ᐅ Measuring, tracking, and monitoring energy consumption

Dear all,

Since I know some of you are experienced and knowledgeable about this, I’m just quickly asking here. I want to identify my biggest energy consumers—and do it properly.

What is more cost-effective and simpler?
Putting a plug-in energy meter on every outlet?
Or measuring in the distribution board? Is it even possible to measure consumption per individual circuit breaker with fine granularity there? Or not?

For example, there is the Shelley 3PM. I still don’t understand whether it can only measure total household consumption, individual circuits, or even more detailed information. Would additional modules be needed?

The reason I’m asking is that I already have several built-in appliances. I can’t easily access the outlets without removing the appliances. Therefore, a solution in the distribution board would be preferable, but only if it is technically feasible and not prohibitively expensive.

Thanks and best regards

We now have a photovoltaic system running,
which will soon display the photovoltaic generation and house consumption in near real-time.
I can easily recognize the peaks in house consumption, for example from the washing machine, dryer, heating, coffee machine, toaster, sauna, and so on.
I can directly see how the wattage changes—like a small screen showing the data.
The totals and trends are recorded in the photovoltaic log, by day, week, month, and year.
I’m not interested in measuring each individual device directly.
The only appliance that does not switch off with a thermostat is the toaster; all other devices cycle on and off.

In a distribution box with traditional electrical wiring, usually only room-by-room or even less is possible. You can roughly estimate this by checking what is protected by the same circuit breaker.

The Shelly can only measure the three phases in the distribution box, and if you know where each phase leads, you can roughly estimate where the consumption is, I think!?

If by built-in appliances you mean those in the kitchen, then it’s usually possible to handle this in the distribution board. Ovens, dishwashers, washing machines, cooktops, and microwaves are typically protected by individual circuit breakers.

Otherwise, you can install a measuring device via a plug adapter or directly inside the socket.

I also initially considered Shelly… but sending my automation through a cloud in Bulgaria or setting up something myself wasn’t ideal, so I went with Bosch. After reading the meter, just reset once, and that’s it.

You won’t be able to change much with the biggest energy consumers like heating, heating circuits, and Wi-Fi since they run 24/7.

In the kitchen, it depends on how you use the appliances. In my experience, TV and laptop don’t consume much.

Oh, and a cistern pump can also draw quite a lot of power.

You need to be aware that a permanently installed measurement system for 10 or 20 devices/outlets will cost you much more than you save by identifying high-power consumers. Most of them can hardly be removed. Even consistently switching off standby devices using Shelly or other manufacturers’ solutions only pays off after several years.