Here at Naikoon, we are big fans of home energy monitors, especially in Net Zero Homes. These devices connect to your electricity meter and track the amount of energy consumed, or produced by your home. All home energy monitor give you the amount of energy used overall, but some also break down circuit by circuit energy use.
The benefits of having a home energy monitor
A home energy monitor offers you a number of benefits. First and foremost, it can allow you to see where your home’s energy consumption can be reduced. This lets you decrease your carbon footprint and save money. It can also provide a great opportunity for families to teach their children about energy conservation.
Most monitors offer real time tracking, some type of app and also notifications for any power spikes or things that seem out of order in your home.
Finally, certain monitors also consider solar energy consumption. You can follow in real time how much solar energy your home is producing. We strongly encourage this for homeowners who use or intend to use solar energy in the near future. But be careful though, you’ll probably want to add more solar panels once you can see the production results!
With so many home energy monitors on the market, how do you know which one is right for you?
To help you select your home energy monitor, we have put together a list of our top choices and what each one offers.
*updated June 2020
SiteSage – For Homes
- The residential version of the “Power Wise Systems”
- Clamp on circuits, wires to electricity meter then to cloud
- Tracks circuit breaker(s) to determine usage
- Flow meter for water and gas (sold separately)
- Up to 600 amp
- 2 year warranty
Price:
– $983 (up to 12 circuits)
– $1713 (up to 42 circuits) (hardware and 2 years of prepaid software.)
Pros
- Tracks solar energy production and usage
- Alerts for spiking consumption and safety (if something is not running as it should be)
- Offers automation features, including controlling the thermostat and lighting
- No limit on size or number of circuit and panels
- Strong app integration
Cons
- Cannot perform individual outlet tracking
Smappee
- Reads frequencies of electricity to identify appliances
- Tracks water and gas usage
Price: From $299 (for Smappee Energy) to $ 499 (Smappee Solar)
Pros
- Integrates with AI assistants, including Alexa (Google) and Siri (Apple)
- Integrates with NEST
- Clamps for submetering available to narrow down on energy usage tracking
- Can remotely operate individual appliances with the Smappee Switch
- Can calculate exact consumption of individual appliance with the Smappee Switch
- Strong app integration
Cons
- Multiple panels cannot be combined on one Smappee unit. Instead, another Smappee must be installed and registered as second home.
Efergy
- Wireless transmitter to monitor control
- Has an eGO wifi socket
Price: From $124.95 to $205.94
Pros
- WiFi socket can monitor individual appliances or groups of appliances
- Offers automation features for various home functions
- Smart A/C control also available (AirControl)
Cons
- A/C control must be purchased separately
The Energy Detective (TED)
- MPU will clip to main, track overall usage and generated
- Secondary product, “Spyder” will read sub-loads. Each spyder can read 8 loads and you can put up to 2 spyder per MPU up to a maximum of 4 per house
- 400 amp for only single phase panels
- 200 amp for split phase
Price: From $299 to $509.86 (with 3 year warranty plus “Spyder Pop”)
Pros
- Can sub-meter to split up utility usage
- 1 spyder leg can read a whole sub-meter. This can allow you to track a tenant’s usage separately
- Information can be read on the Cloud or on an app
- Data can be shared with others via a clickable link
Cons
- User interface could be improved
- App could be improved
- Basically used for tracking only at a breaker level
- Cannot track individual circuits
Rainforest Automation
- Local Vancouver company
- Connects to BC Hydro utility meter, requiring no wiring in your home
- Product simply reads your hydro meter remotely
- Provides information via a cloud-based website
Price: – $119.99 (for the Eagle-200: Smart Meter Energy Gateway)
– $84.99 (for the EMU-2, t is a standalone product, not connected to the EAGLE-200, that communicates directly to the meter)
Pros
- Inexpensive
- Website is easy to use
- Can track grid tied solar
- Mobile App available
Cons
- Can only track solar that connects to the hydro grid
- Cannot identify where energy use comes from
- Cannot track consumption
Sense
- Self-learning
- Shares data with other Sense devices
Price: From $299 (for Sense) to $349 (for Sense Solar)
Pros
- Integrates with Google’s AI, Alexa
- Easy to use app
- Offers device notification abilities
- Has automatic device detection, which allows the system to track currents in the electric panel to determine what appliance and/or device is using electricity
Cons
- Device data can take time to develop
Egauge
- Taps in at breaker level
- Can go up to 30 gauges to read breakers
- Can show data from individual circuits, but you must install CT gauges at each circuit you want data from.
- Access is via a Cloud interface
- Can pull data into automation systems, such as Control 4, to create automation functions, but cannot handle automation functions itself
Price: from $499 (for eGauge Core) to $850 (for eGauge Pro)
Pros
- Offers a built-in database where builders can gain access to the information (requires Wifi)
- Builders can see issues remotely
- Presents raw data in a simple line graph
Cons
- Can become expensive if you are installing CT gauges
- Cloud interface looks basic and could use improvement
Neurio
- Local Vancouver company
- Focused on energy tracking
Price: From $285.99 to $481 (With Solar Expansion Kit)
Pros
- Can detect appliances, tracking their individual usage
- Can be trained to learn what new appliances are
- Multiple monitors can run on the same system
- Software can switch between monitors
Cons
- Data from multiple monitors cannot be combined
*late addition to the list (added March 2020)
Eyedro
- Eyedro is working with several home builders across North America to give them NET ZERO monitoring capability
- Home, solar, and 3-phase commercial/industrial
- Home owner can connect up to 96 circuits to their dashboard and commercial users can have thousands of sensors on one unified dashboard
- Company has been building monitors in Canada for over 10 years and never charge for software. Warranty is 1 year and can be extended to 3 years
Price: From $149 to $379
*late addition to the list (added June 2020)
Leviton
- GFCI, AFCI and Dual Function circuit breakers feature Leviton’s patented reset lockout and will not reset if ground- or arc-fault protection is compromised
- Hydraulic-Magnetic trip technology operatures precisely in extreme temperature ranges1, unlike traditional Thermal-Magnetic circuit breakers
- Wires terminate at custom lugs in the panel, not at the circuit breaker
- At final installation, simply plug-on the circuit breaker
- Intuitive LEDs help communicate trip condition and type of fault (AF/GF) and remain illuminated even when the circuit breaker is in the tripped state
- White indoor enclosure with optional observation window
- Color indicators in the actuator handle designate operational status at-a-glance
Naikoon is not affiliated with any of the products listed above. We encourage you to look at all the products to find which is the best fit for your home!