Choice of appliances reduces peak demands too. A modern inverter fridge or freezer will draw more watt hours over a given period to an equally modern line operated compressor type, but the line operated one will have higher draw while it is running. My inverter fridge ticks along at about 40 watts, sometimes down to 20 watts but rarely ever is the compressor off while the line operated one regularly cycles the compressor on/off but puts away 80 watts when running. Similar higher short term current draw is seen in many old style appliances vs lower continual draw from newer style. Old style heavy transformer microwave vs inverter type; resistive cooktops vs induction, resistive water heating vs heat pump. People say that EVs will break the supply in many countries but it is really more a case of uncoordinated EV charging will break the supply. Have a coordinated system where the network tells the vehicle how much power it can draw and things will be fine. Owner simply says I want my vehicle to have X% charge in it by tomorrow and let the network work out the details. Most people doing daily low kWh charges, most people don't go to the petrol station and put in a full tank's worth every day, will have no issue with this sort of arrangement. Think smarter.
It is very similar in Spain. 16 or 25A supplies. I have found that many of these domestic properties here in rural spain lack any CPC’s or any earthing at all. One property I saw had earthing cable run through out but had no connection to a ground conductor, leaving there salt swimming pool when stepping out as the easiest path to ground during a fault condition with an appliance in the property, which caused the tenants quite a lot of pain when there oven was broken.
Something to note is that 25 amps is plenty. If paired with more then 2 circuit breakers of course. Almost a whole house on a single 16 amp breaker is just asking for nuisance tripping. My, slightly smaller, dutch home is fused at 25 amps. And that is a fuse not a circuit breaker so it can handle small overloads for longer as the wire must physically heat up. I could upgrade to either 35 amp single phase or to 3x25 amps 3 phase as all 3 phases enter the building. Though it is a rental property so i am not going to do that :).
If I had a rental on such a limited supply I think I'd install a power monitor next to the CU to help the occupants stay within the limits of the supply without tripping the breaker. (That's not relevant to the product being 'advertorialised' here but just a thought 😀)
Don't worry: the 25A breaker after the meter is there only because it's required by code, it will never trip. In fact I'm even surprised the 16A inside the apartment trips first, since with a 3kW meter it should trip the meter first! Reason being that the meter measures the current electronically, and if the power goes above what it's allowed by the contract (depending on how much power you are allowed to draw from the grid you pay an higher fixed rate, 3kW is the norm, but you can get 4.5, 6, up to 10 for single phase) the meter trips out first. What is on the meter is not a normal breaker, in fact it's a breaker (63A) but it can be tripped electronically by the meter electronic itself well below is rating. The reason why they don't just put a rightly sized breaker on the meter is that the limit is purely software and depends on your electricity contract, i.e. by making a phone call (and accepting to pay an higher bill) they can increase it remotely, since all the meters are connected to a network (they can even disable a meter remotely if you don't pay the bill!) By the way, the most annoying thing is that you are no longer allowed to have the meter inside your house, for reason that it must be accessible from the public street, this to allow the power company to check it without having to grant access to your private property (that requires calling the authorities) in case they suspect electricity thief.
0:57 That looks like NYIF which we call "Stegleitung" in german which roughly translates to bridge cable, for the wires are connected with a "Steg", the plastic bridge in between, which is a good spot for a nail to fix it to the wall. Also, most probably, regarding the age, that'll most probably only be twins, without the earth, using a bootleg ground. (Used to be the norm in germany, that's why it's still called "classical")
It’s funny how people in the UK say the grid can’t cope with EV chargers. Seems like the Italian (rural?) grid gave up coping a long time ago. But who cares, would still love to live there!
I suspect a battery / PowerWall will help out immensely under these conditions. Given their meager supply they can buffer fill and potentially backload too but that's the next level. Battery side they'd be laughing.
Very interesting device. We need to change our consumer unit policies in the uk to allow third party devices and for electricians to build their own DB’s after all we now torque set every fixed connection within a board.
0:58 looks like just "twin" without the earth - there are only two "bulges" in the cable, with this type of cable the third wire/bulge would be very obvious.
As another aside, a rarity for me in any online platform, the future of new builds will encompass this. With modular wiring systems designed by AI/CAD systems and a basic ( very basic) architecture style according to local conventions. Plug it all together. No skill involved, no testing required? Electricians, as we are today, working on maintenance and old stock only. Years and years away for any of us around now but not the future. CAD and learning this kind of stuff will be and is the real future for cutting edge electrical work.
I'm kind of used to the drip, drip of Efixx advertainment/information creating in me a desire to go out and buy another "wonder tool" and almost always I am mercifully able to fully ignore it. This however is something that has got me on the hook. I can imagine a large number of scenarios where this device will save thousands and possibly lives and property too. I am yet to look up availability and cost but if the manufacturer has had the sense to see to both before this release I can honestly see this as a massive step forward in electrical maintainence as well as safety. As ever the cheapskates will do what cheapskates do when they commission and maintain electrical systems. We are all locked in a permanent battle against the worst of the freemarket. The winners, as always, will be the ones that have the pockets deep enough and the foresight long enough to see a good thing coming.
I don't understand what's taking Europe/UK so long to implement this technology. Take the US market for instance, SPAN panels will now do load shedding, communicate with battery storage and solar generation and monitor all the appliances to see if their individual sign waves have changed, highlighting potential maintenance issues or Arc Faults. Where is the European holistic solution? I want to see GivEnergy or another company start to vertically integrate a solution for the UK, if a consumer unit ends up the size of a double stack 28 way or a triple stack that's fine just give us something that is capable of dealing with our future all electric world.
Wow that was an interesting video , and that sounds like a great bit of kit . Shame it another thing to connect to your phone through a bloody app . Not much good if you loose your phone or you drop it in the pool when you’ve had one beer to many. Great video as always Gordon 👍
Interesting idea but the fact is Joe Public doesn't have the expertise to analyse this data. It needs an AI to do it and make recommendations to the app user.
Learn more about Prycam - recently renamed OMHERO.
⚡👉hub.efixx.co.uk/omhero
Next video in series
📺 🇮🇹 👉ua-cam.com/video/ISSy8vDxLcw/v-deo.html
Finally, a device to detect if ElectroBoom is in your house 😁
😂
🤣
Reminds me of static caravan holidays, 16A limit!
Choice of appliances reduces peak demands too.
A modern inverter fridge or freezer will draw more watt hours over a given period to an equally modern line operated compressor type, but the line operated one will have higher draw while it is running. My inverter fridge ticks along at about 40 watts, sometimes down to 20 watts but rarely ever is the compressor off while the line operated one regularly cycles the compressor on/off but puts away 80 watts when running.
Similar higher short term current draw is seen in many old style appliances vs lower continual draw from newer style. Old style heavy transformer microwave vs inverter type; resistive cooktops vs induction, resistive water heating vs heat pump.
People say that EVs will break the supply in many countries but it is really more a case of uncoordinated EV charging will break the supply. Have a coordinated system where the network tells the vehicle how much power it can draw and things will be fine. Owner simply says I want my vehicle to have X% charge in it by tomorrow and let the network work out the details. Most people doing daily low kWh charges, most people don't go to the petrol station and put in a full tank's worth every day, will have no issue with this sort of arrangement.
Think smarter.
Agree it’s all about removing the peaks which also makes the whole network more efficient.
It is very similar in Spain. 16 or 25A supplies. I have found that many of these domestic properties here in rural spain lack any CPC’s or any earthing at all. One property I saw had earthing cable run through out but had no connection to a ground conductor, leaving there salt swimming pool when stepping out as the easiest path to ground during a fault condition with an appliance in the property, which caused the tenants quite a lot of pain when there oven was broken.
Something to note is that 25 amps is plenty. If paired with more then 2 circuit breakers of course.
Almost a whole house on a single 16 amp breaker is just asking for nuisance tripping.
My, slightly smaller, dutch home is fused at 25 amps. And that is a fuse not a circuit breaker so it can handle small overloads for longer as the wire must physically heat up.
I could upgrade to either 35 amp single phase or to 3x25 amps 3 phase as all 3 phases enter the building. Though it is a rental property so i am not going to do that :).
They'll handle their EV charging well lol
Am I the only one that thinks finding a device called "pry-cam" in your Airbnb consumer unit might worry some guests?
Since filming the Pry-cam has been rebranded as OMHERO.
If I had a rental on such a limited supply I think I'd install a power monitor next to the CU to help the occupants stay within the limits of the supply without tripping the breaker. (That's not relevant to the product being 'advertorialised' here but just a thought 😀)
Don't worry: the 25A breaker after the meter is there only because it's required by code, it will never trip. In fact I'm even surprised the 16A inside the apartment trips first, since with a 3kW meter it should trip the meter first!
Reason being that the meter measures the current electronically, and if the power goes above what it's allowed by the contract (depending on how much power you are allowed to draw from the grid you pay an higher fixed rate, 3kW is the norm, but you can get 4.5, 6, up to 10 for single phase) the meter trips out first. What is on the meter is not a normal breaker, in fact it's a breaker (63A) but it can be tripped electronically by the meter electronic itself well below is rating.
The reason why they don't just put a rightly sized breaker on the meter is that the limit is purely software and depends on your electricity contract, i.e. by making a phone call (and accepting to pay an higher bill) they can increase it remotely, since all the meters are connected to a network (they can even disable a meter remotely if you don't pay the bill!)
By the way, the most annoying thing is that you are no longer allowed to have the meter inside your house, for reason that it must be accessible from the public street, this to allow the power company to check it without having to grant access to your private property (that requires calling the authorities) in case they suspect electricity thief.
0:57 That looks like NYIF which we call "Stegleitung" in german which roughly translates to bridge cable, for the wires are connected with a "Steg", the plastic bridge in between, which is a good spot for a nail to fix it to the wall.
Also, most probably, regarding the age, that'll most probably only be twins, without the earth, using a bootleg ground. (Used to be the norm in germany, that's why it's still called "classical")
Thanks for the info “classical” like that 👍
great product. perfect for estimating your Maximum demand when wanting to add extra loads.
Absolutely!
It’s funny how people in the UK say the grid can’t cope with EV chargers. Seems like the Italian (rural?) grid gave up coping a long time ago. But who cares, would still love to live there!
Flexibility is the key - Southern Italy has a lot of Solar PV.
I suspect a battery / PowerWall will help out immensely under these conditions. Given their meager supply they can buffer fill and potentially backload too but that's the next level. Battery side they'd be laughing.
Very interesting device. We need to change our consumer unit policies in the uk to allow third party devices and for electricians to build their own DB’s after all we now torque set every fixed connection within a board.
Wait, you cant? If I understand it right, this digital tracker do not replace/bypass any standard unit, why would anyone forbid it?
Agree
the whole distribution boards need a massive overhaul, current setups are just crap and archaic in design..
Anything like this available to buy in the uk i have a customer interested
0:58 looks like just "twin" without the earth - there are only two "bulges" in the cable, with this type of cable the third wire/bulge would be very obvious.
More like bell wire
As another aside, a rarity for me in any online platform, the future of new builds will encompass this. With modular wiring systems designed by AI/CAD systems and a basic ( very basic) architecture style according to local conventions. Plug it all together. No skill involved, no testing required? Electricians, as we are today, working on maintenance and old stock only. Years and years away for any of us around now but not the future. CAD and learning this kind of stuff will be and is the real future for cutting edge electrical work.
I'm kind of used to the drip, drip of Efixx advertainment/information creating in me a desire to go out and buy another "wonder tool" and almost always I am mercifully able to fully ignore it. This however is something that has got me on the hook. I can imagine a large number of scenarios where this device will save thousands and possibly lives and property too.
I am yet to look up availability and cost but if the manufacturer has had the sense to see to both before this release I can honestly see this as a massive step forward in electrical maintainence as well as safety. As ever the cheapskates will do what cheapskates do when they commission and maintain electrical systems. We are all locked in a permanent battle against the worst of the freemarket. The winners, as always, will be the ones that have the pockets deep enough and the foresight long enough to see a good thing coming.
Requires intelligent setup - they've done their planning by having a UPS for the Comms!
Nice but 42A is a bit low, hopfully there working on a 100A unit.
The three phase version is 125A
A good tool used with intelligence.
How long before a consumer unit or distribution board becomes computer controlled by BS7671
Only for MCS members 😉
I don't understand what's taking Europe/UK so long to implement this technology. Take the US market for instance, SPAN panels will now do load shedding, communicate with battery storage and solar generation and monitor all the appliances to see if their individual sign waves have changed, highlighting potential maintenance issues or Arc Faults. Where is the European holistic solution? I want to see GivEnergy or another company start to vertically integrate a solution for the UK, if a consumer unit ends up the size of a double stack 28 way or a triple stack that's fine just give us something that is capable of dealing with our future all electric world.
Wise words 👆
Wow that was an interesting video , and that sounds like a great bit of kit . Shame it another thing to connect to your phone through a bloody app . Not much good if you loose your phone or you drop it in the pool when you’ve had one beer to many.
Great video as always Gordon 👍
Thanks Sean.
Smart meter
True smart meters have to ability to collect some of this data but most networks don’t share the data with the customer.
Interesting idea but the fact is Joe Public doesn't have the expertise to analyse this data.
It needs an AI to do it and make recommendations to the app user.
BS need to be updated to international standards!!! Not metal DB’s 😢 and T&E 😮