for those who are interested in TED ( The Energy Detective)

I know there was a forum on TED (The Energy Detective)that appears to have had its last entry quite a while ago. I know there was at least one user who was able to integrate TED into an iPhone. Well I contacted the manufacturer of TED this morning and learned that they are about to release a New Mac Specific hardware and software combination.

Hopefully, when they do, some enterprising Indigo user or Matt can find a way to integrate TED into Indigo.... I have posted the correspondence below for those who are interested.

______________________________________________________________

Hold off....we'll be coming out with TED5000 in 6-8 weeks (which will be MAC-compatible at the start)...we have made a last-minute engineering change that has pushed us back a bit. The change is a significant enhancement...that will be worth the wait.. (we should be publishing specs/pricing soon - check our website for updates)
Thank you for your patience!
Best regards,
TED Support
(800) 959-5833
(843) 766-9800
www.theenergydetective.com


From: B. Geoffrey Burnham [mailto:bgeoffreyburnham@mac.com]
Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2009 8:58 AM
To: TED Support
Subject: Re: Mac version?

Thanks for the very quick response!! One more question if you don't mind... will the new Mac compatible version be compatible with the current hardware? Or, should I wait and buy the hardware when the Mac version is released in case the hardware is Mac specific?

Thanks again...

Geoff
On Jan 27, 2009, at 8:40 AM, TED Support wrote:

It will be 6-8 weeks....keep an eye on our website for an update -
Thanks for your patience!

Best regards,
TED Support
www.theenergydetective.com




-----Original Message-----
From: B. Geoffrey Burnham [mailto:bgeoffreyburnham@mac.com]
Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2009 8:11 AM
To: Info@TheEnergyDetective.com
Subject: Mac version?

Hello,

Can you tell me if there are any plans to develop and release a Mac compatible version for TED? My understanding was that there was going to be one but I don't see any information regarding that. Any information you can provide will be appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

Geoff Burnham

[jay (support)]

That's good news indeed - hopefully, their software will be AppleScriptable.

D'oh. I just installed mine last week. Hopefully, whatever software they release they'll backport it to the older TED models.

D'oh. I just installed mine last week. Hopefully, whatever software they release they'll backport it to the older TED models.

There is a script for the current TED posted here:

http://www.perceptiveautomation.com/php ... ed&start=0

D'oh. I just installed mine last week. Hopefully, whatever software they release they'll backport it to the older TED models.

There is a script for the current TED posted here:

http://www.perceptiveautomation.com/php ... ed&start=0

I'm using a modified version of the python version found here: http://svn.navi.cx/misc/trunk/python/ted.py

I'm more curious about what the advantages are to the new hardware, and what the new software is going to be providing.

Well it was a long time in coming but the TED 5000 is finally here. Since I had been bugging them so much, I was apparently included on a list of people able to buy it before it went public, which I understand it has now.

It arrived promptly and the installation was easy. Basically, you install a 220 volt breaker in your electrical panel and attach one lead to each leg of the 220 volt circuit. You then install these open ended spring loaded clamps around each leg of the incoming electricity. Ends from both of these connections are terminated in fool proof plugs that then plug into a module.

Then you install another box into a standard wall plug, but not a power strip. An ethernet cable connects from the module to your computer and the installation is done. Then the software gets loaded by accessing the Module hooked up via the ethernet cable. That wasn't as easy as it was supposed to in my installation but with the very accessible help from the people in tech support, we found it. In my case, I have an Apple Airport Extreme and by getting a list of the connected devices, we were able to see which one was the TED 5000.

I wish I could say that was the end of it but it wasn't. I kept getting very bizarre readings for electrical use i.e. over $6000 per month!!! After much trouble shooting, in which I thought I was a beta tester, the company sent me a new component, the one that installs in the electrical panel. But I continued to get abnormal readings and the time wouldn't be accurate.

Finally, the company sent me an entirely new set of components and I reinstalled them all. Now it works perfectly. Its interesting and fun to see that when you turn on a light, you actually see your consumption go up by 2-3 cents per hour...I was really surprised to see that the device that actually consumes more electricity than our whole house AC was the heater for the steam bath. In our area, we are averaging between a low of .29/hr and a high of around .90/ hr. when the AC compressor was running. When I turned on the steam bath generator, it shot up to $1.49/ hr!!! Good thing I only run that occasionally and only for short times!!!

I will have to see how accurate it is at the end of the month but installation issues aside, I think its a great unit and functional.

geoff[/i]

DISCLAIMER!!! The above post was not a complete set of instructions, nor was it intended to overly simply the installation. If you buy it, please read and follow the instructions included with the unit. Electricity can KILL YOU!!! Do not attempt to install this without a working knowledge of electrical circuits.... PLEASE!!!

Well it was a long time in coming but the TED 5000 is finally here. Since I had been bugging them so much, I was apparently included on a list of people able to buy it before it went public, which I understand it has now.

Their website still has it listed as "coming soon", just as it has for the last year or so. Clearly, their definition of "soon", does not match my own.

My apologies .. you are absolutely correct... I should have checked their website prior to posting. However, when they contacted me, I was under the impression that I was only given a short lead time, as in days to weeks, before it was offered for general sale to the public. I was completely wrong about that I see now... hmmm I guess that would support my intuition that I WAS indeed a Beta tester.. just wasn't told that.... Thanks for the correction....

hmmm I guess that would support my intuition that I WAS indeed a Beta tester..

Yup. Looks like you were drafted

Geoff,

In your conversations with the company, did it come up whether the Mac software is Universal or Intel only? Tiger or Leopard required?

Thanks.

Brian

Man, I was so excited when I read that you got one that I rushed over to their site, but then saw that it was still coming soon.

I called them today and they said they will be getting a small number of TED 5000 units in their warehouse this Friday, but it's not enough of them to put them up for sale on their web site. They did take my order over the phone, though! Their number is (800) 959-5833.

They also mentioned that the net metering support software has not been completed yet, but is almost done. It would be a downloadable firmware upgrade.

-Mike

Received my TED5000 on Friday. Hooked it up Saturday. The directions were not all that great. I found more info on installation and getting it to work on a Mac from the site:

http://fivepercent.us/2009/08/22/ted-50 ... ervations/

I am still working on figuring out my electric bill and setting up my rates. Over all I am happy with it. I've been having fun turning stuff on and off and seeing the rate change!

Well, you beat me by one day, I got mine on Saturday. You're correct that the instructions leave a lot to be desired. I found the same website; and it was helpful to get a little more information.

One thing that I've noticed so far (I need to fire off a question to their tech support) is that the Time Of Use rates doesn't seem to be working correctly for weekends. The software is supposed to use off-peak rates for weekends and holidays -- unless you tell it differently (which I'm not -- to be sure I tried the settings both ways). Anyone else notice this also?

The other thing that I noticed is that it does not seem to be interfering with the INSTEON equipment that I have. But the few remaining X10 lights that I have seem to be coming on randomly. I have not tried to change the house codes to see if that makes a difference.

The other thing that I noticed is that it does not seem to be interfering with the INSTEON equipment that I have. But the few remaining X10 lights that I have seem to be coming on randomly. I have not tried to change the house codes to see if that makes a difference.

Have you noticed any problems with the powerline transmission of usage data? My previous TED would only ever work if the monitor was plugged into a particular circuit. As though the MTU's power line signal was very weak.

Making a sad story sadder, they never responded to any of my emails (3) about it.