Hello,
First to say that I have been following Flusko for some time now and I just can wait to get my hands on a setup! :)
Good job guys!
Before I make my buy...
I have a few questions. I want to use Flusko meters full capability and I would like to monitor Electricity, Water, and Gas.
I am from Texas and I was wondering if the Water and Gas sensors work here in the US specifically in Texas.
TIA!
Hello,
I would wonder if the sensors work differently than in the rest of the world, even in Texas... But no jest, if your meters on gas and water have either a pulse output (reed switch built in) or a magnet to trigger the external sensors as they can be obtained from the shop then there is rather nothing that would prevent using the FLM - you may have to do a little math to calculate the pulses per gallon to pulses per liter. If there is no possibility to use the reed variant, then an optical sensor may be needed (as some other forum members use) So, if you want to be sure, test if you can obtain pulses from your meters. For the current clamp the detected current should also be no issue, even when the voltage is different from that used in Europe or Australia (110 instead of 230/240VAC)
Happy metering
Markus, from Germany...
Markus,
Thanks for your reply. I am going to do some research to see exactly what I need to setup Flukso at least for Electrical monitoring.
Thanks!
1/ FLM orders from the USA will ship with US-type (i.e. flat blade) power adapters from now on.
2/ Most US households have a 240V split-phase supply. You'll most likely need 2x 100A clamps, one per branch. Configuring the FLM analog ports as 3-phase with a line voltage of 120V (but using only two) will do the trick.
Cheers,
-Bart.
ICARUS75,
Thanks for your reply.
I just submitted my order.
For now I order a FLMv2 and two clamps. Going to give it a test run.
TIA!
Can any body point me to the correct source where I can educate my self on ho to test or understand this meters?
TIA!
What exactly do you want to understand? For an introduction on the meter itself, see the installation page https://www.flukso.net/installation and especially the manual that is linked from there --> https://www.flukso.net/files/flm02/manual.pdf
For an overview on how current clamps measure current, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Current_clamp - the FLM uses current transformers...
Regards, Markus
GEBHARDM,
Thanks for your reply.
I am actually trying to learn about the actual water and gas meters.
How can I know which ones are supported or not?. If is not supported what are my alternatives?.
I see that if the current water probe does not work with your current water meter that you can buy a Digital Flow-meter...
Which ones are supported and where can I find one?
Sorry for all the questions... This is a whole new world to me and I am very intrigue and would like to get involve as much as I can.
Thanks!
Gas/Water meters are meant to be attached to the pulse ports; this is simply counting how often a switch (a reed switch switched by a magnet (can be bought from the shop) or a meter-built in transistor (key word "open collector output" - then just a cable to the pulse ports is to be added) or a optical sensor attached to the meter that detects pulses from reflection of a turning wheel (a bit more sophisticated)...) is closed; with the parameters supplied in the FLM's configuration by simple multiplication of #pulses and corresponding flow of gas or water the actual consumption is calculated.
So, simply spoken all meters are supported that offer this "pulse output" respective magnet option - for that you will have to check the specification of your actual meters. Try a search machine to your convenience or ask your supplier. Or see corresponding threads in the installation forum that discuss the various alternatives. Sadly, there is not the one solution...
Be creative :-)
Best regards, Markus
Nice. Thanks for the information!