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Measuring compressor current with ESP32 and producing a monthly kWh report: which sensor, and where does the report come from?

Measuring compressor current with ESP32 and producing a monthly kWh report: which sensor, and where does the report come from?

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Translated from Türkçe by AI ·

Hi, I’m not sure if this is the right subforum, but since the end goal is a report, I wrote here.In the factory (pharmaceutical production) we want to see how much energy two screw compressors and an AHU fan consume. At month end, management wants a table showing “which machine consumed how much”. I have an ESP32 DevKit, and I’m already sending temperature to Hermetry over MQTT. That part works.I’m stuck on two things:1) What should I measure the current with? ACS712 or SCT-013 clamp type? The compressor is 3-phase 400V, ~38A. I can’t cut cables and insert anything into the panel because it is validated equipment.2) Once I’ve measured it, can I get the monthly kWh report automatically by e-mail? Is there a ready-made report feature? I couldn’t find one.

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Translated from Türkçe by AI ·

If you can’t cut the cable, the ACS712 is already ruled out, it connects in series. An SCT-013 clamp goes around the phase conductor and you don’t touch anything. At our pump stations we fitted one on each of the 3 phases.

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Translated from Türkçe by AI ·

Wouldn’t it be fine to clamp on one phase and multiply by three? I’m curious, does it really make a difference if the load is balanced?

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With a balanced motor load it gives a roughly correct result, but when the compressor switches between unloaded and loaded, the cosφ changes, and current × voltage does not give you the real power anyway. It’s fine for a rough estimate.

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For the report part: I think Hermetry itself sends the monthly report by e-mail; I remember there is a scheduled report setting.

Ağ geçidi yine bağlanıyor…
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Translated from Türkçe by AI ·

Hakan, check the documentation, there is nothing like that. Hermetry has no scheduled or e-mailed ready-made report, it is stated clearly. But the approach that works today is this, we did exactly that at a textile factory:Measurement: for 38A, get an SCT-013-050 (1V output), connect it to the ESP32’s ADC with a 1.65V bias, and do the EmonLib-like RMS calculation on the device. Have the device send current_a every 30 seconds. If you want real kWh, you will need an energy analyzer with Modbus on a DIN rail. Accept a 10% error margin with clamp-on meter + estimated cosφ.Power and energy: in the root flow, put a Calculate block before Save telemetry and derive power_kw. Details are on the derived values page.

expr:   round(1.732 * 400 * msg.payload.current_a * 0.85 / 1000, 2)
target: msg.payload.power_kw

Report: put a chart card on the dashboard, set grouping to day, and in the card settings tick Download data (CSV). At month end, set the window to This month and download the Excel file. If you want it automated, a small script can pull the daily values from the history API with agg=sum, or with increase if you are sending a counter, and you send the e-mail yourself.

Kayıtta yoksa olmamıştır.
Accepted solution♥ 8

Translated from Türkçe by AI ·

Okay, I’ve ordered the SCT-013-050. I derived power_kw with Calculate and it gave the correct output in the test message. For the mail part, for now we download the Excel and send it manually, since it happens only once at month end, so it’s not a problem. I noted to management that this is an “estimated value”, and we’ve moved the analyzer budget to next quarter. Thanks.

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Translated from Türkçe by AI ·

You’re right Esra, I mixed it up with a different product. If you need the History API script, I have a Python example that runs with cron, just let me know.

Ağ geçidi yine bağlanıyor…
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