We had solar panels and air conditioning installed in April, but our electricity bills had not changed at all. We purchased this product to check on our consumption, and we bought the solar expansion kit to double check our generation. By way of background, we have an older home which has suffered multiple remodels of varying quality. The electrical system is a little complicated, with a master panel and 2 sub panels, and the main utility supply attaches to the master panel via a shielded bus.
We are not electricians, so we asked our professional electrician to install the devices. We gave him the links to the Neurio web site and asked him to watch the videos to save time on installation. The installation took a total of 3 visits and about 2 hours of his time. We also needed to contact Neurio support two or three times. They are very helpful, but do not have a phone number, so each question took about 2 or 3 days to answer. The solar expansion didn't work at first, because the electrician forgot to connect the blue wire, as he watched the wrong video instructions. It also took a lot of time to work out where to put the consumption current transformers, taking into account the supplies to the sub panel and the bus connection of the incoming supply. However, we eventually got it worked out and now the system works very well.
Pros
1. Great system with nice graphics, and customizable to get an idea of consumption costs and savings from solar generation.
2. Fascinating to be able to see how much power is drawn by various appliances. Very helpful to know whether the air conditioning is pulling more power than we are generating, so that we can adjust the thermostat and try to use it more efficiently.
3. Great way to check on whether your utility bill is correct. We were able to prove that we were not getting credit for our solar generation, and finally the electric company has agreed to credit us for the missing months.
Cons
1. The videos are a little misleading and skip over some steps, making the actual installation harder.
2. The 15 minute installation time estimate by Neurio is wildly overoptimistic, even for a professional electrician, unless you have done multiple installations and your panel is simple.
3. Our electrician told us that we have a single phase electric supply - apparently most residential systems are single phase. However, when you have solar, Neurio needs to set up their end to read your system as two phase. It doesn't look like you can do this yourself - you have to contact Neurio support. The device won't work properly if you don't do this.
4. You have to contact support via a form on the web site. The form doesn't always submit your query properly. If you don't get a confirmation e-mail right away, the message didn't get sent. I would suggest writing your query in Word or Notepad first, and keep a copy in case this happens to you, so that you can easily resend it without retyping everything.
5. Support is a little slow and somewhat "geeky" in that the replies can be very technical and difficult for a lay person to follow.
Overall the product deserves 5 stars. It does exactly what it was designed for, and it does it very well. The user interface is intuitive and clear in its layout. If you can get past the installation, I am sure you will be as happy as we are with our Neurio. I can't wait to get the Intelligent software upgrade, as I am finding that "knowledge is power" has a new meaning with Neurio! :)
| Manufacturer | Neurio |
|---|---|
| Part Number | FBA_SA-1 |
| Item Weight | 8.8 ounces |
| Product Dimensions | 7.4 x 4.5 x 2.3 inches |
| Item model number | SA-1 |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Style | Solar Expansion Kit |
| Item Package Quantity | 1 |
| Batteries Included? | No |
| Batteries Required? | No |
