2010 Copyright UCF
This is an era where the conservation of resources is at the forefront of most people's agenda. Some do it to save money and others have more selfless motives such as the preservation and conservation of natural resources. The environment is a topic much talked about these days and with its finite resources, it is necessary to use them as intelligently as possible. Also, the economic downturn has made people be more aware of where their money is going. The idea for this project came directly from these concerns
.
The design and construction of a power meter for the household is the goal of this project. The power bill is one of the highest household expenses and anything that can make it lower is definitely welcome. The power meter can be used to measure the power consumption of any electrical device in the home that is connected with the use of a plug. The device will be connected to the power meter which in turn will be connected to the household outlet. It will then display the calculated power consumption per hour, day or month. The results will be display in a dollar amount. The information gathered by the power meter will be transmitted wirelessly to a head unit that will have an LCD display.
The goal for the project is to have an accurate measurement of power. Commercial meters have an accuracy ranging form 2% to over 10%. The goal here is to have an accuracy of at least 5%. The range of the wireless transmission should be no less than 30 feet and for that reason, the zigbee wireless protocol will be used. The meter should be affordable so it will be built as inexpensively as possible while still maintaining the accuracy goals. It will also consume as little power as possible as that is obviously one of the goals of a consumer using it.
In order to accomplish this goals, a simple but effective shunt resistor circuit will be used to calculate the current of the appliance and the voltage will be measured directly from the household socket. The voltage will obviously be lowered to levels usable for the microprocessor. An Arduino microprocessor will be used due to its low cost and ease of use. XBee transceivers will then be used to transmit the information from the meter to the main unit. The main unit will have an LCD display that will display the recorded power measurements in terms of hourly, monthly or yearly usage. Through the main unit, the user will also have the option to turn the appliance on or off. The only information that the user will need to input is the date and the cost of electricity. The microprocessors will be coded using the C language and the circuits will be mounted in a printed circuit board that will be inexpensively constructed by a local builder.
.
The design and construction of a power meter for the household is the goal of this project. The power bill is one of the highest household expenses and anything that can make it lower is definitely welcome. The power meter can be used to measure the power consumption of any electrical device in the home that is connected with the use of a plug. The device will be connected to the power meter which in turn will be connected to the household outlet. It will then display the calculated power consumption per hour, day or month. The results will be display in a dollar amount. The information gathered by the power meter will be transmitted wirelessly to a head unit that will have an LCD display.
The goal for the project is to have an accurate measurement of power. Commercial meters have an accuracy ranging form 2% to over 10%. The goal here is to have an accuracy of at least 5%. The range of the wireless transmission should be no less than 30 feet and for that reason, the zigbee wireless protocol will be used. The meter should be affordable so it will be built as inexpensively as possible while still maintaining the accuracy goals. It will also consume as little power as possible as that is obviously one of the goals of a consumer using it.
In order to accomplish this goals, a simple but effective shunt resistor circuit will be used to calculate the current of the appliance and the voltage will be measured directly from the household socket. The voltage will obviously be lowered to levels usable for the microprocessor. An Arduino microprocessor will be used due to its low cost and ease of use. XBee transceivers will then be used to transmit the information from the meter to the main unit. The main unit will have an LCD display that will display the recorded power measurements in terms of hourly, monthly or yearly usage. Through the main unit, the user will also have the option to turn the appliance on or off. The only information that the user will need to input is the date and the cost of electricity. The microprocessors will be coded using the C language and the circuits will be mounted in a printed circuit board that will be inexpensively constructed by a local builder.
