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If they ever did use current direction, yes the arrows matter. It does matter for the mains, where they show +/- consumption. But for the circuit clamps, as mentioned, you can presently install them either direction. The arrows don’t matter – until they decide to provide bi-directional info.
Yes, it could be the cloud where they are taking the absolute value and reconciling with circuit type (solar or not), but it could be the hardware / firmware that is implemented in the Vue 2 also. At a low level, they have an Atmel microcontroller that does the power measurement. Then have and ESP32 that talks to it, and communicates up to the cloud (Amazon AWS MQTT, from what others have investigated). At the lowest level, the Atmel part is able to know the power flow direction, phase voltage, power factor, etc. Who distills that down to lesser information is not clear. So when I say the hardware may not present the info, I mean the hardware / firmware that is in the Vue 2 – versus something on the cloud or app. Unlear what in the hardware can be firmware updated. They may only be able to update the ESP32, and the power measurement microcontroller may not be.
A related example. Initially the Emporia app didn’t display Amps. Emporia added this based on popular customer request (one of the rare times they added a feature), but they did so by merely dividing the real power by 120V. Two problems with this: 120V may not be 120V, and real power can’t be used to get Amps without power factor. So the amps shown on the app is only accurate if you have resistive loads, and exactly 120V. And the reason they did this is because the Vue 2 doesn’t communicate Amps to the cloud – only real power.
If they updated the device firmware, cloud, and app – this product would be so much better – without the bugs and a few basic features that are lacking. But their focus seems to be a new revenue and products, and not making existing products better.
The CT’s are indeed able to determine the direction of the current flow. It is either the hardware or cloud that converts it to an absolute value for both loads and generation, then sets to positive or negative based on circuit type (solar generation or not). Not sure if it is hardware or cloud – but it isn’t the app as the same problem exists if you download the cloud data. Some people have installed the circuit CT’s in the opposite orientation, since that can fit the wiring better in tight electrical panels.
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#1) Power no. Amps yes. If you change the units to Amps (instead of Watts), it will show the Amps on each phase (A and B).
#2) Don’t understand what you are asking exactly. The A/B ports are to be connected to the mains, whereas ports 1-16 are for the circuits. I don’t understand why you would want to parallel the two.
#3) Again, not sure what you are asking here. The power is measured for the whole house with the A and B ports via the 200A clamps on the mains, and you measure individual circuits on ports 1-16 with the 50A CT’s.
Can’t help with BlueStacks, but do you know that Emporia works in a web browser on Windows / Mac / etc? Works basically the same as the app. https://web.emporiaenergy.com
Just to clarify, Volts x Amps does not equal Watts. For AC, Volts x Amps x Power Factor = Watts (real power). Volts x Amps = VA (apparent power). The Vue 2 will give you real power (W), whereas using a DVM for current and voltage you will only see apparent power (VA).
A true RMS vs. non-true RMS DVM will definitely yield different results also. You’d indeed want to use that, and then just measure a purely resistive load like a heater circuit. Assuming your AC voltage is close to 120/240V, the Vue2’s ‘calculated’ Amps should match your true RMS DVM Amps reading within a few percent.
The Vue2 doesn’t show you actual amps. It takes the real power, and divides by 120V. Emporia added Amps to the software by customer request (originally the app didn’t have it), but fundamentally Amps is not communicated from the device -> cloud -> app. As designed, the Vue 2 is an energy and power meter – not a volt or ampmeter (even though it does those low-level readings to get the power).
The measurement you make with your fluke is only showing amps. It does not show you the phase relationship with voltage. Unless you measure the current on a purely resistive circuit (electric hot water tank, dryer, range, heater), power factor comes into play, and you will have different power readings. Your furnace is not a pure resistive load (it has inductance and is a reactive load), so VA and W will be different. Emporia is lying with the Amps figure, but the power (in W) is correct.
If you want to understand more, do some reading on apparent (VA) and real power (W). If it doesn’t hurt your brain, it may shed some light on things for you. But the fundamental issue is that Amps display on the Vue 2 assumes a power factor of 1.0 and voltage of 120.0V. This is not generally the case so the Amps readings won’t match. But the actual power displayed (W), energy (kWh), and $ is correct for the loads.
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