TED!

[AndyH]

Thanks JimmyDreams and others for singing the praises of TED!

The last thing I need in my life right now is something else to analyze. Who would have thought it would be fun to do energy pattern recognition on an LG high-efficiency clothes dryer? :lol:

 

[DrPowell]

Cool! I had Prime Electric install the MTU side of my new TED when they dropped in the breaker for Blink. Been a real eye-opener. Had no idea how much juice the clothes dryer was sucking. How do you like that LG dryer, Andy?

By the way, if you have any flakiness with your TED gateway talking to the MTU, a really helpful page is http://ted/stats.htm (or replace "ted" with whatever hostname/IP you're using for your TED gateway). Look at MTU skp vs. MTU Rec. TED's using Powerline for MTU<->gateway comms, and if the gateway's on a noisy circuit, you'll see a high Rec:Skp ratio which I assume means lots of packet loss (received vs. skipped).

 

[Jimmydreams]

Thanks JimmyDreams and others for singing the praises of TED!

The last thing I need in my life right now is something else to analyze. Who would have thought it would be fun to do energy pattern recognition on an LG high-efficiency clothes dryer? :lol:

The TED does give you plenty of data AND nice, pretty pictures!!! :lol:

Enjoy your newfound control and insight into your home energy usage!!

 

[Boomer23]

Hi Andy. Glad to hear that you're enjoying your TED. I love mine.

How many MTUs did you get? I have three, like Jimmy has, one for the main household power feed, one for my EVSE circuit so that I can track the EV charging energy use, and one for the incoming power from my solar PV system. I didn't get a metering system when I bought the solar system, in fact it wasn't offered. The TED makes it much easier to track everything, and even fun, as you're saying.

I have an iPod Touch and I got the free Ted-O-Meter app so that I can walk around the house reading all of my data via wifi. It's more stable and easier to use than the optional TED wireless display unit.

 

[ENIAC]

So does the TED system get confused calculating the watts on the mains when you're producing through your PV?

 

[Boomer23]

So does the TED system get confused calculating the watts on the mains when you're producing through your PV?

Nope. The software is set up to allow you to identify any data as "generation" instead of usage, and it takes it all into account properly. I check the TED readings against my solar inverter display and the displays on my net metering utility meter and it all checks out nicely.

 

[ENIAC]

So does the TED system get confused calculating the watts on the mains when you're producing through your PV?

Nope. The software is set up to allow you to identify any data as "generation" instead of usage, and it takes it all into account properly. I check the TED readings against my solar inverter display and the displays on my net metering utility meter and it all checks out nicely.

So you would need to have a TED MTU/CT on the solar generation circuit? Or can TED figure it out without that?

 

[Boomer23]

So does the TED system get confused calculating the watts on the mains when you're producing through your PV?

Nope. The software is set up to allow you to identify any data as "generation" instead of usage, and it takes it all into account properly. I check the TED readings against my solar inverter display and the displays on my net metering utility meter and it all checks out nicely.

So you would need to have a TED MTU/CT on the solar generation circuit? Or can TED figure it out without that?

Yep, you need one MTU/CT set for the generation circuit. No other way to get the current measured and get it to the gateway.

 

[ENIAC]

Yep, you need one MTU/CT set for the generation circuit. No other way to get the current measured and get it to the gateway.

Thanks, got it. So I'll be ordering a TED 5003-G. One for the mains, one for EV, and one for the PV. PV goes in a few weeks from now.

 

[Jimmydreams]

So does the TED system get confused calculating the watts on the mains when you're producing through your PV?

Nope. The software is set up to allow you to identify any data as "generation" instead of usage, and it takes it all into account properly. I check the TED readings against my solar inverter display and the displays on my net metering utility meter and it all checks out nicely.

Boomer...

For some reason, on my setup, I couldn't get the MTU on my main to ignore the power going to the EV circuit. If the house was drawing 2kW and the EVSE was drawing 3kW, my MTU 1 would show 5kW draw. I wound up running the wires that go to my EVSE back THROUGH my main CT's to nullify the power reading. My software now reads main +/- solar generation and the EV circuit get's read as a completely separate system. It's rather nice, but I didn't really like having to extend the main EVSE wiring up through the main CT's.

 

[csriram45]

I have read so much about TED but have no clue what it takes to get it installed and how to use etc. Any dummies tutorial? :-D

 

[91040]

See:
http://www.theenergydetective.com/video

 

[Boomer23]

Boomer...

For some reason, on my setup, I couldn't get the MTU on my main to ignore the power going to the EV circuit.

Jim, my system works like yours did before you re-routed your wiring, so I get total usage from my main usage MTU. I'm fine with it, though. I've been keeping a separate spreadsheet since my solar was installed and I just list my EV charging in a cell and subtract it from the total usage to show household usage net of EV charging.

 

[Boomer23]

See:
http://www.theenergydetective.com/video

Yes, there's a lot to learn on the TED web site. Pretty much anything you need to know, and they have a forum there as well for special issues.

 

[csriram45]

This looks quiet impressive. Do you have to buy from them directly or are they sold by others as well and do they ever go on sale?

 

[Boomer23]

I bought mine direct and I haven't heard of anyone else finding a cheaper outlet. Their shipping was quick and accurate. I've heard that support can be spotty and if you have an unusual power layout, the installation could be challenging.

Best to research the setup before you buy, ask questions here or on the TED forum if you have an unusual setup. It does involve installing some components into your power panel behind the front plate, so if you're not comfortable working with wiring, I'd recommend getting some help from an electrician. I was having a new power panel installed and my electrician did my TED connections at no charge. Before having my main panel upgraded, there wouldn't have been room for the TED components inside my panel, so I wouldn't have been able to use the TED. It does require that you have room to clip the CTs around your wires, usually inside the panel near the breakers.

People who are comfortable installing circuit breakers and the like consider the TED install trivial.

 

[csriram45]

I recently got BLINK EVSE installed so know the details. Does TED require you to have a free breaker? I think all my breakers are taken in the sub-panel. My main panel has space. I also plan to get Solar installed so I know I can ask the Solar guys to install the TED. I am hoping to get one in the main panel, another in the Sub-Panel and if possible measure the EVSE separately. Just need to figure out how to go about it.

 

[Boomer23]

I recently got BLINK EVSE installed so know the details. Does TED require you to have a free breaker?

The standard install calls for a 240 volt breaker so that you can connect the red and black leads from the MTUs to the two different phases in your panel, the A and B phases. TED recommends a spare breaker, but I've read that you can use a 240 volt breaker that is already in use. Your mileage may vary, though. The PLC communication protocol that TED uses is well known to be finicky. I don't know whether using an already-in-use breaker for the MTU power can contribute to noise on the PLC line or not. I had lots of space in my new main panel, and my electrician threw in an extra 240 volt breaker for the TED. But I still seem to have trouble with my PLC communications if I turn on my outside yard lights. I might have to get a line filter to fix that, and there is an alternate wiring scheme for the MTUs if you insert a line filter. I'm trying to avoid doing that, but not sure yet.

I'm sure that other TED users that are more technically astute than me can add their comments.

 

[cdub]

Has anyone used the Google energy serivce with TED?

 

[Boomer23]

Has anyone used the Google energy serivce with TED?

Yes, I use it all the time. It's a small "gadget", I think they call it, that you can set up on the iGoogle homepage.

You can see weekly or monthly graphs showing each day's usage as bar graphs, and daily graphs showing hourly usage. It works with generation data (such as solar or wind) as well, showing as negative graphs. It's nice if you want to see your household usage from anywhere you can get an internet signal, but it's not as detailed as a dedicated solar generation page that you can get with your solar PV system. Also, it's meant for private viewing, not sharing on a forum, etc. It's viewed on your password protected iGoogle page, which is nice, I guess, so that people can't view your household usage and guess that you're on vacation when the usage is low.