Pre-purchase phase: system design
Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:23 pm
I'm in the pre-purchase evaluation & design phase. I have a single-family home in the Bay Area (california,) 200A electrical service, currently only ~100A or less used. 1 main panel with the meter (not shown in my photos,) and currently 1 sub-panel where all the house circuits are.
---- START of Brultech QUESTIONNAIRE--------
- Are there any budget constraints to work within?
I'm happy to spend whatever is reasonably necessary to achieve my desired setup.
- How do you plan on communicating with your router?
10/100 Ethernet (1000Base-T capable)
- What energy monitor you're considering purchasing? (if known)
GEM + DashBox
- Do you plan on using pulse counting? And if so, how many?
In the long run, yes. I would probably use all 4 pulse outputs. I understand the difference between the voltage-pulsed vs. dry-contact outputs & can adjust/interface accordingly as required.
- Is this a single-phase or 3-phase install? (If it's not your average residential install)
Well, "single phase" I guess, insofar as it's a standard residential setup with 2 separate 120V legs coming into the sub panel. Doesn't that make it "2 phases" technically speaking? Basically it's a standard US residential electrical service, certainly not 3-phase power.
For determining current transformers:
- How many circuit breakers do you wish to monitor?
All of them, which is 16 at present, but potentially up to 24 breakers if I convert all of them to slim-profile breakers. I have verified that my panel is rated for up to 24 breakers.
- What is the amperage of the above breakers?
Mostly 20A single pole with a few 15A breakers.
- Are there any 2-pole breakers?
At present, no. But I do plan to install 5 baseboard heaters. I may decide to go with 220V heaters to save 1.5% in wire losses compared to 120V heaters. In that case, I would have (5) x 20Amp double-pole breakers installed.
- Do any of the 2-pole breakers have no neutral? (This can reduce the amount of CTs needed) As I understand it, baseboard heaters just use 2 hot wires, no neutral, so I believe there would be no neutrals for the projected (5) x 20A double breakers I plan to install.
- What is the amperage of your main breaker?
125A 2-pole at present.
-------END of QUESTIONNAIRE-------
Continuing my discussion:
ELECTRICAL
- I have plenty of space in my panel and am fine with using Micro40's or Micro50's for the breakers. I am thinking of using SPLIT-200's for the main wires that feed the panel? I believe they are #6AWG, but with old-school insulation that is much thicker than modern #6AWG. Best estimate, they are 3/8" O.D."
- I want the most sensitive low-current / "vampire power drain" detection capability I can get. If there is any difference in low-current threshold between the Micro40/50/80, please describe.
- I want highly reliable and accurate voltage-sensing equipment. I.e. if you suggest something different than the included wall-wart, please advise on what that is & where to buy it.
- I plan to add about 4kW of solar-PV capacity and to set up net metering eventually, so I will want the GEM setup to monitor that as well when the time comes.
- I also use UPB (Universal Power Bus) programmable / communicating 120V switches and dimmers in my house wiring. UPB is basically a successor to X10, sending low-data-rate (4800bps) high-amplitude (~40-60volt) signals directly over the live house wiring for inter-device communications.
DATA/NETWORK
Please see the attached diagram of my planned data-logging / HA integration setup.
Needs:
• Hands-off energy logging & data storage (DashBox handles that)
• Immediate response from OpenHAB server to changes in circuit loads. On / Off / passing through preset current thresholds / KWhr-cumulative actions. I.e. I want OpenHAB to take immediate action on various loads for various purposes -- and still have the DashBox constantly & reliably logging data.
Wishes:
• Would prefer to have the OpenHAB & DashBox receiving separate & independent data feeds to remove chained points of failure. (OpenHAB listening directly to the GEM at all times, cutting out the DashBox middle-man as it were.) Open to either 10/100 Ethernet or separate RS232 channel for that, please advise.
• Completely hands-off, automated, regular backups of the DashBox data to some other location on the in-house LAN. (Not pulling out an SD card by hand every 6 months.)
Other notes:
• My HA LAN is hard-wired on new Cat5e and Cat6 w/ good switches and backup power. It's air-gapped from the internet and will remain that way for the forseeable future. I do not use wireless protocols for any HA functions.
QUESTIONS:
1 - Is it possible / how do I establish dual independent live data paths from the GEM to the DashBox and to my OpenHAB server. I will use whatever combination of Ethernet / RS232 / USB is best to accomplish this. I've read a lot of other threads and am still not clear on the limitations of the 2 serial ports on the GEM. Please advise.
2 - Are you familiar with UPB (Universal Power Bus) devices on the wire, do you know if they will cause any problems with the GEM or vice versa? (Seems unlikely, beyond possible momentary confusion for the CT's as they watch brief UPB data packets pass every now and then. UPB is not a chatty protocol, it only sends packets in response to direct input, i.e. when loads change state.) Also: Not installed now, but eventually I will probably need to install a UPB phase-coupling device, which I believe is a passive capacitor-based unit that inverts UPB signals before passing them to the opposite phase.
------
Proposed purchase list:
1 x GEM unit with Ethernet-only module.
1 x DashBox
1 x Package B, 2 split-100s + 6 micro-40's
1 x Package G, 16 micro-40's
----
My sub panel: Proposed system sketch:
---- START of Brultech QUESTIONNAIRE--------
- Are there any budget constraints to work within?
I'm happy to spend whatever is reasonably necessary to achieve my desired setup.
- How do you plan on communicating with your router?
10/100 Ethernet (1000Base-T capable)
- What energy monitor you're considering purchasing? (if known)
GEM + DashBox
- Do you plan on using pulse counting? And if so, how many?
In the long run, yes. I would probably use all 4 pulse outputs. I understand the difference between the voltage-pulsed vs. dry-contact outputs & can adjust/interface accordingly as required.
- Is this a single-phase or 3-phase install? (If it's not your average residential install)
Well, "single phase" I guess, insofar as it's a standard residential setup with 2 separate 120V legs coming into the sub panel. Doesn't that make it "2 phases" technically speaking? Basically it's a standard US residential electrical service, certainly not 3-phase power.
For determining current transformers:
- How many circuit breakers do you wish to monitor?
All of them, which is 16 at present, but potentially up to 24 breakers if I convert all of them to slim-profile breakers. I have verified that my panel is rated for up to 24 breakers.
- What is the amperage of the above breakers?
Mostly 20A single pole with a few 15A breakers.
- Are there any 2-pole breakers?
At present, no. But I do plan to install 5 baseboard heaters. I may decide to go with 220V heaters to save 1.5% in wire losses compared to 120V heaters. In that case, I would have (5) x 20Amp double-pole breakers installed.
- Do any of the 2-pole breakers have no neutral? (This can reduce the amount of CTs needed) As I understand it, baseboard heaters just use 2 hot wires, no neutral, so I believe there would be no neutrals for the projected (5) x 20A double breakers I plan to install.
- What is the amperage of your main breaker?
125A 2-pole at present.
-------END of QUESTIONNAIRE-------
Continuing my discussion:
ELECTRICAL
- I have plenty of space in my panel and am fine with using Micro40's or Micro50's for the breakers. I am thinking of using SPLIT-200's for the main wires that feed the panel? I believe they are #6AWG, but with old-school insulation that is much thicker than modern #6AWG. Best estimate, they are 3/8" O.D."
- I want the most sensitive low-current / "vampire power drain" detection capability I can get. If there is any difference in low-current threshold between the Micro40/50/80, please describe.
- I want highly reliable and accurate voltage-sensing equipment. I.e. if you suggest something different than the included wall-wart, please advise on what that is & where to buy it.
- I plan to add about 4kW of solar-PV capacity and to set up net metering eventually, so I will want the GEM setup to monitor that as well when the time comes.
- I also use UPB (Universal Power Bus) programmable / communicating 120V switches and dimmers in my house wiring. UPB is basically a successor to X10, sending low-data-rate (4800bps) high-amplitude (~40-60volt) signals directly over the live house wiring for inter-device communications.
DATA/NETWORK
Please see the attached diagram of my planned data-logging / HA integration setup.
Needs:
• Hands-off energy logging & data storage (DashBox handles that)
• Immediate response from OpenHAB server to changes in circuit loads. On / Off / passing through preset current thresholds / KWhr-cumulative actions. I.e. I want OpenHAB to take immediate action on various loads for various purposes -- and still have the DashBox constantly & reliably logging data.
Wishes:
• Would prefer to have the OpenHAB & DashBox receiving separate & independent data feeds to remove chained points of failure. (OpenHAB listening directly to the GEM at all times, cutting out the DashBox middle-man as it were.) Open to either 10/100 Ethernet or separate RS232 channel for that, please advise.
• Completely hands-off, automated, regular backups of the DashBox data to some other location on the in-house LAN. (Not pulling out an SD card by hand every 6 months.)
Other notes:
• My HA LAN is hard-wired on new Cat5e and Cat6 w/ good switches and backup power. It's air-gapped from the internet and will remain that way for the forseeable future. I do not use wireless protocols for any HA functions.
QUESTIONS:
1 - Is it possible / how do I establish dual independent live data paths from the GEM to the DashBox and to my OpenHAB server. I will use whatever combination of Ethernet / RS232 / USB is best to accomplish this. I've read a lot of other threads and am still not clear on the limitations of the 2 serial ports on the GEM. Please advise.
2 - Are you familiar with UPB (Universal Power Bus) devices on the wire, do you know if they will cause any problems with the GEM or vice versa? (Seems unlikely, beyond possible momentary confusion for the CT's as they watch brief UPB data packets pass every now and then. UPB is not a chatty protocol, it only sends packets in response to direct input, i.e. when loads change state.) Also: Not installed now, but eventually I will probably need to install a UPB phase-coupling device, which I believe is a passive capacitor-based unit that inverts UPB signals before passing them to the opposite phase.
------
Proposed purchase list:
1 x GEM unit with Ethernet-only module.
1 x DashBox
1 x Package B, 2 split-100s + 6 micro-40's
1 x Package G, 16 micro-40's
----
My sub panel: Proposed system sketch: