Released: June 27th, 2024
Our most recent app update brings a notable feature addition in how you can monitor and understand your energy consumption: Circuit Merging. This new app capability for the Vue Home Energy Monitor family enhances your ability to track energy usage by combining measurements from multiple Current Transformers (50A CTs, sensors) into a single, virtual circuit total. Merged Circuit totals are viewable on the Home Screen as well as Graphs as a combined measurement value providing easy insights into your home's energy usage. Notifications are also available to be triggered on Merged Circuits as their combined total.
When enabled along with the new Bi-Directional Current Monitoring upgrade available for 50A CT measurements - a new class of monitoring options are available for all new and existing Vue Energy Monitoring devices. Circuit Merging requires only a mobile app update (available as of June 27 2024 - version 3.4.4) to be enabled. No hardware-related upgrades, changes or purchases are required for Circuit Merging - previously installed hardware is ready to go.
What is Circuit Merging?
This feature enables you to create virtual circuits by grouping two or more individual circuits from a single monitoring device together. By consolidating related energy measurements, Circuit Merging offers several practical applications, including:
Multi-pole breakers (e.g., dual-pole or triple-pole) with appliance-exclusive circuit usage. Some examples might include:
HVAC-related circuits (Air Conditioning, Furnaces)
Dryers
Ovens
Solar
Batteries
Grouping related circuits (e.g., all kitchen appliances, lighting, etc...)
Monitoring sub-panels more accurately without multipliers and with bi-directional current measurements (if needed)
Custom totals of any branch circuit usage measurements
Benefits of Merging Circuits
Improved Accuracy: Get precise measured totals for multi-pole breakers without relying on multipliers.
Simplified Monitoring: Combine related circuits for easier tracking of specific areas or appliance groups.
Enhanced Insights: Gain a more comprehensive view of your energy usage patterns.
How to Merge Circuits
Open the Emporia Energy app and navigate to Manage Devices (via the menu in the upper left corner).
Select your Vue device and tap/click Merge Circuits towards the top of the settings options.
In the Merge Circuits setup view, select the circuits you wish to combine (minimum of two).
Tap/click Save and enter a Name for your new merged circuit.
Confirm by tapping Merge Circuits.
Appearance within the App
Since this is a virtual circuit (and not a physical sensor plugged into the device), your newly merged circuit will appear towards the bottom of the displayed circuit list within Manage Devices (and other displayed menus) and the individual circuits will be hidden from view. When circuits are sorted by usage (like on the Home Screen without custom sort circuits enabled), the merged circuit will be sorted appropriately by its combined usage value.
Note: This newly created virtual circuit doesn't have an assigned port number as a physical CT would (one plugged into the monitor) - we have to create a new circuit port number to work within the app. It is normal for the circuit number displayed within the settings to be a very high number (and is not adjustable).
Managing Merged Circuits
Editing: You can edit the Name and Circuit Type of a Merged Circuit by selecting it from the circuit-specific Settings, similar to a normal/unmerged circuit. Merged Circuits respect the recently added bi-directional feature as part of their total.
Viewing Included Circuits: Tap the Merged Circuits button on the circuit Settings screen to see which circuits are included in the Merged Circuit.
Unmerging: To separate merged circuits, navigate to the list of included circuits (by tapping on the Merged Circuits field within the circuit Settings page) and tap/click the Unmerge Circuits button at the bottom.
Important Notes
Merged circuits create a virtual circuit that sums the output of the included circuits (50A CT's only).
Each 50A CT (circuit) can only belong to one Merged Circuit grouping.
Circuit merging is limited to CT's connected to the same energy monitoring device.
Original data for individual circuits is preserved, allowing you to unmerge and remerge without losing information.
Merging circuits with different bidirectional settings (e.g., solar input and batteries) will work correctly accounting for both positive and negative values.
Existing notifications for merged circuits will be disabled but can be re-enabled if desired.
When unmerging, notifications created for the merged circuit will be deleted.
"Grouping" of devices together is a separate feature that will be coming in the future - Circuit Merging is designed for 50A CT measurements on Vue 3 (and Vue 2, Vue 1) devices.
Merging circuits does not affect CSV-export formatting - individual sensor measurements are still exported as individual columns of data.
By utilizing the circuit merging feature, you can gain more accurate and insightful data about your home's energy usage, helping you make informed decisions about energy consumption and potentially reducing your electricity costs.
We're excited to bring this long-awaited feature to our users, and we can't wait to hear how it enhances your energy monitoring experience!
Need Help? We're Here for You!
At Emporia Energy, we take our customer support experience seriously. If you have any questions, issues, or feedback about the Circuit Merging feature – or any other aspect of our products – we're here to help.