Eyedro Home Energy Monitor – Real-Time Electricity Usage Monitor with Solar Net Metering – Whole House Power Consumption Monitor – WiFi/Ethernet Smart Energy Meter with Reports & History, 2 Sensors

I purchased this a week ago, and installed it literally in a few minutes. I did not even look at the directions, it's just too simple.The install is really easy if you're at all handy and not afraid of your load panel. Simply put, you remove the cover from your load panel, open the sensor by pushing in the little clip, slide the sensor around one of the power mains, and clip it shut. Repeat for the other sensor. Drop the wires out of the panel and replace the cover. Then connect the sensors to the EyeDro box, run an ethernet cable to it, and plug in the power. Voila!Next, go to their website and register an account, and either enter the serial number from the box or click the "Scan network" option which will find it.That's it, you're up and running!The box itself is very small, about the size of a deck of cards. There are no indicator lights on it, but it does include screws and a mounting template if you want to wall mount it.If you have not decided yet, you can go to their website and play with a demo version of the system, which is nice.It has the following reports:* Highlights. This shows a bar chart with recent power usage per hour, a meter that shows current usage (and is very responsive), today's total usage, today's projected total usage, a comparison to last month, the minimum and maximum amount of power used, the current rate (if you entered it into the setup, such as a tiered rate like I have), your estimated bill to date, and an estimate for your total bill.The best part about the Highlights is that the meter is VERY RESPONSIVE. I can watch the needle move up and down in near real-time. I can see when the stove is turned on, then watch as it cycles the burner on/off to maintain heat. It also shows a +/- designation that shows how much more/less power is being used presently compared to the last time the needle moved. For example, right now it shows -25w after a fan was turned off. If something else turns on, it would show +[number] to indicate the difference.* Insights. This shows your usage compared to other forms of power, such as gas, coal, natural gas, etc. I don't find this very useful.* Live. This shows a very detailed chart of minute-by-minute power usage.* Summary. This shows a bar chart with hourly totals of power usage.* Comparison. This shows a comparison of power used to the previous month on a daily basis.* Bills. This shows a 12 month billing history, daily cost, daily average cost, consumption per tier, and so forth.* Reports. This shows a weekly report of usage compared to previous weeks.* Phantom energy. This shows your minimum usage demand, and helps you track down low-use devices that cost you money while they are supposedly turned off.* What's it cost. This is a usage calculator that allows you to pick from a wide range of devices to determine how much they cost you to operate.* Net meter. If you have solar, or some other supplemental power supply system, this will tell you how much power you have generated versus how much you have used.The mobile website has all of these features as well, and has a really well done "swipe" design that allows you to swipe left/right across multiple screens per area.The site also has a variety of setup options, including a "rates" feature. This allows you to enter your rates from the power company, in one of three ways:* Fixed Price* Tiered* Time of UseYou can also specify if you are billed:* Monthly* Bi-monthly* QuarterlyFinally, you can also tell it that you have the following fees/charges:* Fixed fees* Variable (per kWh) fees* Adjustment factor* Taxes* RebatesMy only complaints: You have to login to the website almost every time you visit, even if it's only been an hour or two. On the mobile site this often results in a box saying "error" and it never goes away, so you cannot login. You have to close the tab/browser, or restart your phone to get back in. (I have reported this issue to them as of 5/10/2015 so hopefully they will fix this.) It's just a little hassle to have to login each time. (SEE PHOTOS)In addition, the "Dial" meter is inconsistent. Some times it has the needle in the red zone for (example) 4 kWh, and then later it will have the 4 kWh in the yellow zone. It's not labelled either, and it should be. (SEE PHOTOS)All in all I really like it. This is exactly what I have been looking for, it's cheap, easy to use, and has really helped me understand what the energy hogs in my house are (hint: it's my HVAC).Finally, I got mine as an Amazon Warehouse Deal, for only $75! The box was very beat up, but the device was perfect and works great. Save yourself a few bucks if you can!

Measuring electricity is something people don't fully understand because unlike water or gas you can't see or feel how much you're using.. Every device in our house is different, 1 hour of TV is not the same as 1 hour using the washing machine, time is irrelevant here because everything has a different level of energy consumption.And what this little gadget does is give you that information on how much energy you've used and, crucially, how much you're currently using because this is how you realise your bad habits or identify which things in your house are wasting power.- Hardware: For the wired version, a little 5V plug pack, Ethernet cable, 2 clamps and the box where they connect.DON'T buy the wireless version!! keep reading.- Installation: Contrary to what many people say you don't have to be an electrician to install this monitor, simply connect it to the internet and look at the "live" consumption, then put the clamp on every cable inside your breaker box (no need to disconnect anything) until you see it jump, and that's it. Once it's running you can leave it there and forget about it.When you familiarise yourself with the wiring inside your box I recommend that you tap off directly from the mains to power the Eyedro, that way there's no wires coming in or out of the box (first flip down the main switch of course).- Software: This is the reason why you purchase this monitor, the fact that it's cloud based and that the unit is always on and connected (no batteries to change etc) means you get a complete picture of your energy consumption at any point in time, if you buy a new TV, if you change your lightbulbs, if it was a particularly hot summer and you used more your AC, it's all made crystal clear for you to see thanks to this web app.- Cons: Packaging, packaging, packaging. As someone already mentioned the pieces where rattling around in the box, it was so bad in fact that one of the ferrite cores (inside the red clamp) was split in half and the other sensor had a snapped cable. Fortunately I know a bit of electronics and was able to resolder the wire and glue the ferrite back together, it reads around 4% lower but it can be compensated in software I reckon.Would've been 5 stars easily but I just can't, it was broken after all! sorry Eyedro.- Summary: Before with a bimonthly bill it was like being blindfolded, like trying to walk forward but only being able to look where you've been. However when you see on a daily basis how much energy you use and in the comfort of your house it makes all the difference, the alternative is go out everyday and write down the reading on your meter but who wants to do that? This alone is worth the asking price.Useful tip: Don't buy the wireless version it's a $70 upgrade, instead buy a cheap wireless bridge they're around $20 here on Amazon and same small size as the Eyedro (tested with TP-Link TL-WR710N works perfect). An added benefit is you don't loose an Ethernet port on your main router either, which you would with the wireless version.