What is happening when it comes to interfacing to a power companies electric meter using Zigbee Smart Energy Profile 1.0 or 1.1 which basically all of them use? I’d much rather have Vera Plus connect rather than add a Rainforest interface assuming the interface is done correctly.
Well as far as I saw vera supports Zigbee “Home Automation 1.2” and since that is different then the Smart Energy Profile I would say it doesn’t work until or unless some at vera decides to change that.
Well as far as I saw vera supports Zigbee “Home Automation 1.2” and since that is different then the Smart Energy Profile I would say it doesn’t work until or unless some at vera decides to change that.[/quote]
Quote:
The ZigBee Alliance has just ratified its Home Automation Version 1.2 and has made it available to its members for product development. The new version is fully interoperable with the earlier versions of the standard.
Well as far as I saw vera supports Zigbee “Home Automation 1.2” and since that is different then the Smart Energy Profile I would say it doesn’t work until or unless some at vera decides to change that.[/quote]The Zigbee Smart Energy Profile is basically a subset of the full Zigbee Home Automation specification. I sent a e-mail to Vera asking about this and received a strange response however I think there may have been some miscommunication. I got something back talking about SEP specification and “proprietary” variants of the SEP profile. I’m assuming that SEP = Zigbee Smart Energy Profile but I don’t understand why a meter manufacture would put in “proprietary” variants as it would make them inoperable with other devices the whole point in having Zigbee. I’ve expanded to see if I get a better response.
Does SmartThings and other zigbee home controllers work with the meters in question?
In North America… This is very common…
The utilities department in the city I live in (the local electricity monopoly) recently replaced all the electric meters with ZigBee enabled units… I had a nice discussion with the installers regarding their capabilities…
The installer explained that the meters use a firmware that is customized by the manufacturer for the specific installation… The meters automatically pair with the nearest utility gateway device and can ONLY pair with the gateways operated by the specific utility…
Many US utility companies are using the same (or similar) system… It allows them to install the meters with very little meter installer intervention… (The installer replacing the meters in my complex removed the old meter, installed the new meter, waited for the display to indicate connected and verified that it connected with his iPad)… Manu US utilities are deploying an online “energy monitoring” portal, sometimes for a fee…
In North America… This is very common…
The utilities department in the city I live in (the local electricity monopoly) recently replaced all the electric meters with ZigBee enabled units… I had a nice discussion with the installers regarding their capabilities…
The installer explained that the meters use a firmware that is customized by the manufacturer for the specific installation… The meters automatically pair with the nearest utility gateway device and can ONLY pair with the gateways operated by the specific utility…
Many US utility companies are using the same (or similar) system… It allows them to install the meters with very little meter installer intervention… (The installer replacing the meters in my complex removed the old meter, installed the new meter, waited for the display to indicate connected and verified that it connected with his iPad)… Manu US utilities are deploying an online “energy monitoring” portal, sometimes for a fee…[/quote]Totally understand that when it comes to the connection between the utility company and the meter but not between the meter and the customer.
The utility companies want people to let them control appliances so they can shut them down during periods of peak loads. They did this with air conditioners using standalone boxes years ago but that’s now old school since Zigbee. Now with Zigbee they can communicate with various devices, including ACs, and have them dial back settings as more and more appliance manufactures add Zigbee. If the utility companies use a “proprietary” Zigbee protocol this will not be possible since appliances manufactures WILL NOT code their appliances for different utilities. It JUST WON’T HAPPEN!
Bottom line is that when a company add their “proprietary” protocol they should be boycotted. Same for companies that want features added to the “Protocol Standard” but want to charge for using the feature. If a “feature” is added to the “Standard” the company that developed it should loose the ability to charge. If they refuse then the “feature” shouldn’t be added to the “Standard”. Prime example of this is Lutron’s Instant Status. The ZWave alliance should have said NO unless Lutron released it for all to use at no charge.
On a personal note, the members of the ZWave alliance should have had the guts to challenge Lutron’s patent. There was plenty of prior art to challenge it on but instead they just rolled over. Today a patent like that would likely be challenged by several groups including the EFF.
In Texas the state made the technology decision and mandated a standard Zigbee implementation. Some utilities had already started putting in non-compliant meters, and had to remove them. There was a fight about who had to pay that cost…
I use a Rainforest Eagle now, and had the same thought about ZeraPlus direct to my meter, but honestly I don’t really want my main Vera having to read the electric meter. Unless I needed to act on the reading (turn off lights or devices if meter reading is too high), I consider this an independent function and hence I put in on a spare Vera where non-interconnected functions are based (electric meter, flood sensors, pet care automations, pure reporting only functions). Right now my main HA Vera is a Vera3, but I have the Rainforest and its plug-in on my VeraLite.
This topic should be moved under “Power Management”
I stumbled upon this on PG&E’s website:
“This list of validated devices is not comprehensive; other devices may be compatible on PG&E’s network, and customers can attempt to register any ZigBee SEP1.0 or 1.1 device with their SmartMeter?. However, PG&E cannot provide any guarantee that devices not included on PG&E’s list of validated devices are compatible.”
Not sure if you have to be logged in to your PG&E account to see these links, but it contains more information about the zigbee and smart meter links:
http://www.pge.com/en/myhome/saveenergymoney/rebates/han/validateddevice/index.page