GEM & DB Combo Ordered + Big Thank You

OzTechGeek
Posts: 27
Joined: Wed Mar 05, 2014 3:33 pm
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana

GEM & DB Combo Ordered + Big Thank You

Post by OzTechGeek » Mon Mar 17, 2014 5:21 pm

Well I took the plunge and after much research on other products, I have found Brultech products to have the most to offer including expansion and the added bonus of pulse and temperature monitoring.

It was the only product I found that offered truly complete home energy monitoring for every circuit compared it it's competitors.

So today I ordered the following:

GreenEye Energy Monitor with WiFi & Ethernet Module
DashBox (Ordered a TL-WN722N from Amazon for WiFi access)
4 x Split-200 CT's
60 x Micro-50 CT's
8 x Micro-80 CT's

:geek:

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Teken, Ben and Tammy, for all their time and effort is answering my questions and helping me make sure I ordered the exact system I needed for what I wanted to accomplish.

Thank You
GEM + WiFi & Ethernet Module / DashBox + TL-WN722N
4 x Split-200 CT's / 60 x Micro-50 CT's / 8 x Micro-80 CT's
Current 2014-03-31: GEM COM v2.58 / GEM ENG v1.47 / DB Dashboard v4.1.5F1
Previous: GEM COM v2.57 / GEM ENG v1.47 / DB Dashboard v4.1.5B
Teken
Posts: 2700
Joined: Wed Dec 15, 2010 4:09 pm
Location: The Bad Lands

Re: GEM & DB Combo Ordered + Big Thank You

Post by Teken » Mon Mar 17, 2014 7:02 pm

I truly believe you will be very satisfied and happy with your purchase. Outside of the ISY-994 home automation controller. The Brultech Green Eye Monitor (GEM) and Dash Box (DB) are an investment.

The amount of information and awareness both products bring to the end user is invaluable. The key thing for me and many of the other owners has been the superb *Service after the sale* support and guidance provided by the Brultech family.

Development has continued on a steady pace in many areas.

Even with out the added features of the base (GEM). The GEM system offers the most value per monitored circuit load. When you compare other systems in the Internet, and look very closely you will find many short comings in terms of what is being offered and for how much.

When you add in the on going development of the Dash Box (DB) to the GEM ecosystem. The user has a end to end solution which they have full control over. It does not require a rocket scientist to install or set up, just some time.

No thanks needed as your contributions in the future will help out many more in the not too distant future! :lol:

Please ensure you update your GEM to the latest COM / Engine firmware before you begin. Ensure your GEM is fully operational before you add the Dash Box to the mix. Please stay on the last official Dash Box firmware release until you're comfortable with Beta testing.

This will ensure you're familiar with the operations and expected behaviour of the Dash Box / GEM combination. No need to add in more complexity to a *initial install* right from the beginning.
Teken . . .

My ongoing projects thread: http://www.brultech.com/community/viewt ... ?f=2&t=929
Buy me a cup of coffee: https://www.paypal.me/Teken https://gfinotify.com/ Discount Code: PC10
bgrubb1
Posts: 176
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2013 1:17 am

Re: GEM & DB Combo Ordered + Big Thank You

Post by bgrubb1 » Mon Mar 17, 2014 7:41 pm

I agree with everything Teken stated :-)
Out of morbid curiosity, 72 CT's ??
by the 4X split 200's I assume you have a sub panel, but 72 ???
..Barry
OzTechGeek
Posts: 27
Joined: Wed Mar 05, 2014 3:33 pm
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana

Re: GEM & DB Combo Ordered + Big Thank You

Post by OzTechGeek » Mon Mar 17, 2014 8:23 pm

bgrubb1 wrote:I agree with everything Teken stated :-)
Out of morbid curiosity, 72 CT's ??
by the 4X split 200's I assume you have a sub panel, but 72 ???
..Barry
Well...not a sub panel, but yes I have 2 panels, each panel has 200A lines coming in from outside.

Panel 1:
20A x 38
Panel 2:
20A x 7 (1 x 240V)
30A x 4 (240V)
50A x 3 (240V)
60A x 4 (240V)

Have a look at: http://www.brultech.com/home/community/ ... =30&t=1021

:geek:
GEM + WiFi & Ethernet Module / DashBox + TL-WN722N
4 x Split-200 CT's / 60 x Micro-50 CT's / 8 x Micro-80 CT's
Current 2014-03-31: GEM COM v2.58 / GEM ENG v1.47 / DB Dashboard v4.1.5F1
Previous: GEM COM v2.57 / GEM ENG v1.47 / DB Dashboard v4.1.5B
kdroyer
Posts: 30
Joined: Wed Mar 05, 2014 1:45 pm

Re: GEM & DB Combo Ordered + Big Thank You

Post by kdroyer » Mon Mar 17, 2014 10:57 pm

I can't wait to get my quote, I'm looking at a very similar setup to yours. My only remaining thing I need to figure out is if I should get the dashbox or not?

If I were to use SEG to monitor my data, would I be able to look at my data/usage in the same way if I had a dashbox? Or does the dashbox give me more flexibility in sorting, viewing decifering my usage per circuit? In otherwords, can I "customize" the data I look at with either the dashbox or SEG?

If I read everything right, the one advantage of the dashbox is that if SEG or my network goes down, my data will be averaged, but with the dashbox (connected via RS232), I won't loose any data if my network goes down.

Hopefully I can get a better understanding of what the benefits of the dashbox are. I've looked at Tekken's garagejournal page, but still have some remaining questions above.
mwall
Posts: 140
Joined: Wed Dec 07, 2011 6:25 pm

Re: GEM & DB Combo Ordered + Big Thank You

Post by mwall » Tue Mar 18, 2014 9:20 am

kdroyer wrote:If I were to use SEG to monitor my data, would I be able to look at my data/usage in the same way if I had a dashbox? Or does the dashbox give me more flexibility in sorting, viewing decifering my usage per circuit? In otherwords, can I "customize" the data I look at with either the dashbox or SEG?
SEG is a wonderful service, and it has *the* best plotting/visualization capabilities. however, if you rely only on SEG you will lose data from time to time.

dashbox is coming along very nicely, and ensures that you will get a local copy of your data no matter what happens on the network or to SEG. you can also roll-your-own local data collection and plotting with btmon and emoncms. you could also upload to multiple services, not just SEG (such as xively).

one of the best features of the brultech hardware is that there are many options for using it.

m
Teken
Posts: 2700
Joined: Wed Dec 15, 2010 4:09 pm
Location: The Bad Lands

Re: GEM & DB Combo Ordered + Big Thank You

Post by Teken » Tue Mar 18, 2014 9:39 am

kdroyer wrote:I can't wait to get my quote, I'm looking at a very similar setup to yours. My only remaining thing I need to figure out is if I should get the dashbox or not?

If I were to use SEG to monitor my data, would I be able to look at my data/usage in the same way if I had a dashbox? Or does the dashbox give me more flexibility in sorting, viewing decifering my usage per circuit? In otherwords, can I "customize" the data I look at with either the dashbox or SEG?

If I read everything right, the one advantage of the dashbox is that if SEG or my network goes down, my data will be averaged, but with the dashbox (connected via RS232), I won't loose any data if my network goes down.

Hopefully I can get a better understanding of what the benefits of the dashbox are. I've looked at Tekken's garagejournal page, but still have some remaining questions above.
Please ensure you follow along using this thread and not the old Garage Journal link: http://brultech.com/home/community/view ... ?f=2&t=929

As I am actively updating the Brultech forum thread instead of the other. If the budget allows purchasing the Dash Box to compliment the SEG site is a excellent idea.

You have the best of both worlds in terms of charts, graphs, tools. But also redundant back up of your energy, temperature, pulse, voltage data.

This is the public facing SEG link to my energy account: https://smartenergygroups.com/groups/teken_energy
Teken . . .

My ongoing projects thread: http://www.brultech.com/community/viewt ... ?f=2&t=929
Buy me a cup of coffee: https://www.paypal.me/Teken https://gfinotify.com/ Discount Code: PC10
OzTechGeek
Posts: 27
Joined: Wed Mar 05, 2014 3:33 pm
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana

Re: GEM & DB Combo Ordered + Big Thank You

Post by OzTechGeek » Sun Mar 23, 2014 1:32 pm

My GEM & DB arrived yesterday (22nd) :D , only took 4 days to get here from Canada, not bad at all.

Next step to is schedule downtime with boss (wife) for when I can cut the power and hook everything up. :)

Very excited to start some monitoring on power usage in our home.
GEM + WiFi & Ethernet Module / DashBox + TL-WN722N
4 x Split-200 CT's / 60 x Micro-50 CT's / 8 x Micro-80 CT's
Current 2014-03-31: GEM COM v2.58 / GEM ENG v1.47 / DB Dashboard v4.1.5F1
Previous: GEM COM v2.57 / GEM ENG v1.47 / DB Dashboard v4.1.5B
Teken
Posts: 2700
Joined: Wed Dec 15, 2010 4:09 pm
Location: The Bad Lands

Re: GEM & DB Combo Ordered + Big Thank You

Post by Teken » Sun Mar 23, 2014 1:43 pm

Congrats, and take lots of photos to share in the projects forum.


Encrypted By: Phoenix Security Solutions
Teken . . .

My ongoing projects thread: http://www.brultech.com/community/viewt ... ?f=2&t=929
Buy me a cup of coffee: https://www.paypal.me/Teken https://gfinotify.com/ Discount Code: PC10
bgrubb1
Posts: 176
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2013 1:17 am

Re: GEM & DB Combo Ordered + Big Thank You

Post by bgrubb1 » Sun Mar 23, 2014 2:07 pm

Just a suggestion -
Before I attached my Gem / DB to the wall near my power panel, I set it up on a bench by my PC and updated / configured / figured it out. I even spilt the power cord on a space heater and put a CT on it. This made the actual "Install" go much smoother / less down time.
..Barry
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