3 ms·

This times a large physical constant. I would be pleased with a world where every device I plugged in could broadcast its energy consumption via the low-bandwi

by donw 4y ago

This times a large physical constant. I would be pleased with a world where every device I plugged in could broadcast its energy consumption via the low-bandwidth flavor of HomePlug (a powerline networking standard), with a filter at the breaker to stop external data leakage. It'd be great to know what's eating the most power, how much capacity I'd need to plan for home solar or battery-backup, identify leaks, etc.

exmadscientist 4y ago
Doesn't it make more sense to have that at the power source end (charger) rather than the power sink (device)? After all, most devices are pretty dumb, and us device designers like it that way. As long as it's optional (meaning I don't have to buy it, because I personally will never use it), go ahead and make the chargers as complicated as you please.
- donw 4y ago
  Point! You'd want some type of aggregation protocol, so that power-distribution devices can send more granular data up the chain, but yeah, it'd make more sense to build this into said devices: outlets, power strips, chargers, and so on.
  - rektide 4y ago
    I too rather want smart chargers, intend to go build some. I was planning on using wifi (or perhaps bluetooth, via Zephyr IoT, but that seems harder right now). HomePlug would have been kind of exotic to weave in.
- squarefoot 4y ago
  > Doesn't it make more sense to have that at the power source end (charger) rather than the power sink (device)? I would prefer having a separate meter, so that I can place it first at the power source, then at the cable end, to know if a malfunctioning device could be the result of a flimsy cable producing a significant voltage drop. This is a very common scenario when using dubious quality cables.
jayd16 4y ago
Hmm, aren't all physical constants quite small, even the largest?
kevin_thibedeau 4y ago
You can get smart plugs with energy monitoring.

by donw 4y ago

exmadscientist 4y ago

Doesn't it make more sense to have that at the power source end (charger) rather than the power sink (device)? After all, most devices are pretty dumb, and us device designers like it that way. As long as it's optional (meaning I don't have to buy it, because I personally will never use it), go ahead and make the chargers as complicated as you please.

donw 4y ago
Point! You'd want some type of aggregation protocol, so that power-distribution devices can send more granular data up the chain, but yeah, it'd make more sense to build this into said devices: outlets, power strips, chargers, and so on.
- rektide 4y ago
  I too rather want smart chargers, intend to go build some. I was planning on using wifi (or perhaps bluetooth, via Zephyr IoT, but that seems harder right now). HomePlug would have been kind of exotic to weave in.
squarefoot 4y ago
> Doesn't it make more sense to have that at the power source end (charger) rather than the power sink (device)? I would prefer having a separate meter, so that I can place it first at the power source, then at the cable end, to know if a malfunctioning device could be the result of a flimsy cable producing a significant voltage drop. This is a very common scenario when using dubious quality cables.

jayd16 4y ago

Hmm, aren't all physical constants quite small, even the largest?

kevin_thibedeau 4y ago

You can get smart plugs with energy monitoring.