Monitoring leccy usage

[hoppyscotty]

For a number of reasins want to start monitoring my electricity usage for brewing. My rough back of the fag packet calcs tell me that despite recent rises in leccy prices I still think the costs are still quite low and a small proportion of the overall cost of brewing, but I'd like to measure it as I'm considering things like solar and smart tariffs etc.

My 3 vessel system runs off two 32a direct supplies off commando sockets so can't use the usual widely available 3-pin plug type of energy consumptions meters. So a quick google search threw up theses and other products like them...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Consumptio...7a12bd8039323b6494ec628b6674d920&gad_source=1

Do these look like the right thing anyone got any experience of similar type of product?

 

[Caramel Ox]

To answer indirectly can’t you work it out on paper? You have a volume of water with a temperature change from ambient to 100c, can assume mash temperature maintenance to be insignificant, then you have a boil at a fixed power output?

 

[hoppyscotty]

Can do and that is what I've been doing up until now...I know how long it takes to heat water up when the elements are running at 100% to bring water upto temp, I can make a rough estimate of the time the elements are on when under PID control, but I was just looking to be a bit more accurate. Also via the normal 3-pin plug meters I can directly monitor the cost of pump running and refrigeration as I have a glycol chiller chugging away and a couple of fridges o the go too. Also I see alot of temp variation in my garage. Gets blooming hot in there on a sunny summers day and even when its cold in there over winter the fridges and glycol chiller can chuck out some heat, so would be good to get a good handle on that so I can start to suss out ways to make all that more efficient. I suspect the cost of running the fridges and glycol chiller dwarfs the cost of actual brewing.

Considering getting a battery set up running off cheap night rates...want to work out the payback period. Solar doesn't work for me as my roof is not optimally aligned and the shape of it means I have severe limitations as to how many panels I can fit on the roof and they look **** and the wife doesnt want them for aesthetic reasons. But I suspect even charging batteries up on cheap night rate and burning that off during the day should be better.

I'm getting to the age now where if the payback is not in single figures of years then I'm not interested...my electricity consumption is not that great, got a pretty efficient house so everything outside of brewing uses FA electricity. But if high leccy prices are here to stay and might even get pricier then just pondering what options I have.