Heata, which began as an innovation project with British Gas, is a UK company that connects a server to your hot water cylinder and provides hot water to the house master for free up to 4.8 kWh per day, and at least 2.5 kWh as per contractual obligations. Companies spend millions of dollars to cool the servers hosted in their data centers and most of that heat is completely wasted. So Heata decided to create a win-win solution that lowers their cooling cost and provides free hot water to whoever has their server installed in their house. The installation process is said to be tested and approved by British Gas so you don’t lose your hot water cylinder warranty, and the heat transfer mechanism is patented as well under the UK patent GB2576035. A technician would come to cut the insulation and attach a thermal bridge to the cylinder. The […]
Green Metrics Tool helps developers measuring & optimizing software power consumption
The Green Metrics Tool (GMT) is an open-source framework that allows the measurement, comparison, and optimization of the energy consumption of software with the goal of empowering both software engineers and users to make educated decisions about libraries, code snippets, and software in order to save energy along with carbon emissions. While the firmware of battery-powered embedded devices and the OS running on your smartphone are typically optimized for low power consumption in order to extend the battery life, the same can not be said of most software running on SBCs, desktop computers, and servers. But there are still benefits of having power-optimized programs on this type of hardware including lower electricity bills, a lower carbon footprint, and potentially quieter devices since the cooling fan may not have to be turned on as often. The Green Metrics Tool aims to help in that regard. The developers explain how that works: […]
ESP32 OpenMQTTGateway smart plug acts as an BLE MQTT gateway and a power meter
The Theengs Plug ESP32 smart plug runs OpenMQTTGateway firmware to serve as a BLE MQTT gateway and power meter compatible with Home Assistant, Homebridge, OpenHAB, DomoticZ, FHEM, Jeedom, NodeRed, AWS, and any MQTT-compatible IoT or Smart Home system. While the Matter standard should improve interoperability between Smart Home frameworks over time, there are still millions of devices already produced that are not Matter compatible, and the Theengs Plug aims to at least partially address this issue by helping users reduce the number of hubs required and have only one that supports different ecosystems. Theengs Plug hardware specifications: Microcontroller – ESP32 dual-core wireless MCU with 2.4 GHz WiFi and Bluetooth LE connectivity Network Protocol – MQTT Power Supply – 100-120VAC, 60Hz, up to 15A Dimensions – 103 x 61 x 34.6mm Temperature Range – Operating: 0ºC ~ 40ºC; storage: -10°C ~ 50°C Humidity – 0%~95% (no condensation) Certification – UL Some […]
RAKwireless introduces WisBlock modular power supply, IP65 enclosures, and more sensor modules
RAKwireless Wisblock modular IoT prototyping system will get new modules about once every quarter and the latest Wisblock Summer 2022 event brings some RAK190xx base boards and power modules to support various power sources from solar panels to PoE, two IP65-rated “Unify” enclosures, as well as four new Wisblock sensor modules. Wisblock RAK190XX base boards and power modules The company has launched three base boards designed to take one of the five Wisblock power modules: RAK19009 – A small (47×30 mm) base board with only 2 sensor slots. RAK19010 – The “standard” base board with 4 sensor slots and 1 I/O slot RAK19011 – Version of the Dual IO base board with a power slot RAK19012 – WisBlock power module with USB, battery, and solar panel supply RAK19013 – WisBlock power module for rechargeable batteries and solar panel supply without the USB, for applications where you do not want to […]
SONOFF POW Elite ESP32 WiFi power meter switch handles up to 20A load
SONOFF POW Elite is an ESP32-powered smart power meter switch that can handle up to 20A max load to monitor the power consumption of all appliances in a whole room. The data can be visualized in real-time on the built-in LCD or via the eWelink app, up to six-month of hourly power consumption history can be saved, and the system can also be integrated with third-party solutions such as a Home Assistant, IFTTT, and Alexa Energy dashboard. SONOFF POW Elite specifications: WiSoC – Espressif Systems ESP32 dual-core Xtenxa processor @ up to 240 MHz with 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity Wireless – 2.4GHz 802.11 b/g/n WiFi 4 (Bluetooth does not seem to be used) Power Input/Output POWR316D model – 100-240V~ 50/60Hz 16A Max POWR320D model – 100-240V~50/60Hz 20A Max Dimensions – 98 x 54 x 31mm (DIN Rail mountable) Casing Material – PC V0 (Tested with UL94v-0 […]
Ultra compact GaN ATX power supply delivers up to 250 Watts
To me, an ATX power supply is one of those big boxes delivering 500W+ inside a PC tower, but since it’s not possible to create hardware with much lower power consumption, HDPLEX has designed an ultra-compact 250W passive ATX power supply using the same GaN (Gallium Nitride) technology as found in some tiny USB-C power supplies. With a 170x50x25mm footprint, the company claims it is the world’s smallest ATX PSU, and it is especially well suited to SFF PC enclosures, but it should also work pretty well in other space-constraints applications with a board equipped with an ATX connector, or through an adapter board, or even some RGB LED projects. GaN ATX power supply specifications: Wattage – 250W (94% Efficiency). Input Voltage – 90V-264V 50/60hz DC output +3.3V up to 10A +5V up to 10A +12V up to 20A -12V up to 1A +5VSb up to 3A Max combined power […]
Bluetooth battery tester also serves as DC programmable load
While it’s possible to quickly check a battery with a multimeter, the DL24MP-150W Bluetooth battery tester and DC programmable load allows testing of all sorts of batteries from a 18650 battery to a lead-acid car battery, monitoring of multiple parameters with voltage, current, power, capacity, temperature, and more, and simulating a discharge. You can visualize the parameters on the integrated color display, or through Bluetooth connectivity, check out the parameters and history in an Android smartphone or a PC running Windows. The program also shows additional parameters like estimated CO2 emissions and electricity charge, plus export of parameters to a spreadsheet for further analysis. DL24MP-150W Bluetooth battery tester specifications: Test voltage – 2 to 200V Current: 0.2~20A Discharge power – Up to 150 W Sensor – Temperature sensor Adapter boards Charging board with DC jack, mini USB, micro USB, and USB Type-C port Battery test board for 18650, 26650, 14505 […]
The death of transformers? AC Direct DC Enabler is a solid-state solution for AC-DC power supplies
Power supplies would typically transform AC mains to DC voltage with the use of transformers, rectifiers, or filtering, but Amber Solutions’ AC Direct DC Enabler chip claims to do without those old tech electromechanical components by enabling DC extraction directly from AC mains through solid-state architecture. The company claims the technology leads to dramatically smaller size footprints, while simultaneously “delivering a much more dynamic, configurable power delivery capability”. Consumer, commercial and industrial electrical products manufacturers and semiconductor companies can already evaluate the technology as the AC Direct DC Enabler is now available as a demo kit. The company made bold claims even announcing the death of transformers: The magic of the Amber AC Direct DC Enabler is that it allows manufacturers to add modern intelligence and enhanced functionality to new and existing products using much smaller silicon chips to manage and deliver DC power. Using a single silicon chip, this […]