Multiple Panel System
Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2017 2:11 pm
I've got 3 panels in my system.
The primary panel is with the meter on a pole 50' from any building. In it are:
200A circuit going to the house subpanel
100A circuit going to the shop subpanel
50A circuit going to a hot tub
several 20-30 A circuits to various outbuildings
In the near term I want to monitor the above. Eventually I will also want to monitor most of the circuits on the 200A subpanel. I'm willing to treat the 100A shop panel as a single data point, rather than break it down.
Because my primary panel is outside, I will need to build a weatherproof enclosure for whatever device I put out there, so I'm trying to keep that as compact as possible.
My thought is to have an ECM-1240 at the primary pole monitoring:
- 200A with 2x split CT-200 combined on Channel 1
- 100A with 2x Micro-100 combined on Channel 2
- 50A with 1x Micro-50 on Aux1
- 4x 20A circuits each with 1x Micro-50 on Aux2 - Aux5
This would be connected via ZigBee to a DashBox located inside the house near the 200A subpanel.
The DashBox would be connected to my network via a WiFi stick.
Eventually I'd add a GEM for the 200A subpanel and connect it via serial to the DashBox.
Does this make sense? Am I missing anything? Is there a better way to do this? Or a cheaper way to do it? This seems to be around $600 for the above CT, ECM, and DashBox.
I'd prefer to keep the DashBox inside to keep my equipment enclosure on the pole as small as possible. I'm also not sure my WiFi will reach all the way to the DashBox if it were on the pole. Running an underground ethernet cable would be a pain and risk crossing all the utilities to get there and I'd just rather not.
Couple other questions:
1. Do all DashBox units come with ZigBee? Some documents seem to make it sound like it's optional, but I don't see any indication on the store page how to add this option.
2. I see a note indicating all Micro-CTs must be Micro-100 or Micro-50 if any of them are for the ECM-1240. Is this correct?
3. Do I need any resistors to support the CTs I have outlined above?
The primary panel is with the meter on a pole 50' from any building. In it are:
200A circuit going to the house subpanel
100A circuit going to the shop subpanel
50A circuit going to a hot tub
several 20-30 A circuits to various outbuildings
In the near term I want to monitor the above. Eventually I will also want to monitor most of the circuits on the 200A subpanel. I'm willing to treat the 100A shop panel as a single data point, rather than break it down.
Because my primary panel is outside, I will need to build a weatherproof enclosure for whatever device I put out there, so I'm trying to keep that as compact as possible.
My thought is to have an ECM-1240 at the primary pole monitoring:
- 200A with 2x split CT-200 combined on Channel 1
- 100A with 2x Micro-100 combined on Channel 2
- 50A with 1x Micro-50 on Aux1
- 4x 20A circuits each with 1x Micro-50 on Aux2 - Aux5
This would be connected via ZigBee to a DashBox located inside the house near the 200A subpanel.
The DashBox would be connected to my network via a WiFi stick.
Eventually I'd add a GEM for the 200A subpanel and connect it via serial to the DashBox.
Does this make sense? Am I missing anything? Is there a better way to do this? Or a cheaper way to do it? This seems to be around $600 for the above CT, ECM, and DashBox.
I'd prefer to keep the DashBox inside to keep my equipment enclosure on the pole as small as possible. I'm also not sure my WiFi will reach all the way to the DashBox if it were on the pole. Running an underground ethernet cable would be a pain and risk crossing all the utilities to get there and I'd just rather not.
Couple other questions:
1. Do all DashBox units come with ZigBee? Some documents seem to make it sound like it's optional, but I don't see any indication on the store page how to add this option.
2. I see a note indicating all Micro-CTs must be Micro-100 or Micro-50 if any of them are for the ECM-1240. Is this correct?
3. Do I need any resistors to support the CTs I have outlined above?