Electrical monitoring of mini-split
Seth_Maine
| Posted in General Questions on
I’m installing a single head mini-split. I’d really like to monitor the electrical usage of this unit. “Obviously”, it will be on it’s own dedicated 240v circuit.
What would be best/cheapest for tracking the electrical usage of this puppy?
From my research I’m seeing CT monitors. Are these pretty accurate? Or is there an easier inline monitor?
Thanks!
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Replies
CTs (current transformers) are themselves only one part of a metering setup. You also need the meter itself. A CT only scales the current down to something the meter can handle, it doesn’t do any monitoring itself. Note that if the device you are monitoring is 240v only (no neutral), you only need a CT on one of the two “hot” wires since the current will be the same in each. That might save you some money.
For the meter part, there are many options. If you look up metering for multi-tenant buildings you’ll see many commercial options. There are also some monitors that are more geared towards homeowner use, but I’m not very familiar with any specific units of that type.
Bill