[Mike]

I thought about doing a combination of smart plugs, but after thinking about it, it would be easier to just monitor the entire system at once, be able to have history, and be able to do it even when I’m not right at the coach. I can already do all that with the inverter/solar/12V battery system, which is really nice to keep an eye on it, even while the RV is stored. I have a full time internet connection so I can check on it anywhere and see if all is well. The information I get from that is great for an overall systems view, but it’s not granular enough to monitor individual 120V circuits. It would be nice if folks like Victron could integrate data from systems like the Vue, but I could find anyone who did, so having two separate monitoring systems is the best compromise I could figure out.

It’s a microwave/convection oven, and we use the convection over part a fair amount – it works much better and more consistently than the propane stove does. Some of the cooking times are 30-45 minutes, which is a long time to go without AC when it’s 90+F out, so it I knew I could turn off the TV or a few other low draw items, or even just set the AC on low for a while, that would be much better…

The water heater is gas and/or electric; you can run it on either or both, When using both, it has a passing resemblance to an undersized tankless water heater – you get way more hot water than you would from a typical 6 or 10 gallon RV hot water heater. It’s just easy to forget the electric part is on after doing dishes or a shower. At least until it trips the breaker and the AC turns off, then you definitely notice… 🙂

Thanks for the tip on the flexible sensors, they’re a lot smaller, still big, but better. I’d just need to sort out another power connection to use one of them, and it would be a power brick that will draw a wee bit more from my available 120V power. The power connection is very doable, though adding more draw is a tiny negative. That kit costs $50 more vs. the standard 8 sensor kit, which is unfortunate. On the potentially plus side, the power bricks look like output 12V DC, which is readily available in an RV, but I don’t know how tightly it would need to be regulated to work, though. I use lithium house batteries, and they range between 11V to 14V, depending on the state of charge. It depends on the circuitry inside the integrator.

I found the specs on what the current sensors output, electrically speaking, to see if the 200A and 50A sensors are comparable at https://indem.in/pages/emporia-vue-power-monitoring-systems-technical-specifications. It looks like they both output the same voltage range, and I’m inferring that internally, the Vue uses a different scale to interpret the voltage range -> amperage flow for the larger sensors. If true, that means my idea of the adaptor won’t work right (unless someone who knows the internals of the system says otherwise) as the detected amperage would be wildly wrong. Oh well.

[Author]

Posts