Non-Complex Cost-Effective Energy Monitoring using the Internet of Things

Energy monitoring is vital to identifying ways of reducing energy consumption. This may lead to a reduction in the use of non-renewable energy sources (such as coal), increasing the lifespan of current energy storage systems (such as batteries) and reducing financial costs (such as electrical utility costs). Current commercial monitoring systems may prove too complex or too expensive for the average homeowner to install and use. How can the internet of things, therefore, be used to identify sources of energy consumption? The purpose of this paper is to describe the design and setup of a non-complex cost-effective energy monitoring system for a residential home environment. This may enable homeowners to identify unwanted energy consumption and thereby reduce their electrical utility bills. The system incorporates an Arduino Uno Board, ESP8266 WiFi module and a cloud server called ThingSpeak. No physical wiring connections are needed, as only a current transformer sensor needs to be hooked around the main AC supply line from the electrical utility provider. No PC data storage is required, as the data is stored on the cloud server. The only key requirement is internet connectivity so that the WiFi module may connect directly to the cloud server where all data is captured and presented.