Feature request: Easier, human-,interpretable units at y-axis

Based on (recurring) discussions in the installation section, I think it makes sense to review and if possible, rename, or revamp the visualiation units used in the flukso dash.

A review of CURRENT resolution and axis labeling: (abbreviations used: E:electricity - G:gas - W:water)
Resolutions:
HOUR tab => data at 1 minute resolution
DAY tab => data at 15 min resolution
MONTH/NIGHT tab => data at 1 day resolution
YEAR tab => data at 1 week resoltion.

Default visualisation units:
E: Watt, G&W: lperday.
Other options: E: kWh/y , Wh, Whcumulative //
Options for G&W: l/min, m³/y, l, liter cumul

Actual data plotted (for default unit):
* Except for Wh, WhCumulative and l and liter cumul view, the graph always contains "timestep integrated average usage" during the resolution interval:
Measured consumption [energy, quantity] in resolution interval [E: J, G&W: l ], possibly rescaled to other base [E: J=> Wh, J=> kWh, G&W: l => m³], and then divided by the "resolution interval length" (min, day, hour, etc) [in E: s, G&W:day].
* For Wh, WhCumulative and l and liter cumul view, the average power / water/gas draw is summed over the resolution interval (E: Wh/min * min, G&W : l/day *day) and then plotted or cumulatively plotted.

Ryton's picture

While these are reasonable choices, it isnt always straightforward to interprete them correctly. Therefore, I'd like to propose some alternative units and scalings,
which may or may not be implemented, depending on the user support and required work to do so.

A) My prime proposal (!):
There is nothing more motivating than seeing a energy savings expressed in monetary value! If feasible, I'd like to see a E&G&W: €, €cumul or € "per resolution interval" axis option!
This would require 3-4 new multiplication parameters, which should be customisable from somewhere in the settings menu:
E: Unit cost €/kWh, G& W: Unit cost €/m³ (or €/kWh & ~11 kWh/m³) options.

Some other proposals from my side.
(Please do comment & give your opinions below!):
B) W,G: Instead of using l/day, use "l/min". These are easier to grasp, at least for me. Reasoning: I can understand the consumption of a 5 minute shower at 12 l/min, but not as simple when seeing "60 l/hr " or "2.xx l/day" during 5 minutes...

C) E: Propose to change the Wh and Whcumul to J an J cumul (or kJ,MJ,GJ) .
Reasoning: Then the distinction between energy [J] and power [W] is more clear (hopefully).

D) E, W, G: make liter and Wh (or J) the default y-axis unit (instead of kWh/y and m³/y). Or make default units user-selectable. Reasoning: This would make the flukso dash to always show on a graph/visualisation you like the most (e.g. option A: [€/interval ] )!

E) If Possible/backed by others: Rescale of MONTH graph to 6HOUR resolution (instead of DAY resolution). Reasoning: This would allow to see trends on day/nights as well in this graph.

Kind regards,
me, myself and I

Ryton's picture

Cool! Some browsing of the (open source) code, shows me that the develop version of the server code already had a "eurperyear" field for E, G and W for the last 3 years. This field, multiplied by the "kWhperyear" parameter gives the cost per kWh ! This multiplied by the consumption, is the cost € per interval. @Bart: Very impressive, ! :-)

Flukso.unitPowerFactor = {
electricity: { watt: 1.142e-1, kwhperyear: 1, eurperyear: 999 },
gas: { lpermin: 6.944e-4, lperday: 1, m3peryear: 0.365, eurperyear: 999 },
water: { lpermin: 6.944e-4, lperday: 1, m3peryear: 0.365, eurperyear: 999 }

I'll make a proposal for the cost function on a github fork (though I'm not a very good html/js programmer) Though I'd change the default values: (999 €/kWh is a bit high :-))

hanskraayeveld's picture

Great idea rayton!
Something else...
The last minute show... When I flush the toilet I always use 5,5 liter water. So in dash this should be 5 or 6 liter.
In one minute 5 or 6liter,
Or most of the time, in 2 minutes.
The first minute 1, de second 4 or 5.
Or 2 and 3/4
3 and 2/3
And go on.
But... I see only the first minute. The last minute, flukso remembered, and 2 hours later you flush the toilet again, and you have used 2 hours long 0,05 liters/ minute! Or something like that. I want have the real live usage. When my pulse counter counts on 19.15 5, in dash 5 liter on 19.15 or 2 on 19.15 and 3 on 19.16 should be counted!
Thanks

Ryton's picture

Thank you for your feedback/support about this proposal, Hans.

However, the "feature" you propose is a totally different one, so I'd propose to move this discussion to a different topic, so this thread is focussed only on y-axis units.

I created a topic elsewhere, with your observations (and my comments) here: https://www.flukso.net/content/anti-aliasing-pulse-measurements