Hey everyone,
I’ve been diving into the world of DIY energy monitoring lately, and I thought I’d share my experience with you all. I recently installed a heat pump in my home and wanted to keep track of its energy consumption. I came across some great resources online, including guides from MUO and Ryan Walmsley, which inspired me to try building my own energy monitoring setup using a Wemos D1 Mini and a CT clamp sensor.
The idea was to connect the Wemos board with the CT clamp to monitor the current drawn by the heat pump. I followed the instructions from esphome.io to set up the sensor code, but I ran into a bit of a snag. No matter what I did, the A0 reading in Home Assistant stayed at 0.521 volts, whether the clamp was around a live cable or just lying on the floor. It was pretty frustrating, especially since I had high hopes for this project.
After some digging, I realized that the issue might be with the resistor configuration on the sensor board. I had removed the 22K resistor as instructed for my specific clamp sensor, but maybe there was something else I was missing. I reached out to the community for help, and someone suggested checking the calibration settings in the sensor code. Turns out, I needed to adjust the sensitivity settings to match my clamp sensor’s specifications.
Once I made those changes, everything started working like a charm! The sensor now accurately reflects the current drawn by the heat pump, and I can monitor my energy usage in real-time. It’s such a relief to finally see the numbers changing as I switch appliances on and off.
This project has been a great learning experience, and I’m really happy with how it turned out. If anyone else is looking to set up their own energy monitoring system, I’d highly recommend starting with the Wemos D1 Mini and CT clamp combo. Just remember to double-check your resistor settings and calibration parameters to avoid any headaches down the line!
Happy tinkering everyone!
Best,
Fredrik