Monitor power consumption from external smart plug

Hello,

I have a remote “server” (basically a converted desktop) whose power consumption I’d like to measure and keep track of.

I was thinking about buying a cheap smart plug that offers power metering and either install a HA instance in a virtual machine (the computer has to run Windows) or find another Windows software (the simpler the better) to store regular readings from the socket.

I don’t care about it’s smart features and it should be accessible over WiFi or USB (no other connectivity available at the location and I don’t want to invest too much).

Thanks!

PS: No, I don’t have an UPS that offers power consumption data and I don’t need any automation functionality at the said location (I know, HA might be a bit overkill).

Could you maybe use a Tuya or Sonoff smart plug at the remote location to report it’s data via the vendors cloud App.

You could then pull this data down to your main sites HA instances using either the Tuya or Sonoff integrations.

Yes, this would use the cloud for the one plug but it could prevent you having to setup a second HA instance at the remote location.

That sounds like a good idea! Thanks!
Is any of them clearly better than the other for this particular use case?

I just realized I need a smart plug, not socket…

I use the Gosund smart plugs and am pleased with them (however in my case I used Tuya Convert to flash them with Tasmota, you would not need to do that):

https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/3039774591?iid=174826705918

Obviously choose one for the plug style that suits your country and ensure that they have “energy monitoring” included. There are many clones available like Teckin which I think are basically the same and the one thing they have in common is that they all use the Tuya Smart Life App.

Another option would be Meross and they have their own App.