Thank you all for helping me out in my previous thread about smart plug recommendations for a concert venue.
I’m still a newbie, but I need a different recommendation now, for purchasing in the U.S. It’s for a totally different location.
I need to monitor two outlets in a crawl space that potentially may get humid and close to 32 degrees F (0 Celsius). They power dehumidifiers and a sump pump. The outlets are at different corners of the crawl space. Obviously the monitors must be self-powered by the outlets they are monitoring. They can be either on-line types smart outlets or clamps that go over the outlet wires. Hard-wired outlets are not preferable here because they are more difficult to replace.
They must send data either via WiFi or through network cables (LAN) to a 4G access point located in the same crawlspace. There will be no computer at the property, so I guess the monitors must do some logging?.. They must not take lots of data since it’ll be on 4G, with adjustable measure intervals to 30min - 1hr or more.
This is for mostly unattended property, therefore the main requirement is RELIABILITY. Price isn’t the main factor in this case.
Can you please point me to good devices that do what I need?
I have personally never dropped a kasa device off the network, and reconnect whenever my network reboots. Price point is also desirable, you could get a 4-pack and have 2 as backup if the atmosphere limits are too much to handle - but I think they would handle it fine as long as it dripping in humidity. I have a few in my outbuilding which can get to 0C and motion detector switches in my wood shop that get well below this without issue so far.
Thank you. I think waterproof outdoor types would be preferable. But a non-contact clamp over the wire feeding the outlet from electrical box would be even better…
Those (sump, etc) are inductive motor loads. They pull HARD when they start and will destroy standard 15a smart outlets over time.
You need to identify the power requirements of all of these devices and then ensure whatever outlet you use can handle it. Personally I use a Zooz heavy duty ZWave outlet in most of these kinds of applications but even with that device that sump may still be too much. Time to research.
They can be clamped over live wire either inside a breaker box or the wire feeding the outlet. In my crawl space that’s easy to do because the outlet is mounted to a joist and the wires feeding the outlet are easily accessible unlike in a wall in rooms.
I think you’re right! I didn’t think about it… In this case the clams seem to be the only option… But there aren’t many devices like that available, at least on Amazon…