Interpreting the readings

[wmhess]

Hello

I'm just starting with with the Peanut Plug (using a Almond+) and am pretty much lost.  What I'm attempting to do first, is figure out which devices are using the most energy over time.  For example I could plug in an iron in for 24 hours.  I spend 5 minutes during that 24 hours with the iron on, ironing a shirt., or I could plug my fridge in for 24 hours.  During that 24 hours, the door is ajar so the motor is going to be working overtime keeping things cool.  I'm going to be drawing more power during the 5 minutes of ironing than the fridge motor should draw, but I would be using more energy during the course of 24 hours with the door ajar and the fridge running all the time.

I have a Kill-a-Watt meter and always could use that to measure the usage, but why make it easy.  The description of the Peanut Plug seems to indicate it should do the same.  The description below though, is confusing to say the least

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from https://www.securifi.com/securifi-peanut-plug

Identify Energy Hogs
Use the Peanut Plug’s built-in monitor to track how much energy your connected devices use. Concerned that older air conditioners, space heaters, refrigerators, or other appliances are actually energy hogs? Don’t wonder: with Peanut Plugs you’ll know.
 
The alarm will remain awake for 30 seconds on inclusion. The alarm supports one association group with up to 5 nodes, and sends its alarms to that group. The alarm supports configuration parameter #1, which has a size of 1, a default value of 0, and when set to 1 causes the device to send double alarm messages.

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I also have to say that the quick start guide isn't the most helpful for learning how to use this equipment (for a rank amatuer/beginner). I cannot find any other documentation or directions for this product either.

I'm using the Android Almond App 6.82 or logging into the router at 10.10.10.254 to get the results.

Thank you for any and all guidance you can provide.  I love to read so if there is some good reading material about this or other aspects of Almond home automation I would love to hear about it!

-Bill

[fillibar]

You can check the immediate readings in the app (or other UIs) by selecting the Peanut Plug and getting details (expanding the tool icon in the app for example). That will show you the voltage, amperage and wattage being used, I think with a minimum of 5 watts. If you want logged information, select the View Device History link in that expanded area of the app. That will show you the values as they change. If they do not change significantly, no new log entry.
Example:
You turn on a 60 watt light at 8am and leave it on. If you check at 10am you should still see it using x voltage (let's say 120v), 0.5A thus 60W. Looking at the log should show entries at 8am for each. If you turn it off at 11am and check the log, you should see new entries for that change. You can also see changed in the log over time (if the bulb was dimmed using less power).

[wmhess]

Thank you for the information!  This is looking like it might be a bit more of a challenge than I thought.

I have a peanut plug feeding the power to a power strip with 2 computers, a monitor, printer etc.  I looked at the Android app for the plug and then viewed the device history.  It had 6 pairs of entries for 1 minute of time. There were 6 RMS_CURRENT and 6 ACTIVE_POWER entries for the 1 minute.  I checked for the course of a few minutes of time and  saw anywhere from 6 - 15 entries per minute.  This was during a time frame when I was asleep and the system was not actively being used.

I will have to play with this on some other appliances (freezer, fridge, lamp) and see what readings are being reported. 

-Bill

[fillibar]

I would expect multiple entries if there are value changes detected. Changes could even because if a device is "sleeping" but not completely off.