Jul. 02, 2024
On a recent Internet of Things Podcast, we took a voicemail from Shane on our podcast hotline. Shane has to replace the electrical panel in his home and thinking about going with a smart electrical panel. He notes that we&#;ve recommended the Sense Home Energy monitoring solution in the past. However, he&#;s concerned that as a smaller company, Sense may not be around through the life of his breaker box. So Shane is looking for other smart electrical panel options from more established companies. He&#;s also considering smart outlets, not smart plugs, and smart switches. Shane wants to know what his options are for those as well, particularly for a HomeKit home.
First up, a kudos to Shane for thinking about the longevity and long-term support for his smart home. I&#;m not suggesting that Sense won&#;t be around in a few years, but it&#;s a valid concern for the decision making process. And to be honest, if Shane has to replace his electrical panel anyway, the time is right for a fully-featured solution.
The $299 Sense product is great for monitoring energy usage. However, a fully integrated smart panel does more than that. You can remotely disable from the app as needed.
Of course, a full featured system is going to cost much more. The price will vary based on your service amperage and the number of circuit breakers you need. Estimates range between $2,000 and $5,000 as a result. That&#;s because either panel, the individual circuit breakers, or both, have connectivity and smarts built in.
We researched various smart panel options and suggest Shane consider those from Legrand, Leviton and Schneider Electric. All three brands offer similar products, so the decision likely comes down to price and smart home platform compatibility. Unfortunately, none of them a direct integration with Apple HomeKit as they rely upon their own individual mobile apps.
The $2,999 Schneider Electric Energy Center uses the Wiser monitoring system, which has a special version of the Sense app. However unlike having just a Sense monitor and traditional breaker box, Schneider Electric&#;s SmartLoad system does allow for remote disabling of circuits.
To get a better idea of what all three of these smart panels offer, I&#;ll use this Leviton video to illustrate. It provides a solid overview of the features and smart functionality through the mobile app:
Again, all three of these options are similar in what they offer. Pricing can be a challenge to find, so you may need to seek out an electrician on that front. You&#;d be relying on one anyway for the installation and I&#;m sure different electricians can offer their own perspective on the various options.
When it comes to smart outlets, not the plug in type used with existing outlets, there are plenty of options available. And you&#;ll find better smart home platform compatibility. Leviton&#;s smart outlets, for example, work with Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Home, IFTTT, SmartThings and Schlage systems. Leviton also says it will provide Matter updates to its Decora Smart switches later this year.
And, important for Shane&#;s requirements, the company also has smart GFCI outlets. (Update: Leviton has connected GFCI breakers but not connected GFCI outlets.) Schnieder Electric offers connected outlets with GFCI protection as well but we couldn&#;t find one from Legrand. We did reach out to Legrand asking about that but did not get a response. Legrand does, however, offer smart outlets similar to those from Leviton and Schneider Electric.
From a smart switch perspective, there are options aplenty. Meaning you don&#;t have to get switches with the same brand as your smart panel. The panels monitor entire circuits, which would include switches on those circuits. So, for example, you could buy any of the above mentioned smart panels and use switches from GE, Lutron, TP-Link or any other vendor.
Just choose the ones that look nicest to you and work with your smart home system. Eventually, Matter-certified switches will open up even more options since they&#;ll work across ecosystems. Personally, I&#;d go with Lutron Caseta switches. That&#;s what I bought after Stacey&#;s years of happiness with hers.
1 Product Page
Top pick articleTo hear Shane&#;s question in full, as well as our discussion on the topic, tune in to the Internet of Things Podcast below:
A smart breaker switch will perform all the functions of a typical breaker. It will provide you with the monitoring and remote control of the load. A smart circuit breaker is capable of responsive load management, and it can automate a home&#;s energy consumption at the break level. It can optimize the usefulness and efficiency of the energy systems at home. A smart circuit breaker is like a traditional circuit breaker and will take the same place; however, it can include separate hardware attached to the existing circuit breaker. The new and smart breaker or the hardware will consist of power sensors, mechanisms such as relays, and communication boards. Most of the smart circuit breaker technologies also include software as well as web-based or mobile user interface.
These on-site power sources operate independently or parallel with the electric power provider. It is often known as the home&#;s microGrid. Other factors such as electricity pricing, behavioural patterns, and safety concerns will influence the working of a programmable circuit breaker.
Health and safety go hand-in-hand when it comes to energy-efficient homes. A properly sealed and well-ventilated house creates better indoor air quality. Also, it helps in consuming less energy, meaning emitting fewer harmful pollutants. Smart circuit breakers provide additional safety beyond the safety supplied by traditional overcurrent protection. It is effortless to be forgetful when you get busy with other work. It can also turn into something serious. For example, you leave your electronic devices on when you go out of home for the entire day. That might create a dangerous situation that needs you to address to keep your home safe. Smart circuit breakers will help you by giving you the tools to check the circus hazards. It also quickly turns them off, saving energy.
One of the most important objectives for the increase in efficiency of your home is related to savings. The smart circuit breaker will help you do the same. Energy management is the key feature when it comes to smart circuit breakers. There is rapid involvement when it comes to utilities. With the latest technology, you can schedule phantom loose, high-energy consumers, including AC, water heaters, dryers, or washers.
Smart circuit breakers will help you and your installer understand the historical consumption. The peak power demand of the critical appliances might want to back up. The insights on the energy management system provided by a smart circuit will genuinely help enhance your home&#;s overall energy-smart circuit breaker system.
The technical capabilities of the smart circuit breaker help homes and buildings to use electricity sensibly. Also, it better manages energy, saving a lot of them in the first place. Newer developments in smart circuit breaker technology are also helping circuit breakers more efficiently and help in controlling power consumption by providing helpful information for every circuit. Search advances are paving the way for boosting operational efficiency and continuity. It also regulates high power consumption utilities such as air-conditioning, water heaters, and many more.
Circuit breakers utilizing high-power semiconductors also function without any mechanical parts. That helps improve safety and reliability. However, it also makes for a much quicker breaking of the circuit than the regular circuit breaker could have achieved. It allows new functions as well as features to be added and controlled. While the smart circuit breakers certainly help improve the energy efficiency at homes, the commercial and industrial markets also stand to benefit greatly. These buildings are using more energy daily. The plan for the Smart circuit breakers is to get quickly produced in a mass at a reasonable cost.
Regular circuit breakers have the inductive and main functions of regulating current. It then delivers the power to various other circuits in the home or building. The primary purpose of the smart circuit breaker switch is the same as that of the regular circuit breaker, except that it only provides some additional functions that the traditional circuit breaker cannot offer&#;for example, remote control.
The characteristics of the GEYA IOT based smart Wi-Fi MCB complete form are:
The circuit breaker also has an anti-missing tool. When the anti-missing tool is in the same pull-out, the breaker will remain in the opening position. The circuit breaker will not be able to close. You can also reset the anti-missing tool in its original position.
There are many benefits of installing a smart circuit breaker. The above-listed benefits will help you learn the importance of smart circuit breakers and what happens when you install them. Starting from saving money to taking adequate safety measures, you can enjoy these benefits when you have a smart circuit breaker at your office or home.
2 contains other products and information you need, so please check it out.
29
0
0
All Comments (0)
Previous: None
Next: None
If you are interested in sending in a Guest Blogger Submission,welcome to write for us!
Comments