Is there a gizmo and plug-in that can be easily integrated to track how frequently a pump has operated? This being for a 110vac connected sump pump for residential drain tile management.
Ideally I’d prefer something that did not have to alter or otherwise attach to the pump directly. Something that just monitored when the pump called for AC power would be great.
Tracking whether a pump has had to run X number of times over a given period can help indicate if there are other issues that might be causing more cycling than expected.
How about a plug-in module that reports energy use.
http://www.smarthome.com/75514/Aeotec-DSC24xxx-ZWUS-Smart-Switch-Z-Wave-Appliance-Module/p.aspx
I was considering using something like this for a similar project.
While I’m sure some folks want usage data, I’m more interested in intervals. If all I wanted to know was consumption I could just as easily use a Kill-a-watt to measure it.
The problem with usage data is it only tells you that power was consumed during a given interval. It doesn’t tell you how many times. Let alone for how long. A pump frequently cycling would probably not show up much differently than one that had been running a long time.
That and I have absolutely no interest in being able to control the power to the pump. I need it to be able to run as long as there’s power to the circuit. The last thing I’d need would be for a ‘smart’ switch to turn the power off. Be it from a programming mistake or a device resetting itself. We do lose power around here, from time to time, and it’s a hassle when devices don’t respect their ‘last on’ state. To whit:
http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,25286.0.html
You can install a water sensor(s) and monitor the side effects of the pump.
You can have a relay in parallel with the pump motor trigger a security sensor.
The PLEG plugin can count the number of times a pump has cycled
See a similar problem in PLEG:
http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,25461.msg179752.html#msg179752