DIY: Smart Meter IR Probe

In contrast to traditional power meters, smart meters offer active metering of your power usage. They transmit power readings to data centers, where they are processed by your power company. Smart meters make it easier for your power company to read your meter, and alert the company's technical support department whenever your power goes out. And, like many traditional power meters, smart meters include access ports that can be used for manual readings. If you'd like to gauge your own power consumption instead of relying on your smart meter's reports, you can use an infrared optical meter probe to read the meter yourself.

Instructions

- 1
  Install the drivers for your IR probe onto your computer and then connect the probe to the computer via the probe's USB or serial port.
- 2
  Click on the "Start" button in your taskbar. Type "Device Manager" into the search box and then click on the link to the Device Manager when it appears in the menu.
- 3
  Expand the "Ports" heading in the Device Manager. Locate your IR probe beneath the heading and take note of the COM port that is assigned to the device. Exit the Device Manager.
- 4
  Launch the probe's software on your computer. Open the "Settings" or "Configuration" menu. Set the software's "COM" menu box to the port number that your computer assigned to the probe.
- 5
  Connect your probe to the optical port on your smart meter to generate a reading of your power on the probe's software.

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