Cheapest Way To Monitor Subpanel Electrical Load

I want to measure the electrical usage of air conditioners on the roof of our building. My preferred way to do this is to use SNMP together with either a meter in front of a dedicated subpanel, or a subpanel that has built-in SNMP capabilities. Can someone point me to products of this type, preferably ones that are commonly available as used product? Is there a better solution?

Reply to
CHANGE USERNAME TO westes
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Sorry I do not know what an SNMP is. I used to work for CH and I know they do not have anything like that. If you pulling off a single panel then I would look at Emon, or PMI. They both offer good products. SqD CH GE and others make electronic metering. Some of the meters will send information via Ethernet to a computer that you can use for collecting the information. If the information is critical then make it a dedicated computer and on a ups. If you want to do individual metering then it gets pricey,

Locate a ECM mag and look at the ads. Have fun with your project

Reply to
SQLit

I'm interested in the meters that send information via ethernet to a computer. Could you post manufacturer and model number for the ones you know about?

Reply to
CHANGE USERNAME TO westes

I have a power measurement ION 7300 with the ethernet option it will do the above as will a lot of other models in their lineup. As I recall the list price of the meter w/o the ethernet port was ~ $2500+

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William.....

Reply to
William

For that kind of money, it would be very tempting to get a used APC Symmetra UPS and wire the panel to the UPS output. You would get full SNMP power reporting, unbelievably rich functionality for remote management via SSH or a web page, and a free set of UPS-backed outlets for other appliances to boot. $2500 for a subpanel meter seems stiff.

Where I might not have any choice but to spend $2500 on a power meter would be if I wanted a dedicated meter for the main electrical panel, which is a

400A feed.
Reply to
CHANGE USERNAME TO westes

Well your above idea seems like it would work for you, and might be the way to go. Your requirements, and cheap don't go tougher!

Mine is used on a 800amp switchboard. BTW the above price was with out the CT's too

William....

Reply to
William

He could check out Satec

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The meters are not horribly expensive (200 to 300 USD) but he would have to supply a current transformer. Also, they communicate via RS-485. No TCPIP in the lower end.

Charles Perry P.E.

Reply to
Charles Perry

Those units look interesting, I may have to look in to one for a subpanel installation I'm going to do. Are they really only 2-300 for them??

William...

Reply to
William

in

Depending on the model, yes. I belive the cheaper ones are in that price range. We use the mid-grade three-phase units and they run around $500.

Charles Perry P.E.

Reply to
Charles Perry

That sounds like an interesting deal I'm going to talk to them. I was wrong about the ION meters, I was using the pricing that I got from GE I spoke to the company directly today and they told me that the base model 7300 was just under 1k and $1200 with the Ethernet interface

William....

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Reply to
William

You may also want to take a look at the power meters offered by Electro Industries/GaugeTech.

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Reply to
Wei Wang, P.E.

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