Thanks to technology, our Smart Home is getting smarter and smarter. But especially when it comes to energy and water usage, it’s helpful to keep good track of what you’re spending monthly or annually. So that’s exactly what HomeWizard’s products, like the P1 Meter, do.
Lights that turn off or dim by themselves, curtains that close by themselves, a thermostat that sets itself when you’re away: it’s all brilliant equipment. But with all those electronics, it’s also nice that your Smart Home knows how much electricity and gas it uses.
HomeWizard P1 is from Dutch soil
The Dutch company has found a solution to that, including the P1 Meter. It’s a small dongle that you can place on newer “smart” meters in your (no doubt hallway closet).
To do this, all you have to do is plug the little cable into the port (if there is one). Incidentally, that port on ‘older meters’ may not power the device itself.
Then you also need to connect the dongle with a USB cable. It is handy to have a power outlet near your HomeWizard P1. After that it is a matter of connecting to Wi-Fi.
By the way, it is also possible to check energy consumption through smart plugs. That does have the big disadvantage that you need one for each appliance. And measuring gas consumption with a plug is (duh) virtually impossible.
Small, but nice (Image: HomeWizard)
Handy app provides relief for those with solar panels
Such a product falls and stands, of course, with the use of an app. The HomeWizard Energy app is easy to install on an Android or iPhone. After that, you get a slew of questions. It’s actually a small tutorial where you don’t have to fill in a lot of data.
What is additionally particularly convenient is that HomeWizard P1 takes into account people with solar panels. The so-called “feed-in” is accurately tracked. Feed-in means that you give excess energy via solar panels back to a power company. So you build up a certain budget, which you can use again later.
You do need a so-called inverter for that. “Direct coupling is available for SolarEdge, Goodwe, Growatt, SMA and Enphase inverters,” the company said.
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What is an inverter?
An inverter is an electronic device that facilitates energy conversion between different forms of electricity, such as converting direct current to alternating current (DC to AC) in electrical systems. It is often used in solar power systems to convert the generated direct current from solar panels into usable alternating current for domestic use.
No combination with other Smart Home solutions possible
The only downside is that HomeWizard P1, and the app are not compatible with HomeKit, Google Home, Amazon Alexa or other Smart Home protocols. That can be irritating if you want to “build” a fully integrated home.
All in all, then, the HomeWizard P1 is a darn handy little device. But what should something like this cost? The price is nominal and will pay for itself in no time. The P1 can be bought for 29.95 euros; considerably cheaper than competitors such as Smappee, which costs 200 euros.
Lots of appliances, or nice and hot or nice and cold? This gadget for your Smart Home can tell you exactly how much it’s costing you.
