IOT Based Energy Meter

Abstract

Electricity consumption has continued to go up rapidly at a rate faster than energy consumption. All forms of electricity generation have impact on our environment. Using electricity more efficiently reduces both the amount of fuel needed to generate electricity and the amount of greenhouse gases and other air pollution emitted as a result. This paper proposes smart, integrated power consumption monitoring system that has been implemented with the use of open-source standard technology. Just like commercial energy meter, this system can monitor electrical energy consumption from a remote distance with the technology of Internet of Things (IoT). This energy monitoring system using IoT will read the energy level and the consumer can check the energy consumption and the electric bill via Cloud platform such as ThingSpeak, MQTT and mobile app. The main target of this system is to reduce the high energy consumption. The consumer can reach out his/her energy consumption at anytime and anywhere in the world.

Introduction

Overview:
The traditional electricity meter only records energy usage but does not allow real-time tracking or alerts. To address concerns about unexpectedly high electricity bills, this IoT-based energy monitoring system allows real-time monitoring, remote access, and usage notifications via SMS or email when consumption exceeds a predefined threshold. The system is compact, cost-efficient, and more convenient than traditional meters.

System Components & Workflow:

1. Smart Energy Monitoring Module:

   • Uses ACS712 current sensor and Arduino Nano to measure real-time current.

   • Calculates power using Power=Voltage×Current\text{Power} = \text{Voltage} \times \text{Current}Power=Voltage×Current (Voltage = 240V AC).

   • Energy is computed as power × time.

   • Sends data via ESP8266 Wi-Fi module to a cloud platform.

2. Cloud Platform:

   • Utilizes Adafruit IO and MQTT protocol (via PubSubClient).

   • Stores and visualizes energy consumption data.

   • Integrates with IFTTT to send SMS/email alerts when thresholds are crossed.

   • Calculates the electricity bill based on kWh usage and unit cost.

3. User Interface (User End):

   • Accessible via mobile app (MQTT Dashboard) or web.

   • Displays real-time consumption, total energy used, and bill estimation.

   • Offers security, troubleshooting, and device management tools.

Causes of High Electricity Bills Identified:

1. Leaving electronics plugged in (vampire load).

2. Using large appliances inefficiently.

3. Forgetting to turn off lights/fans.

4. Operating outdated or inefficient appliances.

5. Constantly charging multiple devices.

Benefits of the System:

• Real-time monitoring of energy consumption and cost.

• Customizable alerts for consumption limits.

• Greater control over appliance usage, even remotely.

• Encourages energy-saving habits and reduces unnecessary consumption.

• Provides more accurate billing and transparency for consumers.

• Small size, low cost, and expandable for automation and advanced power analysis.

• Potential to add features like power factor, phase angle, and remote appliance control with simple upgrades.

Conclusion

Electricity Energy meter is a well-known device which is installed in every household and other work place to give the accurate data of the measure of energy consumption. As we observe, most of the consumers are always worried about the high electricity bills, it became a necessity to find a solution towards this problem.

References

[1] Somchai Thepphaeng; Chaiyod Pirak. Design and Implementation of Wireless Sensor Network and Protocol for Smart Energy Meter. 2011 International Conference on Circuits, System and Simulation IPCSIT vol.7 (2011) © (2011)IACSIT Press, Singapore. [2] Chih-Yung Chang, Chin-Hwa Kuo,Jian-Cheng Chen and Tzu-Chia Wang Design and Implementation of anIoT Access Point for Smart Home. Applied Science; ISSN 2076-3417. www.mdpi.com/journal/applsci [3] Su, J.H.; Lee, C.S.; Wu, W.C. The Design and Implementation of a Low-Cost and Programmable Home Automation Module. IEEE Trans. Consum. Electron. 2006, 52, 1239–1244. [4] S. Metering, S. Visalatchi and K. K. Sandeep, \"Smart energy metering and power theft control using arduino &GSM,\" 2nd International Conference for Convergence in Technology (I2CT), Mumbai, 2017, pp. 858-961. [5] Mr. Rajesh Kumar, D. Modi, Mr. Rajesh Sukhadi, “A Analysis on IOT Based Smart Electricity Meter \'\', International Paper For Technical Research In Engineering, Vol. 2, Issue 3, 2016. [6] Md Redwanul Islam, Supriya Sarker, Md Shahraduan Mazumder, Mehnaj Rahman Ranim, “An IoT-based Realtime Low-Cost Smart Energy Meter Monitoring System using Android Application”, International Journal of Engineering and Techniques - Volume 5 Issue 3, June 2019.

Copyright

Copyright © 2025 Mrs. Kanupriya, Saif Malik, Gautam Kumar. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.