Q. When Is Standby Power Close To Normal Power?

Discover Hidden Standby Power

The answer to this question is when the power rating is close to the normal operating power. Standby power is often far less than 10% of an appliance's normal power rating and is decreasing all the time due to changes in technology and design.

After testing a few older entertainment appliances for standby and normal power, we were amazed to see some older appliances almost using the same power in standby mode, as when the appliance is turned on in normal mode.

On testing a set top box for a normal power rating the reading was 10.92 watts +/- 0.5W. The standby power for this same appliance being 10.40 watts +/- 0.5W. The appliance in question with these results is the Homecast STB eM-1150.

It makes you wonder why the manufacturer even bothered adding a switch, when all it does is reduce the power rating by only a few percent.

As mentioned standby power can be anywhere from 10% or less of normal operating power. With recently released electrical appliances, this standby power has been reduced further due to the normal power ratings being reduced by design and technological improvements.

A lot of manufacturers are now offering an on/off switch to make sure there is 100% no standby power.

For more on the cost of hidden standby power, visit our STANDBY POWER page.

This blog post and podcast brought to you by Aussie Home Energy, a major player in the HOME ELECTRICITY SAVING SERVICE industry in Australia.

Correct Measurement Of Import / Export Using Ausgrid's TOU Meters

Metering Makes BIG Differences In ROI

We are happy to see Ausgrid's online metering information now removes any ambiguity regarding the best import / export electricity meter, for correct / beneficial output towards the end user.

Ausgrid's report states the following,

Where net metering is installed to record bi-directional energy, the metering equipment used by Ausgrid registers the addition of the instantaneous power flows in each phase.

In three phase installations this is particularly important where a single phase embedded generation system is installed.

The following example illustrates how the meter will record energy.

If the following, unity power factor current is flowing through the meter,

• A Phase 8 Amps consumption (1.84kW @ 230V AC)
• B Phase 12 Amps consumption (2.76kW @ 230V AC)
• C Phase 7 Amps generation (1.61kW @ 230V AC)

The resultant power flow registered by the meter would be,

+1.84kW + 2.76kW – 1.61kW = +3.0kW towards the premise.
 
The above statement should now help anyone whom is thinking of installing solar, from falling into some of the past traps,

• Incorrect metering installed resulting in reduced electricity offsetting
• Incorrect metering installed resulting in increased exporting of power
• Being sold a larger three phase inverter because the home is three phase, when a single phase matched to sunny hour usage would have done the job, with the correct poly-phase meter installed

Visit our Solar Power pages to see more of Ausgrid's statement and also learn more about NET FIT METERING & BILLING and the TYPES OF NET METER. Knowledge that will certainly help you maximise your solar investment.

This blog post brought to you by Aussie Home Energy, a major player in the HOME ELECTRICITY SAVING SERVICES industry in Australia.

Monitoring The Time Of Use Electricity Tariff

Monitoring You TOU Costs In Realtime

We get a lot of inquires about whether the TIME OF USE ELECTRICITY TARIFF is supported by our home electricity monitoring solutions.

This electricity tariff is often applied when a client switches to a supposed smart metering system. 

An issue that often arises with this kind of metering, is that you can ONLY see the total power used via the electronic electricity meter.

NOT the information in fact you need, to learn about each time slice of the TOU electricity tariff. This renders the reading in the electricity meter pretty useless we would say.

So here comes an online power monitoring solution with TOU electricity tariff support. Where you can easily see the usage and costs of peak, shoulder and off-peak power. Not in three months time when your electricity bill arrives, but NOW in realtime.

This is an electricity tariff often sold by retailers, as the tariff that easily allows you to manage your power costs. HOW is that possible? Not at all we would argue, when there is simply no valid data available!

By using the Aussie Home Energy ONLINE ELECTRICITY MONITORING SOLUTIONS, you will now be able to see your usage and your costs for the TOU tariff easily. 

This solution finally giving you the tools you need to manage your TOU electricity usage and costs!  

If you are thinking of switching to the TOU electricity tariff and want to know if it will save you, then why not use an ELECTRICITY MONITOR beforehand to compare electricity tariffs side by side based on the usage in your home.

This blog post and podcast brought to you by Aussie Home Energy, a major player in the HOME ELECTRICITY SERVICES industry in Australia.

Solar PV Inverter Problems On The Rise

Solar PV Inverter Problems?

Have you got or had problems with your solar power inverter? If so you will obviously know how costly that was in lost revenue!

Like any new appliance in the home, when a solar pv system is installed it's frequently checked on a daily or weekly basis initially.

Our research is showing, it is not taking long for this solar inverter checking, to soon be forgotten. Couple this with a little knowledge of the electricity bill and power analysis and there is a recipe for disaster.

It is therefore quite easy to see how a solar inverter that has problems, can go unnoticed for sometime. After all there is no alert system!

Solar inverter problems can cost you dearly, with either NO Gross FIT credit, or NO Net FIT electricity offsetting or exporting.

There are many reasons problems may occur with a solar systems inverter such as,

• Shoddy Installation - A symptom of a shoddy solar power installation can often be where a household's energy bill does not change after the install. We will assume here the usage patterns have remained the same, as before the install. Commonly the post solar electricity bill will show little reduction of the total power cost. Your system may not be generating the required power to offset your imported power. It could even be not offsetting but exporting your power!

• NET Meter – The choice or install of the NET meter may be affecting the gain of your solar power installation. We discuss this in depth on our SOLAR NET METERING page on our website.

• Quality Of Inverter - You may have bought a rather inefficient badly designed cheap solar inverter, where the quality is to blame. The panels may not be matched best to the particular model of inverter and also be suffering from quality and design issues.

• No Sunny Hour Usage - You may not be using as much power as was estimated, during the sunny hours of the day. With NET metering you could be simply exporting most of the power back to the grid for little return, as you are not using it. See our NET FIT METERING &BILLING page on our website for more details.

• Act Of Nature – Lighting can easily create a malfunction with any solar inverter. Note this kind of damage is NOT covered by warranty. So make sure the solar power system is added to the home insurance. This usually costs little, just needing to be listed to be covered.

• Maths – You may have not understood the maths for the reason you initially installed the solar power system. 

• Other Causes - Unprofessional practice of many types, which has occurred in the past it seems.

If you are one of the householders whom have had issues with any of the above or are now thinking twice, then we have a solution. Yes you need to install a simple monitoring system to keep you alerted of what is happening on your roof. 
 
As we know you will have placed considerable finance into your solar power investment, it only makes sense to spend 'small change' to keep the investment on track.

And if you want to save further, our ELECTRICITY MONITORING SYSTEMS allow you to see also your electricity consumption under the roof. Helping you to save more and offset the cost of the solar power monitoring solution.

This blog post brought to you by Aussie Home Energy, a major player in the HOME ELECTRICITY REDUCTION SERVICES industry in Australia.

Where Cheap Electricity Monitors Fail

There is almost a plague of cheap electricity monitors out there on the internet these days. When we first started researching for reliable accurate electricity monitoring solutions, back in 2009 it was a completely different story.

The concept behind monitoring electricity is to create an awareness of what is going on with electricity usage and costs. Minimum requirements for successful electricity monitoring are therefore,

• Accurate data
• Varied methods of data output
• Easy delivery of data to the user
• 24/7 data updates
• Data analysis

Additional requirements are not limited to,

• Multiple circuits support by cable clamp or plug-in transmitters
• Easy to see 'at a glance' a large LCD screen full of important data
• PC, online or mobile app data analysis and power alerts
• Reliable and robust hardware
• Manufacturer / distributor support

Two of the biggest failures with cheap electricity monitors, are the hardware design and reliability. Add to this the flexibility of being able to support the needs of the end user. Simply put, some of the cheap electricity monitors only meet a very limited number of the user's needs.

The hardware chosen needs to be reliable, easy to install, robust, proven, well supported by documentation and supported by any customer service that gets an issue fixed fast.

So let us look at some of the reasons, why cheap electricity monitors are not worth the gamble.

This list is compiled from our research and that of our electricity monitoring clients, whom have in some cases been duped by these inferior energy monitors.

• No mains power option for the monitor, meaning a total reliance on AA / AAA batteries
• Battery life is very short, with no alert to any 'battery low on life' issue
• Leaking batteries when not changed quickly, resulted in end of life, for the monitor
• Difficult to understand documentation
• Unreliable pairing of the transmitter to the electricity monitor
• Range of transmission poor, due to lack of frequency strength
• Inferior electronic components
• Pairing and transmission of data, easily affected by electronic interference in the home
• Portability issues due to a lack of mains power, meaning the monitor is easily mislaid or damaged in the home
• No fixed place in the home for easy proven 'at a glance' monitoring, where everyone can see the monitoring data and act if so
• Flimsy easy to break cable clamps, with inferior plugs and sockets
• Cable clamps that only support a small power rating, before the range of error increases
• Transmitter to monitor transmit frequencies to long, meaning data is inaccurate
• Certain features not relevant for Mr. Average, such as total current
• One appliance / circuit ONLY supported, meaning home total electricity only
• No USB connection for PC data analysis
• Software application of poor quality, with cable driver issues
• No option to get the data online
• Limited online portals, with monthly costs

What we are finding is this list of issues with cheap electricity monitors, is still increasing from our own research and that of our monitoring clients, whom were duped by these cheaper alternatives.

A lot of these issue could be simply fixed you would think by good Q & A.

Three classics failures that come to mind are,

• Cheap Electricity Monitor #1 supported alkaline batteries or mains power via an adaptor. Problem being the electronics charged the batteries which resulted in battery leakage [on a varnished table] and the risk of fire, due to the heat of the batteries. The manufacturer was very happy indeed to hear of that failure. It seems though little was done with the design and there was a lack of product recall.

• Cheap Electricity Monitor #2 used a flip out stand to sit on the desk for easy visuals. When connected to a PC for analysis, the monitor could not be supported by the stand due to the USB being sited at the base. Problem being bad design / position of USB port.

• Cheap Electricity Monitor #3 could have the transmission frequency from the transmitter to the monitor set from 6 seconds to around 5 minutes! The 6 second frequency which is quite a standard these days, resulted in the transmitter's batteries failing in a month. And at 5 minutes the data at the end of the exercise would be useless.

At the end of the day, you simply get what you pay for when it comes to any successful ELECTRICITY MONITORING SOLUTION.  

This blog post brought to you by Aussie Home Energy, a major player in the HOME ELECTRICITY SAVING SERVICES industry in Australia.

4.5 Inch Screen Plug In Socket Wireless Electricity Monitor

Plug In Power Monitor

Have you noticed how a lot of plug in style electricity monitors, suffer from having a very small LCD screen.

And when your power outlets are sited almost at floor level or in very hard to see locations, you will need a Diploma In Pilates to see what you are using and how much it is costing.

The solution is a plug in socket transmitter that sends the data used by the appliance, via a wireless connection to a nice large easy to see 4.5 inch LCD monitoring screen.

Now how cool is that? No more pilates, reading glasses and torches!

The range from any socket to the monitor is good up to around 100m line of sight.

Check out this great PLUG IN SOCKET WIRELESS ELECTRICITY MONITOR solution on our website. Easily expandable up to ten socket outlets. Even the whole house!

This blog post and podcast brought to you by Aussie Home Energy, a major player in the HOME ELECTRICITY SAVING SERVICE industry in Australia.

Home Electricity Monitoring Features And Benefits

Successful Electricity Monitoring

Over the last few years Aussie Home Energy has been a major player, with the introduction of home electricity monitoring to many Aussie householders. 

Whilst there are many home energy monitors out there on the market today, it can be confusing for the 'monitoring newbie' to decide what features and benefits are going to be important.

So to make it easy for you, to decide what to choose for your HOME ELECTRICITY MONITORING solution, here are a few features and benefits  our clients are often very interested about, when making their choice of electricity monitoring solution.

• Multi-Channel – Monitoring more than one channel is important,as it helps to pin point high usage appliances. Seeing only the total household usage does not always supply enough information as to what is using the power, only when . Up to 10 circuits / appliances in total can be monitored
• Unlimited LCD Monitors – Get the data you need, in more than one location in your home, in the office and in the kitchen
• Electricity Consumption & Solar Power – If you have solar power installed then it is important to see what you are generating and using, especially in a NET FIT environment. Now you also have an instant alert to any solar inverter issue
• Display And Analyse – Having an instant easy to read display in the home is a major tool for reducing electricity. Having the option to analyse the data stored in the monitor, by using PC software or online web portals, increases the reduction of electricity costs
• Large LCD Screen Display – Easy at a glance readings. The large LCD display showing detailed information on the kWh usage for 1,7,31 days. Cost and kWh in realtime. Comparison of usage with yesterday and Up / Down costs
• Adjustable Settings - Clock, currency, kWh, $, tariff types [TOU support online]
• FREE PC Software – Add a USB cable to analyse the electricity monitor's data 
• Online Web Portals – For 24/7 access from anywhere with NO monthly fees
• Mobile Apps – A large collection of online mobile apps for all mobile phones
• Email Alerts – Easily created for consumption levels, standby power or solar power issues, when the data is online
• Solar PV Net / Gross Monitoring – Easily see imported, exported, used power when the data is online
• Solar PV Insolation – See the performance of your solar power system and compare to other users, when the data is online
• Clamp & Plug-in Socket Transmitters – All types of circuits easily monitored in the home, via current clamp or plug-in socket type transmitters
• Fixed Position Monitoring – The LCD monitor is mains powered, meaning the monitor remains in one place, where everyone in the home knows where to look for detailed electricity usage and cost information. Being sited in one position in the home, reduces the chance of accidental breakage or losing the monitor, as is the case with battery powered monitors
• Deep Analysis Of Data – Choice of PC software or online web portals
• Mains Powered Monitor – 24/7 reliability of monitoring. No constant replacing of AA / AAA batteries with the risk of leakage, if not changed asap. Battery power only also increasing the chance of data loss due to the late changing of the batteries
• Portability – By adding a AA battery power pack, your monitor easily becomes portable to assist with installation
• Extra Long Transmitter Life – Easy to replace D Type batteries lasting approximately 7 years. Eliminates changing the batteries every six months or so as with AA / AAA
• Monitor 2 DIY Electricity AUDIT Tool – Simply add a AA battery supply, audit forms and spreadsheet, to perform your own walk around your home DIY ELECTRICITY AUDIT
• Single Dual Three Phase Support – The current clamp transmitters support all electricity supply options up to a 100A per phase
• Strong Transmitter Signal – Super strong signal to punch through bricks n mortar. The strength of the signal is important to reduce pairing issues and dropouts of data
• Optional Transmitter Signal Upgrade – Easily changed to 150m+ for those solar arrays down in the paddock
• Monitoring Systems Configured – Aussie Home Energy configures all monitoring systems to the client's needs prior to dispatch
• Online Portal Setup – For a small fee the online portals are configured for you

Have you taken note of the important features and benefits of monitoring for yourself? We hope so, as you now should be in a position to make a well educated choice for your monitoring solution.

If you have further questions on the above, then by all means call our office and we will do our best to assist you. A pdf document with the above information is available for download from our SUPPORT page.

This blog post and podcast brought to you by Aussie Home Energy, a major player in the HOME ELECTRICITY SAVING SERVICES industry in Australia.