Trying to figure out how to determine when a heat pump is on. It’s had a leak three separate times and each time it’s been running for days before we figure it out. It’s on a 40 amp breaker. Hard wired to a disconnect then to the heat pump. I’m thinking I could come off the disconnect and install a jasco 40 amp breaker which would give me current draw. But that seems overkill. Also though about a clamp on power monitor. But not sure how well those teals or out of a metal electrical panel. Not certain vibration sensor would detect when running. The heat pump is essentially a condenser like an AC unit. Maybe the fan would create enough vibration.
If your heat pump is an inverter driven model, you should NOT replace the t-stat.
Inverter driven models ideally do not shut off - the indoor unit fan runs continuously, and the outdoor compressor ramps up and down based on demand. This is part of what makes these systems so efficient.
There is no "easy" answer. For HE compatibility the Ioawatta is the best solution, but if you want the user friendly graphical reports, you have to roll your own. I hold out hope graphs, etc are coming to HE one day as a feature native to HE rather than a user created app, but that is based on nothing more than hope that HE knows this feature would be a benefit.
Another similar solution is the Emporia system. Emporia gets awesome reviews, but does not integrate with HE (yet) without an intermediary device or service, is cloud dependent when it does integrate, and Emporia could shut off the integration at any time. But it works.
Both solutions require you to install energy monitoring clamps in the panel, so for some it is not a DIY project.
Sure there is... although my easy may not be the same same as yours. See @aaiyar 's solution he posted on the thread linked above. Here's a direct link...
OP stated they have a heat pump.
Many inverter driven HP's are designed to always be on - they run 24/7/365. The power is to the outdoor unit, and there is control wire from the outdoor unit to power the indoor units. Thus the indoor unit is on the same circuit as the outdoor unit. So even if the outdoor unit were to totally go off, there will be current through your system because the indoor unit fan never goes off.
This is actually something I’m working on with my brother for his house.
And I had the problem wrong.
It’s a Goodman heat pump. Not a mini split.
His system is a bit of a hybrid. He has a forced air furnace.
The main source of heat is via the heat pump. If the heat pump can’t generate enough heat to reach the target temp , his system is supplemented by an electric element installed at the furnace.
It’s all automatic. He doesn’t control via the thermostat when it pulls from the heat pump or when it supplements with the electric.
The problem he is having is that the leak in his heat pump will cause the heat pump to go into lock out mode. When that happens then all of the heating comes from the electric heater and with the price of electricity where he lives That could honestly be over a thousand a month. And as he travels quite frequently , and has to leave the heat on ( Canada ) he’s gun shy that he’ll get a massive bill if the heat pump goes off line. It’s already happened to him. So he is looking for something to tell him that the heat pump is on.
Now that I have a better handle on the problem I can see a few solutions.
First.
Install a smart thermostat so he can tell remotely when the furnace js on. There is nothing fancy abbot his current thermostat. It’s a pretty cheap looking trane. I believe I can find the ecobee in Canada but what I’m seeing is ecobee 3 lite. Not sure that it’s HE compatible. But now that I know the problem knowing how long it’s running isn’t a requirement anymore. So any good and reliable HE thermostat will work.
Second.
Install some type of device to tell when the heat pump is running.
I considered the jasco 40 amp relay , which reports power, but can’t seem to find that in Canada. And requires wiring but that’s not a problem.
Also considering Iotawatt ( as recommended from a reply to my initial post). Less invasive. Can find in Canada.
Third.
Set up some type of rule that will
Alert him if the thermostat is on but the heat pump isn’t drawing any power.
I think I’ve described this more accurately this time.
The questions remain now
good thermostat that works well with HE.
best way to monitor power. ( likely favoring Iirawatt)
create the rule that can alert when furnace is on and heat pump is off.
Appreciate all the help so far. If any more ideas….im all ears.
Can fix the leak? I mean it doesn't make a lot of sense to monitor something only because it's broken. Lots of us have heat pumps that work and don't need complex monitoring. They should not leak. If they are leaking it's actually pretty bad for the environment.
If you don't have a good thermostat with that heatpump its worth getting one then you can control the aux heat. Ecobee will allow you to use outdoor temp thresholds. Can probably get one cheap through your electric power provider.
This has been the 3rd time he’s had a problem with the unit. The techs can’t find the leak. He actually has a guy working on it now and left the gauges installed to see how much he loses over a long period to help try and identify where coming from.
Independent of that. He wants to get his heating in HE regardless.
Adding the power monitor is more for piece of mind.
My brother is retired. They spend several fall and winter months visiting their kids half way around the country. This has already happened to him where the system went full default to the electric heater whick was costly. so the relatively small amount he will pay to get the heat pump monotoned will be worth it to him.
You are describing the electric furnace as a separate thing. Is that the case? It is quite normal for the air handler inside (the thing with the blower and coil, which is inside the house) to have "heat strips" installed which is the backup/emergency heat. My own heat pump has 15kW of heat strips installed. If your system truly is separate then there must be some low voltage wire going from the heat pump's air handler to the electric furnace to tell it when engage the backup heat. If the system is more normal and just has the heat strips inside it, again, there is a LV wire going into the air handler that tells the system to engage the heat strips. On my heat pump there is a wire from the thermostat (if the stat calls for emergency/backup heat) tied in with a wire from the heat pump (the defrost signal from the compressor) that is connected to the heat strip signal wire for my air handler.
So...using any HE compatible relay like a Shelly (wifi) or Zen17 (zwave) that has switch inputs, that you can actually read, you could monitor that wire signalling the resistive heat to be on.
