I was wondering what the main driver is for the price difference between these two base stations: EmonBase and EmonPi. I have gone through the technical documents but still, I struggle to understand the fundamental differences from a system design perspective and why there is such a big difference in cost?
I know the main characteristics are:
EmonBase: WiFi (2.4GHz), Radio wave connectivity (433 MHz), Raspberry Pi based.
EmonPi: WiFi (2.4GHz), Raspberry Pi based, LCD Screen, 2x CT ports
Costs
EmonBase: ÂŁ57
EmonPi: ÂŁ175 (That is 3 times the price)
I am not an expert, but I fail to see why one would buy the EmonPi rather than the EmonBase.
What I plan to do is connect 2 x IoTaWat devices to a network with 25 CT’s connected to upload data to EmonCMS to be accessed via the internet as well as via a local server.
Although it doesn’t use a radio module made by Hope RF, it does use RF.
In this case, Wi-Fi. In essence, 2.4 GHz instead of 433 MHz.
So, maybe a semantic thing of Wi-Fi vice UHF radio
Great, thanks for the feedback - it makes sense. What I don’t get is that the “value add” of 2x CT ports in essence would make the station increase in price three fold.
What else might I be overlooking? Maybe the emonPi has more feateres?
An emonpi is a RPi and 2x CT monitor front end with rfm (incl external antenna), RJ-45 for 1-wire and pulse counter all contained in a single custom aluminium case with a LCD display,. An emonbase is just a RPi in a generic plastic case with a small rfm receiver.
The emonpi is a more elegant single unit solution if you only need 2 CT’s, but yes the emonbase is indeed more cost effective when used with an emontx (either via serial or rfm) as you have 4 ct’s and RJ-45 for 1-wire and pulsecounting, for less money, but it’s less pretty. IMO this is not an issue if you are locating it near the consumer unit ie in a garage or under the stairs etc.
