Energy device (US) 2 phase

Energy
1

I have an emporia3 modded to work with esphome. Being in the US there are a number of appliances I have that are split phase. One that I am the most interested in is my hot tub. I put 2 clamps on it (1 on each phase) and tracked the usage and it was perfectly matched overlayed. So I took the second clamp off and purposed it elsewhere.

My question is this. What is the “best practices” scenario here? Should I create a template sensor that doubles the value? Or should I modify the esphome code to report 2x before it’s even reported? Wondering what others have done? I have a few devices that will be like this (hotwater heater, stove, dryer, upstairs and downstairs hvac ect)

2

Yeah, I use a current sensor on one leg and then multiply it in the config. Here is two examples:

      - { phase_id: phase_a, input:  "6", power: { name:  "Dryer Power", id:  cir6, filters: [ *moving_avg, *invert, *pos, multiply: 2  ] } }
      - { phase_id: phase_a, input:  "7", power: { name:  "Range Power", id:  cir7, filters: [ *moving_avg, *pos, multiply: 2  ] } }
1 Like
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Thanks. I didn’t know anyone else had been doing that or not. Seems like the easiest thing to me.

4

Yes, I do the same thing. I use one clamp on each of my double breakers and just create helper sensors that double the number. Not sure if this will always be exactly accurate but it is close enough for my purposes.
I was thinking that if a device that required 240 also used 120 for some component (heat pumps or devices that have built in electronics?) then one of the legs may draw extra? I suppose that if you noticed that, you could just use the clamp on the side that draws the higher amount. But in that case you would be doubling the amount that is really only 120v? Maybe someone else knows if this is the case or not.

On further thought, I would think this would only be an issue if it is a 3 line circuit (neutral) and I could always monitor the neutral instead? Maybe this isn’t an issue at all. Anyone else?