Jon Aguado's ePaper Energy Monitor Keeps Track of Your Home's Usage Across Up to Six Channels
Supporting up to six CT clamps and with a BMP280 pressure and temperature sensor, this open-hardware board packs in the features.
Austria-based Spanish engineer Jon Aguado has designed an ePaper-based board which aims to make it easier to keep track of your home power usage — offering at-a-glance tracking along with trend tracking and Home Assistant integration.
"Are you tired of unexpected energy bills and feeling powerless when it comes to monitoring your consumption? The Smart Powermeter is here to change the game," claims Aguado of his creation. "With its support for a 2.9-inch ePaper display, the Smart Power meter provides real-time data on your energy consumption, giving you a quick overview of your grid's status whenever you need it. No more surprises, no more guessing."
As Aguado says, the front of the single-board energy monitoring system hosts a 2.9" ePaper display, chosen for its sunlight readability and the fact it draws energy only when changing states — a high-draw energy-hungry device for keeping track of your energy usage making little sense, after all. The display is driven by an Espressif ESP32-S2 microcontroller module supporting the ESPHome firmware for optional integration with a Home Assistant server.
The board includes an integrated mains to 5VDC adapter for simplicity of power, with CT-clamp energy monitoring across up to six channels — with an embedded Bosch Sensortec BMP280 temperature and pressure sensor for environmental monitoring. All captured data is logged for later analysis, optionally transmitted to a smart home system for automation, and displayed in real-time on the graphical display.
"The Smart Powermeter (V1R3) is still a prototype device," Aguado warns of his creation. "Therefore the acquisition of this board is only recommended for people with experience in the field of electronics and/or programming, preferably individuals familiar with ESPHome and Home Assistant environments. The installation of the Smart Powermeter should only be carried by people with good knowledge about high-voltage electric installations and familiarized with the procedure that involves installing CT-clamps around main voltages."
Fully-assembled boards are available to order on Aguado's Tindie store at $19.99 each, while the design files have been published to GitHub under the reciprocal Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.