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[VIC] Free PowerPal Power Meter (Usually $129) @ Powerpal (Melbourne CBD + 20km Radius)

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[VIC] Free PowerPal Power Meter (Usually $129) @ Powerpal (Melbourne CBD + 20km Radius)
Go to Deal
superm86 on 28/09/2021 - 15:33 powerpal.net (5120 clicks)
Last edited 29/09/2021 - 11:41 by 2 other users

Free in Melbourne and parts of VIC.

With Powerpal you can instantly see how your energy use changes when you turn on and off your home appliances so you can take control of how you use energy in your home. I have been using it for past 5-6 months. Have been pretty good.

Not sure with current restrictions how they are in terms of backlog, but they usually rotate between suburbs, and you get a notification after you register when they are in your area.

In terms of setup - little device that go on the electricity meter, works with bluetooth. I think 5-10 min setup that the powerpal guy/gal does for you.

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Comments

  • TogTogTogTog on 28/09/2021 - 15:39
    +3

    FYI: "Powerpal works with almost all smart and digital meters.

    Powerpal is unable to connect to homes with older "spinning disc" meters. Take special care to check your meter if you have an EDMI smart meter and solar panels."

    • JimmyF on 28/09/2021 - 21:33
      +5

      Well the deal does say 'VIC' and all of VIC has been smart meters for a long time now, so not really an issue.

    • jarrod on 29/09/2021 - 08:33
      +1

      I'm not 100% sure, but I'm pretty sure I have an ancient power box, and it works fine with mine. YMMV of course.

    • bloomer on 28/09/2021 - 15:44
      +38

      I've never been spammed and have had one for almost a year.

      • SwarleyAUS on 28/09/2021 - 15:46
        +2

        nor me

        • Kammi on 28/09/2021 - 16:20
          +5

          I've never been spammed, in fact they've never sent me an email lol

      • sanrs on 28/09/2021 - 16:39

        any benefit from this in the oast 1 year?
        assuming this is real time data.
        comparing to the usage data from Powercor, any other advantage other than realtime data?

        • enigma48 on 28/09/2021 - 18:59
          +5

          Yep real time. There will be a few second delay if you’re not using much power (under 500w) as it’s not seeing many pulses from the meter.

          Benefits: Prettier visualisations, real-time “what happens to usage if this is on/off/max/min” for deviceX, it does some basic trend analysis (“you used 10% less power this week!”, “you seem to use 100w across all device on standby, costing you $Y”). Easy export to CSV.

      • 00 on 28/09/2021 - 17:08

        nor me

    • Piranha2004 on 28/09/2021 - 15:47
      +1

      Never been spammed either.

    • MaxiPower on 28/09/2021 - 15:54
      +4

      ^ This. If you don't confirm a booking, you will get a bunch of random messages for the next 12 months.
      I got 16 message and none had a clear explanation on how to OptOut

      • MagicMushroom on 28/09/2021 - 16:07
        +1

        So you wanted a freebie but didn't want one?

    • thestig on 28/09/2021 - 16:30

      Never been spammed either. Just a text to book when a time slot was available and some texts around the booking time. There might've been something afterwards for feedback but nothing I would consider out of the ordinary or spam.

    • prhino on 28/09/2021 - 18:34

      Never been spammed in 9 months

  • mrderrickc on 28/09/2021 - 15:42

    The installer that came around last year to our place wouldn't install it for us. We live in a lot of 3 townhouses and the meter is beside the common driveway at the front. Said it was too unsecure (people stealing)?

    Walking around my area there are some properties with the same setup with the powerpal installed. Anyone know what the go is?

    • xenoic on 28/09/2021 - 16:43

      Nah I'm in a townhouse and he came and put one up for me.

      • mrderrickc on 29/09/2021 - 18:26
        +1

        Will try again, when they came last time I was in a work call so couldn't be bothered to argue it.

        The person just plain looked lazy.

    • naman8913 on 28/09/2021 - 20:19

      Same issue for me. The reason given was that the house is "too far" from the meter. It is literally 7-8 meters.

      • badwiring on 29/09/2021 - 09:05
        +1

        I can see that actually - the bluetooth range on these things is not good. My power meter is by the front door and the signal is patchy if I'm towards the back of the house. It can't connect at all if I'm out the back door.

        Other than that though, love this thing!

  • lawyerz on 28/09/2021 - 15:47
    +19

    Its only free to you, but it is paid by the government.

    I have one. It's … okay.. it arbitrarily restricts your export to last 60 days only, despite the data available on the app and can be seen on the chart.

    It sometimes drops out and would not reconnect via bluetooth, and you need to unpair and re-pair the device. If it drops out and you don't reconnect within 7 days, some data is lost forever.

    Only one device can be paired at one time, so you can't have it on, say, your entire family devices.

    I find that at first it was interesting and I kept looking at it. Then you realise your life is pretty much cyclical and the usage is also the same every week/month.

    Being able to see real time data usage is handy as you can turn something on/off and look at the difference and determine how much electric it uses. That's really its only advantage. Any other usage data can be downloaded via your retailer or infrastructure provider's website - which goes back years.

    • JLCC on 28/09/2021 - 15:50
      +3

      Mine recenly died (wont reconnect) but would gladly get another one if I could and was eligible. Like you say, being able to monitor usage in real time is nice and helps with being energy conscious.

      • RocketSwitch on 28/09/2021 - 22:52

        Mine too. Just won't connect anymore.

      • 0 0 0 on 29/09/2021 - 07:09
        +1

        Contact then and they'll send a warranty replacement free

    • AlexF on 28/09/2021 - 16:09
      -2

      Being able to see real time data usage is handy as you can turn something on/off and look at the difference and determine how much electric it uses.

      Can you give an example? Surely, not having stuff you don't need 'on' in first place makes this thing superfluous and another example of pork barrelling.

      • lawyerz on 28/09/2021 - 16:11
        +8

        example:

        current usage: 500w/h….

        turn on kettle…

        current usage on the app now showing 2500w/h…. therefore kettle uses 2000w as long as its own. Yes I know kettle's watt rating is listed on the kettle itself you could probably figure that out but this works for everything..

        You can work out whats your "always-on" power consumption is as well… eg routers, fridge, computers, etc.

        I've used it to determine what my entire computer power usage is if I left it on, by turning it off and observing the power consumption levels difference.

        • AlexF on 28/09/2021 - 16:12
          -4

          So, you'd use this to compare your kettles and fridges?

          • Kammi on 28/09/2021 - 16:31
            +6

            @AlexF: Its good to compare when you get solar, so you don't go 'over' the generation.

            E.g. i now stagger opening my roller shutters instead of just opening them all at once.

            Anything that temporarily pulls load is staggered (a/c, dishwasher, washing machine, drier), obviously u don't need powerpal to do this.

            Its good to see the a/c usage when its maintaining e.g. 16c overnight or the 22c during a hot day vs. the solar generation

            Its also good to see the little additions to the house (think running costs for pets that need heat/pumps etc).

            I've switched from fish to yabbies and ditched the water heater

          • lawyerz on 28/09/2021 - 17:38
            +1

            @AlexF: nah you could use it to determine how much power something draws in "standby" mode. say your microwave or airfryer with its LED lights that's always on. turn all of these "standby" devices off overnight vs another night when they're all on and it determines how much usage they use, and then extrapolate that over a year.

            Might help you make a decision if you turn off the power at the outlet for these devices or not.

            Sidenote; I think most people will be surprised with the amount of "always-on" electric consumption - by just checking at 3am-4am power usage.

            • hawkers8905 on 28/09/2021 - 22:21

              @lawyerz: That's all I use mine for, I decommissioned my beer fridge over winter since not drinking as much - yet was disappointed my overnight/always on usage remained the same - I guess the fridge is too new and was maintaining good temp since ambient temp cooler - will see come summer when I use it again.

              Tried also doing things like leaving PC on vs off overnight.

              I am actually surprised how little things like TV standby, PC all use.

              My always on is only 100-200w / 0.05c per hour - during the day when WFH, PC on, lights etc, only drawing about 400w.

      • wheelieb1n on 28/09/2021 - 17:30
        +3

        Yes, I have one and this is probably the greatest benefit. Learning what power different appliances use when idle, that makes you more aware of leaving them off or on. For instance, our Pioneer 5.1 channel amp uses 42 watts when on, even when the TV and all connected devices are off. Before having this device I would sometimes turn off the TV but leave the amp on as I assumed it would only draw a small amount of power, now I turn both off.

        We had a circuit breaker trip in the kitchen repeatedly, and it was useful to work what max power draw the oven / toaster, microwave and coffee machine all draw when turned on at once, or in different combinations.

        But yes, after the initial novelty / honey-moon period wears off I tend to only check it maybe two or three times a month. :)

    • GG57 on 28/09/2021 - 16:19

      Good analysis.

      As you say, this will not save you money but only provide you with the data. Using an appliance or not really comes down to the alternative(s) that may be available / convenient vs. the running costs. There wouldn't be many instances where people make ongoing decisions to turn something off.

    • JDogg1329 on 28/09/2021 - 17:02
      +1

      I found a workaround for the one device thing but it's a bit of a pain to set up

      https://support.powerpal.net/hc/en-us/articles/360041444093-…

      I have this set up using an old Android phone in the house on charge paired to the Powerpal, which uploads the data to the cloud, from there I can access it from all the phones I've set the app up on from anywhere

      • prhino on 28/09/2021 - 18:35

        Yeah, only thing is the data only updates every 5 minutes or so on the remote device

    • Timfoo on 28/09/2021 - 17:08
      +1

      Government doesn’t buy veecs, not paid for by the government fake news

    • sanrs on 28/09/2021 - 19:27
      +1

      I feel this is some waste of government/tax payer's fund, it does not help that much.
      Powercor could provide some visualised data as well, and good enough to demostrate the usage pattern.

  • [Deactivated] on 28/09/2021 - 15:52

    The installers are useless, four times now I've booked a time slot, the window of attendance being 12pm - 5pm, yet the morons text me saying they're coming at 5.30pm when I won't be home. Why they can't just deliver the product and allow self installation is ridiculous, because from what friends and family who have them have said, it's not hard to do.

    • superm86 on 28/09/2021 - 15:56
      +1

      It's very simple indeed. Just plugin and setup in the app.

    • ultrawires on 28/09/2021 - 15:57
      +7

      If I assume correctly, they "need" to complete the "installation and induction" process so that the installer can be paid and the company has the documentation to claim the gov't subsidy.

      • AlexF on 28/09/2021 - 16:16
        +6

        Someone's getting rich on this and it's not the consumer.

    • spal on 05/08/2022 - 11:06

      They can't because installation is only a small part of it. IMO they are actually after VEEC credits generated from installing these. To do that there is paperwork and photos of the installation to meet the compliance requirements.

  • placard on 28/09/2021 - 15:54

    Has anyone who signed up can give some advice?

    Does the PowerPal need to be signed up for in the same name as what the electricity bill is in? Ie live with others can I sign up for this, or do I need to put it in the name of who's on the bill?

    • superm86 on 28/09/2021 - 15:55

      I don't think that matters.. I would say just Put in your name

    • SwarleyAUS on 29/09/2021 - 08:00

      No the installer will just want you plan info so usage costs can be estimated correctly

  • Wardaddy on 28/09/2021 - 16:06
    +1

    I've had this for about a year. Interesting for a week, never look at it now. This is a bulltish post though, it's always been free, and is constantly advertised on Melbourne radio as free.

  • Geoffy on 28/09/2021 - 16:06
    +2

    Got one in Greensborough - it's gamified power saving for me, definitely helps save a few bucks by making me turn dishwashers and stuff on during daylight hours…..

    Can't really hurt for the price of free.

    It is slightly buggy as other people say and disappointing that they don't connect via wifi, and only the single bluetooth device at a time. My advice would be set it to an iPad or similar that doesn't leave the house if you can.

    • modded on 28/09/2021 - 17:42

      Check out origin spike if you're with them. That's actual gamified power saving

  • iHello on 28/09/2021 - 16:12
    +1

    How does PowerPal compare to Emerald Energy Advisor? Apparently, it seems like also free in Victoria. Just received a leaflet in letterbox today. Trying to look up for more information.

    • DoctorCalculon on 28/09/2021 - 16:41
      +1

      I received the leaflet as well. I called up for more information regarding their products. Apparently, they said a specialist will call me back in 3 business days. A week later, and no call.

  • firefly2k3 on 28/09/2021 - 16:13
    +1

    Do the installers have VPIL keys to access the meter box? I'd like to get this installed but I am renting and I do not have access to the meter box.

    • Timfoo on 28/09/2021 - 17:10

      Yes I install emerald ones and I have the power industry keys

  • FlyingPanda99 on 28/09/2021 - 16:17
    +2

    completely useless for me. had it installed maybe 6 months ago. only checked the APP 5 times since then.
    The information it collected does not help on anything

  • diddy50 on 28/09/2021 - 16:17
    -6

    'Free' but paid for by the State Government with our taxes.

    • diddy50 on 29/09/2021 - 08:20
      -1

      OK. So facts don't matter to some.

      Must be those who don't pay tax 🤣

  • SuperErico on 28/09/2021 - 16:26
    +1

    I have owned one for almost a year now. I find this incredibly inaccurate.

    For example, on my energy australia online account which has usage tracking, I have used 17.48kW in electricity, it would say my daily usage is 5.46kW on Powerpal.

    I have no idea why it is reporting such different numbers.

    • Kammi on 28/09/2021 - 17:09
      +3

      Mines bang on when comparing to the agl app.

      Maybe have a party with the settings under Your powerpal > manage > your electricity meter > change or even the led sensitivity?

      • SuperErico on 28/09/2021 - 22:44
        +5

        After reading your comment, I went to have another look, and it turns out the person who installed it set my flashes per KWh to 3200 instead of 1000 for my particular meter model.

        This explains why it is showing 3.2x lower than its supposed to.
        +1 to you mate.

        • Kammi on 29/09/2021 - 01:33
          +1

          👌

          • Borg on 29/09/2021 - 23:08

            @Kammi: Accuracy on mine over 12 month period averaged around 0.5% (under reported) on each quaterly bill, which is very good. My meter does not call home and a meter reader has to come onsite quaterly. The Powerpal devic allows me to estimate how much power is being used between bills. Especially handy if one has TOU (Time of Use) billing.

    • hellbound on 28/09/2021 - 17:14

      Do you have solar panels? Powerpal doesn't take into account power gotten from solar

      • johnmelb on 28/09/2021 - 20:32

        Your statement doesn't make sense to me.
        How can your grid consumption reported by energy provider be larger than what powerpal reports?

        Your actual consumption can be larger than what you power company reports when you use power from your solar, it's that part that's not measured by powerpal.

        Your reported grid consumption also doesn't take into account power gotten from solar. It knows what electricity you needed (additionally) from the grid.

        If I use 15kw of electricity: 5kw from the grid and 10kw from my solar, than I don't want to see 15kw on my electricity bill as consumption! Powerpal will only show the 5kw just like your energy provider will.

        So what SuperErico is experiencing is probably a wrong sensitivity of the led detection or a defective powerpal.
        Definitely not related to consumption from solar.

  • Xenawarriorprincess on 28/09/2021 - 16:39
    +2

    I forgot I signed up to this and they kept texting me when they were installing in the area. When I finally said I’d be home they came on time and were good. I check the app pretty frequently and like the novelty of seeing how much things use

  • myfeetarehappy on 28/09/2021 - 16:42

    Our apartment building's meters are two stories down and opposite corner of the building. Would this be usable at that distance or too far?

    • xenoic on 28/09/2021 - 16:46
      +2

      My meter box is a bit too far away from me as well as it's a communal large box and I'm in a townhouse.

      However, whenever I go for walks and stuff, I just walk near it and get my data synced. I used to like the novelty of seeing the live power usage but after a while, I'm more interested in the retrospective used collected.

    • hashtagbargain on 28/09/2021 - 16:46
      +1

      Only one way to find out.

      Worst case the app will work when you walk past near the meter and sync its data.

    • 9hundred on 28/09/2021 - 19:36
      +1

      It says that they don't install it for apartments

  • lunartemis on 28/09/2021 - 16:52
    +1

    This uses Bluetooth to connect so if your panel is quite a distance from where you are, it won't connect properly.
    Ours constantly gets disconnected and needs to be paired using the code.

    I did however make $50 from referring our neighbours

    • hashtagbargain on 28/09/2021 - 16:54

      Then there’s something wrong with the device or the setup. I’ve never once had to repair it to my phone in the last 3 years. I use an iPhone.

      • lunartemis on 28/09/2021 - 16:55

        I had iPad connected initially but unpaired it and paired with an Android phone and that's when it started disconnecting… I may use the new iPad again

    • Ade99 on 29/09/2021 - 07:40

      It basically works when close enough to the device/meter. Down side is that it can only be used with a single device (phone/ipad) at one time with our re pairing it and has limited range due to the fact it uses an old version of bluetooth (I think v4.2)

  • Timfoo on 28/09/2021 - 17:11

    I install emerald ones north of Melbourne if anyone’s interested hit me up

  • PlasticSpaceman on 28/09/2021 - 17:19
    +4

    So, this works by physically sticking a sensor to an led on the power meter, counting the number of flashes, and saving that to memory. You can then use bluetooth to access the info from your mobile. In theory this should be fairly accurate, but in practice can be a little hit or miss if the sensor is dirty, or there is moisture in there, or it's out in the open where sunlight can muck things up, etc etc. Basically, it might work perfectly fine for you but for most people it would be of most use to help you identify what appliances are using the most power (by turning them on/off and seeing what impact that has on the power draw) rather than keeping track of how much power you use each day. In addition, I haven't seen this particular device in person, but suspect it has a battery that would need to be changed regularly.

    If you are that way inclined, you can also make your own eg https://simon-aubury.medium.com/home-power-monitoring-65d0fd…

    So potential drawbacks - measuring power use by counting flashes may not be accurate, the bluetooth signal might be an issue depending on distance and what it needs to go through, the memory on the device is probably limited so if you don't connect to it regularly you may lose data, and you'll need to replace the battery(s) at some point. Oh, and if you have solar panels it might get confused as some meters flash when you are exporting power to the grid.

    Personally, I'd have a hunt to see if you can get a reader that can connect to your smart meter wirelessly eg via zigbee - after checking first that the meter supports it, and your distributor also supports such things. For example: https://www.rainforestautomation.com/compare-emu-and-eagle/. You may find that your distributor will recommend something specific that possibly will also be covered partly or fully by the rebate.

    A zero cost option is most suppliers will provide the ability to get data from a website eg United Energy has https://energyeasy.ue.com.au/. The only drawback here is that it is historical data - you will generally not see live power usage, so it's harder to get an idea how much power specific appliances are using. To do that, you can always get something that the appliance plugs into that in turn plugs into the power point eg https://www.bunnings.com.au/arlec-grid-connect-smart-plug-in…

    • csider on 28/09/2021 - 17:24
      +6

      wrt to accuracy - i had this question too so after i installed it for a few months i pulled the raw data and calculated the cost. It was accurate to the cent.

    • WalterBiH on 28/09/2021 - 19:33
      +3

      I personally use Home Assistant Glow.
      It cost me $17 in parts (delivered) from Banggood. Uses ESP32 board which is much cheaper than RaspeberryPi and the whole thing works great :)
      No special app, all visible and recorded in Home Assitant. Can even setup automations based on usage or send alerts.

      This is off course for someone who is already Home Assistant user or wants to go down that path.

      • myfeetarehappy on 30/09/2021 - 02:02

        Cool thanks!

        Any idea of the range of the ESP board?

  • MagicTsukai on 28/09/2021 - 17:27

    I have this installed for a few months.

    I don't check it at all…
    Maybe you guys will use it more.

  • bluebear_74 on 28/09/2021 - 17:39
    +2

    Just got one installed Saturday. We also have solar panels so when it says 0 you know it's a good time to do anything that requires electricity since the solar panels are producing enough.

    • placard on 28/09/2021 - 19:03
      +1

      Your solar inverter should also have an app showing electricity generation - For example, if it's generating 2kW - you know that's 2000w and you can put on your kettle, dishwasher or washing machine for example.

  • ChaLuo on 28/09/2021 - 17:51

    This has always been free, yes?

  • DiSTURBED-oNE on 28/09/2021 - 18:34
    +2

    for anyone interested:
    https://forfuncsake.github.io/post/2021/08/owning-my-own-pow…

  • 8200 on 28/09/2021 - 18:39

    These have always been free

    • Maz78 on 29/09/2021 - 09:32

      Yeah.. Was wondering if anyone ever paid for one?

  • Flyingdoc on 28/09/2021 - 19:04

    Battery life?

    • superm86 on 28/09/2021 - 19:15

      From memory they mentioned.. battery will last more than device. So years..

    • morediscount on 29/09/2021 - 09:23

      They mention 10years

  • Hugh G Rection on 28/09/2021 - 19:10

    is sydney within 20km?

  • Kongzi on 28/09/2021 - 19:50
    -5

    Got one installed for free. Took the guy less than 15mins to get it done. After a few months, I realize that this doesn't really give much benefits. All it does is track how much energy is consumed daily. It does not actually give you the specifics of what appliances are using how much. I could of gotten this information from my energy provider platform. Uninstalled it after a few months.

    • LeoSpaceman on 28/09/2021 - 19:58
      +1

      I find that the realtime tracking allows me to figure out the power usage of different appliances as they kick on. For instance, I know that my oil-filled column heater costs at least 3x more to run than my reverse cycle!

      But yes, it's overstated to say it provides any specific insight. AGL's app shows power usage on a day or two delay which is helpful directionally but at least this is realtime.

      • jmel on 28/09/2021 - 19:59
        +1

        And I was shocked by the amount of energy my dish washer consume. So that goes into my off peak cycle

        • rodericb on 28/09/2021 - 22:45
          +1

          Whatever you can do in off peak, do in off peak. There is obviously practical limitations to that but you do what you can. For stuff you run in peak, do the higher wattage stuff less. Such as don't fill your kettle right up if you are making only one cup of tea. It's a few cents per month but is better than wasting it.

          The largest savings is running the dishwasher and washing machine in off p beeak. Time them so you can empty them first thing in the morning. Dishes are ready to use, clothes are ready to hang out in the sun.

      • Kongzi on 28/09/2021 - 20:09
        +2

        Fair enough…I used the app quite frequently the first couple weeks. After that, I just couldn't bothered. Even if I knew how much energy each appliance uses, it's not like I can just not use it.

    • superm86 on 28/09/2021 - 20:26

      Get what you are saying .. I used it fairly frequently when it got installed. Then frequency decreased - but now and again I still use it to check random things.
      Good thing is also that it tells you $s being spent as well so not only wattage and put things into perspective I guess..

      • LeoSpaceman on 28/09/2021 - 20:41

        Find that my dollars don't add up to what AGL come up with though, despite the PowerPal bloke checking my tariffs.

      • DoctorCalculon on 28/09/2021 - 23:20
        +1

        I use it every month to keep my electricity retailer honest. ;-)

    • hashtagbargain on 29/09/2021 - 01:48
      +1

      Why neg something that you got for free?

  • jmel on 28/09/2021 - 19:58
    +4

    This has been amazing for me. I managed to reduce my consumption significantly by understanding and adjusting my usage pattern. I also switch to energy provider that suits my usage. So I went from paying about 1500 a year for energy bill to less than 1k. Someone once mentioned data is king, and I totally agree.

  • Kitkat20 on 28/09/2021 - 21:00
    +1

    Can this data be shared with someone else? Just imagine someone is tracking your data and found out no energy utilisation, it means they are not at home. Let's steal everything :D

  • Heaps for Cheaps on 28/09/2021 - 21:32
    +1

    PowerPal organised connection dates and kept on moving them around. In the mean time they kept on spamming me for months until I eventually filed a complaint with evidence.

  • cloudy on 28/09/2021 - 22:24
    +3

    Guys, this is not free. its paid for by tax payers which is probably yourself.

    As most people have said, its a novelty at first, but after a few weeks you wont be checking if the kettle still uses 2kwh during use. Plus, its on the box.

    most people will find it has limited use, and as someone who has solar panels like i do, who has monitoring knows, its not worth the hundreds it credits the government for.

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