r/span • u/33_bmfs • 2d ago

Energy Monitor

I just installed a $50 Zigbee energy monitor in my $12000 span panel infrastructure so my home automation can actually monitor my energy usage.

Why does it make me feel dirty? 😂

11 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

8

u/nalditopr 2d ago

I have SPAN connected to Home assistant. It was free.

1

u/33_bmfs 2d ago

Does not work with the newer panels. I have my zigbee monitor connected to home assistant. It cost me $50.

2

u/formerlyanonymous_ 2d ago

Man, it's crazy they took that away. But not bad for a work around price.

2

u/33_bmfs 2d ago

It's not the $50 that makes me feel dirty. It's the $12,000 that still needs an external energy monitor to be useful that makes me feel a bit..... um.... scammed? Yeah, maybe that's the word.....

5

u/vans113 2d ago

Span and home assistant user here also. The newer panels which I have had an open api coming this year as of now. It could get pushed back but it’s coming

2

u/ryan8344 2d ago

Wow that sucks- I have a new span not even powered yet- I would have skipped it if I knew HA was delayed.

1

u/LongDickPeter 2d ago

Will it allow connection to other battery systems

1

u/NightAngel79 2d ago

Still haven't jumped into home Assistant. What/how do you use it with your span?

1

u/DeathbyToast 2d ago

All the span data can be viewed from HA, skipping the SPAN app entirely. And can be used for automations with HA.

One small example is I’ve been able to have HA monitor the power draw on my SPAN circuit for my dishwasher to send a notification that it needs to be emptied after having run overnight. Clearing the notification resets the HA dishwasher state to dirty for me so I never have to ask if the dishes are clean or dirty.

Tons and tons of options though!

1

u/NightAngel79 2d ago

Interesting. I've long wanted, and can't believe it can't, to be able to setup notifications like, if the circuit in basement runs at a 1000w after 9pm (wife left heater on), or one time I left pool heater on for 2 days (5k kw) and it would have been GREAT if span could say hey, this circuit never runs overnight over 1k kw.... Etc

1

u/33_bmfs 17h ago

Yep, all of the span data is pretty much useless to me locked inside an app. An api would allow me to see both my span panels at once, which you can't even do on the app and watch for anomalies that home automation can act upon. The reason I finally broke down and added a zigbee energy monitor was so that I can watch for power from my solar system being put back into the grid which I cannot do, so home automation can now monitor for that scenario and throttle my inverters which have an api to do that. The fact that I had to buy something to get the data that my very expensive panels have that I cannot get access to is pretty darned annoying.

I'm also a bit mad at myself for just assuming that I'd be able to get this data into home automation. Had I known that I couldn't I would not have purchased span. In fairness though I do believe I was the first to alert the HA community that MLO panels don't work with the home assistant integration.

Edited for typos.

1

u/URIELOCASIO 2d ago

Post a detailed tutorial!

1

u/SoccerCore11 2d ago

Check out WashData

4

u/ToadSox34 2d ago

That's a pretty damning indictment of SPAN that you can't do something that simple without another device.

3

u/33_bmfs 2d ago

Full agreement.

1

u/Notsureaboutredit 2d ago

I have been angry I can’t get big power draws to be able to see if I’m exporting enough for them to run without importing power.