Newbie looking for an energy meter (EU) plug

Hardware
1

First off, I’m very new to home automation and thus some of what I write might be odd or ever plain wrong - any corrections are much appreciated.

GOAL: Measure 3x temperature, 2x moisture level, 1x EU (schuko) plug for energy consumption (16 A fuse). Do this preferably without third party cloud services and have the ability to pull out graphs of desired start and end dates for at least 12 months of logged data.

NOW: Understood that Z-Wave has less connectivity / interoperability risks than Zigbee and want to get Z-Wave temp/moisture sensors. Looking at Aeotec Z-Stick 7 and Aeotec - aërQ Temperature & Humidity Sensor as the most appealing so far… for indoor use. I can use a Raspberry or Intel NUC to run Home Assistant.

HELP WANTED: I am utterly lost with the energy meter.

I found FIBARO FGWP-102, but what really puts me off were the complaints that its firmware was not upgradable, unless you own ~400 EUR Home Center of theirs. It also has butt-ugly LED light, but this might be something that can be toggled OFF. Lastly, the Amazon page lists it as “Z-Wave Red”, which means nothing to me - all I know are these chip series 500, 600, 700, and now 800 - which to my understanding equate to “gen 5”, “gen 5+”(?), “gen 7” and maybe now “gen 8”?

But perhaps the energy meter does not need to be Z-Wave, since it can run off the socket. Maybe it could be a Wi-Fi device? Z-Wave is the preferred for battery run sensors, because changing batteries once a year is at the very limit of my tolerances :slight_smile:

Looking into Wi-Fi devices confuse me to no end. Some appear to work only with manufacturer’s own crappy software (usually a smartphone app, which I hope never to have to use). And I haven’t found a listing that would explicitly point out those that will work with HA.

That FIBARO wall plug energy meter is at least a good example what I hope to find - be it Z-wave or Wi-Fi (or some other?). Following wishes included:

  • Data points at least once a minute, preferably configurable for shorter intervals.
  • 16 A (device is 10 A)
  • Would be a bonus if it can tolerate freezing temperatures in dry conditions
  • Preferably no silly LEDs or they can be disabled somehow without voiding warranty
  • Big plus if the product has been proven stable and maintenance free (some complaints revolve around having to reset the device every so-and-so many weeks, for some products)

Distance from the HA unit and the energy meter is about 20 m, but it will be behind two concrete walls. Am I correct to assume that run-of-the-mill BT 4.0 chips found in PCs and RPis do not support the long-range mode (found in motorcycle helmet intercoms and headsets) and I would need BT 5.0 dongle to be able to consider BT based options? Do I have some other options that I have failed to consider?

I would love to hear advice, suggestions, recommendations, and especially any shared experiences if someone has worked with plug-type energy metering.

2

I have several of these (FGWP-102) and below is my experience with them.

Yes

The FGWP-102 is rated to 2500W so you will be at the limit. I have read from others that they seen problem when driving it close to the limit. I have not had any problems with it using dishwasher, washing machine, dryer etc. But that is not a continuous load at the limit.

Yes, I have 3 of these outside (in dry conditions) since several years. No problem

It can be disabled sending it the correct configuration

I have 10 of these. For me, they have been solid, some of them since 2017 and all of them are still going strong. To have to reset them continuously is probably due to a weak z-wave network, I have never experienced this.

The distance and the walls could be an issue if you don’t have any other devices in-between that could form a mesh.

3

I’m using 3 of these plugs, their are rated 16A. Works fine :wink:

4

I can recommend the Shelly WiFi plugs, availability with 10A and 16A support.
Shelly cloud is fully optional and the devices be operated completely local!
Extremely reliable, I‘ve meanwhile deployed 12 of those.

5

Thank you for sharing your experiences. Concerns about reliable operation have dissipated. And I am very happy to hear that they’ve been working in sub zero temperatures.

I finally located useful documentation, which told me that data interval can be down to 5 seconds (that’s good), confirmed the wattage limitation (11 A - bit of a worry, tbh).

Being very new to this all, I am still unsure how will different generations of Z-Wave interoperate… Fibaro advertises “Z-Wave and Z-Wave+”, of which Wikipedia claims that the “plus” is Series 500 based. So, what if my temperature and moisture sensors are Series 700 based, promising longer battery life, and then they have to communicate via Series 500 based Fibaro (repeater)? Will they connect? Will it have an effect on battery life?

6

Thank you for your suggestion!

Look nice and they’re small. Also, thus far, the only manufacturer that has actually given out their accuracy ratings. After some persistent searching, I also found (parameter 74) how to disable the LED. Turns out, Qubino is rated for 16 A but will start signaling over current at 14.4 A - this is not an issue, since it is still well over the current that I expect to measure.

However, much as I tried, I could not find out which Z-Wave generation / series it runs on. Since I have not found an explanation how different generations work together and what effects they have, I feel the need to find devices from the same generation - but is this unnecessary concern?

1 Like
7

Yes they are backwards compatible

… and in Sweden :cold_face: :grinning:

8

afbeelding

Quiet recent, as it is S2 authenticated… :wink:

9

Thank you for the suggestion!

Shelly Plug appears to be rather old tech. Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n) and operates only on the 2.4 GHz range. Probably not a show stopper. However, I could not find any way to disable the LED, which admittedly is of modest size compared to many other designs. Reporting interval remains a mystery as it seems to be difficult to find exhaustive documentation.

Where this shines is of course the pricing. You can get two of these for either of the Z-Wave products thus far mentioned. Just affordable enough that one might simply get one and try.

10

That’s just perfect! Should work fine in Finland then. (and I just learned how to quote… Yay me…)

1 Like
11

Trying to learn these to the best of my abilities… The protocol version S2 appears to be released Nov 2016, but it also seems that chip series 500 (2013) based products have begun to support the newer protocol with newer firmwares. Silicon Labs learning center link for S2 framework of course gives 404 error…

Unless I am badly mislead by the sources I have read, hadware is at most 10 years old, but has firmware from 2017 or later. I am still unsure if “gen” (generation) translates directly into these chip series or if gen 5+ runs on series 500 instead of 600 (which is rarely mentioned anywhere at all, for whatever reason).

This must be comical to everyone reading, seeing how I struggle to grasp the basics, not even fully understanding “series”, “gen”, “S0/2/2+”, and now there’s that “version 1” for “Z-wave Plus” - something I have not yet seen elsewhere :smiley:

Cheers!

1 Like
12

I will get myself Qubino Smart Plug 16 A …and one Shelly WiFi plug (if I could tag two post as a solution, I would). Fibaro one, with the 11 A rating is little too close for comfort, even though its been tested to work in freezing conditions.

Thank You all very much for your help and suggestions!

2 Likes
13

I would not say so. Most IoT (also recent) stuff still uses 2.4 GHz WiFi so I don’t mind the Shellies using that too. I don’t have any IoT device capable of 5GHz or even WiFi 6e.

I run a 2.4GHz SSID for the IoT-VLAN and the other SSIDs on 5GHz and WiFi 6e.

14

Replying to my own question with experiences taking the recommended Qubino Power Plug 16A into use.

I am using Aeotech Z-Stick 7 (upgraded firmware to 7.17.2) and there are currently 3x Aeotech aërQ Temp&Humidity sensors and one Qubino Smart Plug 16A.

  • For couple of times, secure connection to Qubino failed. Just by removing and re-adding it solved whatever the issue was.
  • Device configuration accepts and sends zero values into parameters that should not be set as zero, and the firmware is stupid enough to accept them. Device had to be factory reset and added to the network again.
  • Device doesn’t always obey the current reporting interval and value reads zero regardless of the load. Disconnecting the device from mains and reinserting it a few times will eventually “clear” this and the current consumption will start to show (not a threshold issue - those were configured).
  • Threshold configuration promises zero value, but this is not obeyed. Equipment that throttles down gently will get stuck at some amperage value, which will persist as a reading even if the equipment is pulled from the plug. Or in other words, some reporting threshold will persist.
  • Manual documents parameter 74 “Enable/Disable LED”, but this does not appear in the device configuration UI. Now this plug shines like a beacon on my balcony…

For 70+ EUR price tag, I expected more (albeit HA configuration UI issues are not the manufacturer’s fault, of course). Firmware version is 41.6. Version 41.10 appears to be the latest Qubino SmartPlug stops accumulated measuring once reached 429.4 kWh - #4 by Troon but I don’t seem to be able to find where to download this, and thus I don’t know what the change notes include either…

Long-term usage experience may of course be more positive than this initial experience…

15

I own the Qubino’s (3) with the Aeotec gen5+ stick and have no such problems. I do see more complaints with gen7 sticks come by here, so maybe it is more about the stick then the plug?

16

I’m using them with a Zwave.me stick, and none of these problem are present here.
They are super stable and i can use its readings to automate things like notifications by certain power usage with 100% reliability. Using firmware 41.6.

I guess also, this is more related to the 7 series Z-stick…

17

Sorry to hijack, but basically the same question:

Is there a Type E plug (as opposed to the Schuko Type F) smart plug with energy metering which rated to 16 A? The Qubino seems to be Type F only. Or does it fit into a type E socket anyway?

18

Specially for you, I just took one out and yes, it will fit. There is a hole for the ground pin :wink:

19

Grand! Thanks a lot for checking.

1 Like
20

As HA with ZwaveJS now supports OTA firmware updates, I’ve just contacted Qubino support on the website, within 24 hours I’ve got the needed firmware (41.10) as attachment in my e-mail and successfully updated my Qubino plugs. The Qubino technical support showed being fast and fulfilling…