
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>
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