Graphs for water and gas.

[--Oz--]

Hi,

Three questions:
1.
I got my electric metering going and in encompass I see data/graphs about 2 weeks ago.
Yesterday I connected up the water and gas to the Omnimeter and its counting pulses, all good (I see them from the push3 meter online).

Now I want to see water and gas used in units/graphs and not just pulse counts.
In encompass, I chose Pulse 1 or 2 meter and my only options are:
Calendar, comparison or Info widget.

2.
The omnimeter has like 40 items it outputs, can I reduce this to what I am interested in?
(W, A, V, Pf, pulses, etc)

3. Any other free options instead of encompass?

My systems specs.
EKM-Push3 #ST1 EKM Push3
Omni Pulse v.4 #27 EKM Omnimeter Pulse v.4 - #27
PGM.75 #40 3/4 Inch Pulse Output Gas Meter - PGM-075
SPWM-075 #39 3/4 Inch Water Meter - Stainless Steel, Pulse Output

TIA!

[Jameson]

1.) Good to hear!
Pulse meters can be defined in Encompass as either water or gas meters: https://help.ekmmetering.com/support/so ... ur-account

By the way for anyone else reading this post. If your water meters or gas meters do not show up in encompass right away, you can try adding them yourself, or if you wait less than 24 hours, they will get added automatically: https://help.ekmmetering.com/support/so ... ur-account

2.) The v.4 Omnimeter’s LCD screen can be set to display less data but the meter read will always include all of the data. If you are using our Open API you can specify the data fields you want through API call filters. You can learn more about the open APIs and the filters you can use here: https://documents.ekmmetering.com/api-docs/?shell

Here are the fields that get displayed on the LCD screen of the Omnimeters: https://help.ekmmetering.com/support/so ... cd-display

3.) All of our software options are free (our Open APIs are also free): https://www.ekmmetering.com/pages/software

[--Oz--]

Another question:
I have this gas meter:
PGM.75 #40 3/4 Inch Pulse Output Gas Meter - PGM-075
and it says it outputs " 1 Pulse Per Cubic Foot".
The gas bill is in Therms.
Can I just change the widget to therms and It will do the conversion?
TIA!

[Jameson]

Hello Oz,

Yes, you should be able to select Therms for your "Display Units" for your gas meter, this is behind the Meter Settings tab in the www.encompass.io interface.

Screen Shot 2024-09-18 at 5.16.36 PM.png (154.65 KiB) Viewed 8201 times

[--Oz--]

I am having a couple of issues:

I have a duplex and get the single water bill for both units, then I have the pulse meter reading just the rear unit.
The problem is, the rear unit is reporting more than the total reading on the bill (see pics).
Water bill reported 7480 gal total and pulse meter reported 7832 gal for just the rear unit.


Second issue:
The gas use is read and billed in the middle of the month (last one was 10-17-2024 to 11-18-2024).
But the ekm widget is month to month (1st to 31th), how do I change this to read what the gas company reads the meters (like 10-17-2024 to 11-18-2024)?

All my system specs in the first post.
TIA!

[Jameson]

Water bill reported 7480 gal total and pulse meter reported 7832 gal for just the rear unit.

I would make sure that the start date and end date that your water utility read your utility water bill was exactly the same as your EKM water meter was read.

You will also want to be sure encompass is converting each pulse into 0.1 cubic feet if this is your water meter model: SPWM-075 #39 3/4 Inch Water Meter

But the ekm widget is month to month (1st to 31th), how do I change this to read what the gas company reads the meters (like 10-17-2024 to 11-18-2024)?

You should be able to setup a custom report in encompass to these dates. See towards the bottom of the second image here: https://help.ekmmetering.com/support/so ... ng-reports

[--Oz--]

Thanks!

Changing the dates is simple and I can get results via email. (would be nice in the app, but no big deal).

I changed both water/gas dates and have new readings.
Gas seems better now.

The issue I still have is:
Water bill shows 10CCF and new data adjusted pulse readings shows 9.7CCF for the rear unit.
Front unit has 2 adults and one 16yo,
Rear unit has 2 adults and 2 under 3yo kids, and is using ~97% of the water.

Thoughts?
TIA

[Jameson]

Please explain what the issue you are seeing is. What are you seeing on the EKM water meter and what would you expect to see?
Is the EKM water meter only connected to the rear unit and is only measuring what the rear unit is using?

What dates did the water utility read their meter? Which dates are you using for the EKM Water meter?

Which EKM Water meter model are you using? What is the value per pulse that you have entered into encompass?

Keep in mind that water meters do not generally fail in such a way as they would measure too much water, they only fail in a way that they measure too little water. Sounds like you are thinking your city water meter is measuring too little water, is that right?

Have you run a test to see how the city water meter and the EKM sub water meter compare? Turn off the water to the main house, run only water in the back house. Run something like 5 cubic feet or more of water then stop and see if both meters agree.

[--Oz--]

Please explain what the issue you are seeing is.

The ekm water meter is only feeding the rear unit, installed by a professional.
So the water bill I get is total use, then I use the ekm water meter to figure out the front/rear unit percentage.
Say total bill is $100, and rear uses 40%, I bill the front $60 and rear $40.
Even after I adjust the start/stop meter read dates, its showing the rear water use is 97% of the total water used.
And as I explained, there is 3 people in the front and 4 in the rear (2 are toddlers) unit. The numbers just dont add up.
The property is more than an hour drive each way, so its not easy to see what the physical meters is showing.

What are you seeing on the EKM water meter and what would you expect to see?

Its been month since I been out there, I expect to see ruffly 50% (or 20 to 80% use, not 97%)

Is the EKM water meter only connected to the rear unit and is only measuring what the rear unit is using?

yes (installed by a professional, but there is a lot of incompetent workers out there)

What dates did the water utility read their meter? Which dates are you using for the EKM Water meter?

all shown in the above post on the bill and seen the ekm readings were set exactly to the same dates (in the pictures)

Which EKM Water meter model are you using? What is the value per pulse that you have entered into encompass?

SPWM-075 #39 3/4 Inch Water Meter - Stainless Steel, Pulse Output (see default settings in pic)

Keep in mind that water meters do not generally fail in such a way as they would measure too much water, they only fail in a way that they measure too little water. Sounds like you are thinking your city water meter is measuring too little water, is that right?

I really hate the city, last time I told them I cant read their electric meter, they swapped it for free, then said xyz, $2700 later they were happy, I really prefer to stay away from them incompetent government workers (tell you one thing, then do another/etc).

Have you run a test to see how the city water meter and the EKM sub water meter compare? Turn off the water to the main house, run only water in the back house. Run something like 5 cubic feet or more of water then stop and see if both meters agree.

This house is not setup to turn off just the front house alone.
Next time I am out there I will test, stop using all water, read main meter and ekm meter, fill a 5 gal pail from rear unit, re-read both meters.
Maybe additional tests, to see if any of the front units water is somehow running through the rear ekm meter.

Any other tests or suggestions?
TIA!

[Jameson]

I think I would start with the last troubleshooting step, it will tell you the most for now.

Have you run a test to see how the city water meter and the EKM sub water meter compare? Turn off the water to the main house, run only water in the back house. Run something like 5 cubic feet or more of water then stop and see if both meters agree.

If you do not want to drive out to the site: Do you get a daily water meter reading from the city? You could use this to determine if the EKM Meter on only the back house is reading 97% of the front house + the back house every day or just sometimes. Otherwise you will have to wait another month to compare.

Is the city water meter old? It could have slowed down over time, or the tenants in the front house were not there during the billing period, or you are not reading the rear house water meter on the face and it is making too many pulses (bad wiring, or bad plumbing with no check valve)

Other than that I dont think of a reason the EKM water meter would ever read too fast.