My automated energy monitoring requirements.

I've spent the last few weeks searching the internet for solutions to my automated monitoring requirements and, as is so often the case with the internet, have been overloaded with results. As with anything IT the pace of change is staggering and it's easy to get side tracked, especially by the emerging technologies So I've got to be quite clear and focussed in what I want.

This is what I think I need!

Temperature Sensors
Two wireless temperature sensors; one inside and one outside. I want them neatly packaged, battery powered and at least one will have to be weatherproof.

Meter Reader
A device which can read a conventional gas meter. This is quite a problem because it has to either read the digits or count the revolutions of the red pointer. Devices like this do exist but it has to be affordable

Data Logger
I need a central system to collect the data from the sensors. This could be my PC but that gets switched off and on. So practically, it has to be an independent system.

Firstly, of the many solutions available they categorise into commercial and private (not amateur because the knowledge level encountered never ceases to amaze me). Now the commercial solutions tend to be expensive whereas the private ones were ultra low cost but required packaging. As this energy saving work is a non commercial venture the private solutions are certainly the most attractive if the packaging problem can be overcome.

One of the most appealing solutions is offered by The Open Energy Monitor Project but I also like the approach of RFXCOM.

The Open Energy Monitor Project is based on an open, collaborative hardware and software development philosophy which has to be attractive but the building blocks may require me to have a little more equipment than I ideally require. But the prices look really affordable.

On the other hand RFXCOM has perhaps a more commercial rather than collaborative bias but have specialised in interfacing to mass produced products from other manufacturers. One example are Oregon temperature sensors which because they are mass produced are inexpensive and packaged for the consumer market.

Further considerations relate to the wireless standard to adopt of which there appear to be competing options. The other big decision is the choice of data logger. Should it be Arduino or Raspberry Pi based? Time to do more thinking and research.