A Smart Monitoring and Control System for the
Household Electric Power Usage
Teng-Fa, Tsao
Department of Electrical and Information Technology
Nan Kai University of Technology
Nantou, Taiwan
tdf@nkut.edu.tw
Abstract—This article builds a smart monitoring and control
system for the household electric power usage. The system
presents the complete picture of current usage and projected
cost of home appliance in a graphical display. It uses wireless
communication to monitor energy saving and safety use. This
can provide the elder a safe and energy-saving environment and
service for daily life. The system integrates power parameters
measurements and household appliance control into a household
power usage system. It is done by an electric energy detection
chip to measure electric parameters of all outlets for digitizing
electric signal. Then the signal is processed by the micro-
processor for analysis and unified output format. The processed
measurements are sent by the ZigBee wireless module. The
controlling computer will compute the received parameters to
control the state of outlets. A user interface is designed from the
user’s perspective.
Index Terms-- Electric energy detection chip, Smart monitoring
and control system, User interface, ZigBee wireless module.
I. INTRODUCTION
Carbon dioxide causes greenhouse effect and global
warming on the earth. A report from United Nations reveals
that Taiwan belongs to the high-risk group in the climate
change [1]. As economics, GDP, and living standard grows,
household electricity usage is increasing as well [2]-[4].
According to Taiwan Power Company and Energy Bureau of
Ministry of Economics, Taiwan has 22.7 million population,
10.05 million household, and electricity consumption of 1744
kWh per person yearly [5], [6]. Calculated as NT $3 per kWh,
the total cost of such energy is NT $5232. Given this
increasing demand of energy consumption, there is a need to
save energy more effectively in daily life. For the modern
people, energy is equally important as air. The most important
step right now is to use energy more efficiently in a daily life.
Doing so, the energy can be saved more practically.
According to the Fire Department of Taiwan, there is 2886
fire in 2012. The number of fire happens in the house is 1171;
1016 of them is induced by the home appliance [7]. Besides
improper use, faulty design, the reasons are overloading, old
This research was sponsored by the National Science Council of Taiwan
Government under project Granted No. NSC100-2632-E-252-001-MY3.
978-1-4799-2522-3/13/$31.00 ©2013 IEEE
Cheng-Chien, Kuo
Department of Electrical Engineering
Saint John’s University
Taipei, Taiwan
cckuo@mail.sju.edu.tw
wire, and short circuit. Overloading happens easily in the
house. Some appliances such as heater, microwave, induction
cooker, and oven are often used concurrently, and they are the
ones having large current usage, which cause overloading.
Also the improper use of extension line is the main cause of
overloading [8]. Overloading and lack of functioning fuse can
make the fire happen. Given the above mentioned reasons,
there is an urgent need to develop electric parameters
measurement, and monitor and control system. Because
normal user don’t have awareness to the electricity
consumption, it’s harder to build an energy saving habit. By a
graphical display, it can remind user of energy consumption of
each area inside the house. Given a visual to clearly shows the
energy consumption status, it can stimulate user to turn off
unnecessary appliances and this makes the goal of energy
saving.
This research provides a smart monitoring and control
system for the household electricity usage. The system can
present the complete picture of current usage and projected
cost of home appliance in a graphical display. This is to
remind users to use energy more efficiently and to cut down
electric bill in a visual way. By electric parameter
measurements and remote controlled switch, the power usage
in loops can be known. This can avoid problem caused by
overloading of single appliance in the single loop, and save
other appliances that are in use. Also, any abnormity or
overloading of any appliance in any loop can be quickly
identified to make the goal of safe usage and energy saving.
II. FUNCTION DESCRIPTION
A. Circumstances Description
John and Mary are couple. John is watching TV in the
living room, while Mary walks out of the bedroom and ready
for cook in the kitchen. John notices the light and the air
conditioning in the living room are both on from the smart
household energy management system. He goes to the touch
screen computer and sees the projected utility cost on the
display. He immediately turns off the power from the display.
He also notices from the screen that there is a warning unit, LED indicator, temperatures sensing unit, and switch
message from the power supply loop in the kitchen. He knows control unit.
that Mary may use the oven, cooker and microwave on the
same extension line. At this time, the outlets on the extension
line are cut off due to protection from overloading. The fridge
on the same loop is still running properly. When Mary turns
off the oven, the cooker and microwave are back to function.
This smart household energy management system provides
them an energy-efficient, save and convenient living
environment.

B. Research Objective
This article researches the smart household energy
management system for the elder. The Fig. 1 shows the system
schematics. The system will present the complete picture of
current power usage and the projected cost of home appliance
in a graphical display to remind the elder of energy saving and
money saving. Also, to ease the use for the elder, the system
provides wireless control so that the user can switch the load
easily through the managing interface. Furthermore, because
the system is able to observe the power usage of each home
appliance, it develops protection mechanism through wireless
monitor and control to ensure each home appliance cut-off
when overloading. This can avoid the large-scale power cut-
off when using the traditional no-fuse breaker trip, and to
minimize the cut-off area effectively, and make the goal of
save usage and convenience.
Figure 1. The system schematic
III. SYSTEM ARTCHETECURE
This research is consisted of two main modules: smart
outlet module and central display/monitor module. Smart
outlet module controls the power supply, measures power
status, and protects outlets from overheating by sensing and
switching circuits. Through the ZigBee wireless
communication unit, it is able to remote control, and sends the
electric signals and outlet conditions to the central
display/monitor module via wireless communication. The
central display/monitor module analyzes and computes the
electric signals, and then displays on the system screen. By the
central display/monitor system integrated with smart outlet
system and the provided software for advanced setting, it is
able to do timing control for the electrical energy, overloading
protection, and electrical energy monitoring in loops.
Smart outlet is a terminal node of the monitor and control
system. Its hardware block is shown in the Fig. 2. Smart outlet
consists of source module, micro-processor unit, ZigBee
wireless communication unit, electrical energy measurement
Figure 2. The hardware block of the smart outlet
When the smart outlet system supplies AC 110V, the
system starts. The source transformation unit inside the system
converts AC to DC, and converts stable voltage to provide DC
5V and DC 3.3V for inside chip and other units. The electrical
measurement unit senses the incoming AC parameters and
sends them to the micro-processor unit via SPI communication
interface. The micro-processor unit programs the parameters,
and the wireless communication unit sends them to the central
display/monitor system. Any new electrical loading can be
sense by the electrical sensing unit for the latest electrical
parameters. Also, when the wireless communication unit
receives the switch signals from the central display/monitor
system, or the sensing unit senses the outlet temperature being
abnormally high, the micro-processor will send signals to
activate switch control unit to switch. LED indication unit
immediately displays the current situation of the smart outlet
system. If the switch control unit is cut-off, activating the
resetting unit will turn back on switch control unit. LED
indication unit immediately corrects indication lights.
Electrical power measurement unit should be able to
measure and calculate electrical parameters such as voltage,
current, power, and frequency. This system uses the ADE7763
serial programmable single phase electrical chip by the ADI to
measure the electrical power. ADE7763 chip takes voltage
and current signals as the basis of electrical parameters
calculation. Voltage sampling is done by the voltage divider
and current sampling is done by the current transformer. The
voltage signals and the current signals are transmitted to the
electrical power detection chip. The elementary circuit is
shown in the Fig. 3.
Figure 3. ADE7763 elementary circuit

978-1-4799-2522-3/13/$31.00 ©2013 IEEE

 ADE7763 current and voltage input signals are pins central display/monitor control system. Monitor software is
V1P/V1N and pins V2P/V2N. The inside structure is shown in the consisted of main window, sub-windows, smart setting, and
Fig. 4. Through op-amps, PGA, ADC, integrator, multiplier, loops protection. They can be used via the touch screen. The
filter, and others, input signals are analyzed and processed for main window provides status of all smart outlet systems.
the electrical parameters measurements. From the color of outlet, the switch condition and timing
Central display/monitor control system is the center of setting, and the current power usage of each monitored outlet
systems can be known. Also the projected electricity cost can
data collection, judgment, and command control of all smart
be calculated. The main window is shown in the Fig. 6.
outlets systems. Touch screen computer unit is connected by
a USB interface of wireless communication unit.
Transmission of messages is done by the wireless
communication unit. The hardware block is shown in the Fig.
5. The central display/monitor control system is consisted of
touch screen computer unit, USB transmission unit, source
stabilize unit, and ZigBee wireless communication unit. It
mainly accomplishes the following three functions: 1)
Electrical parameters display and control interface. 2) Touch
screen computer unit and ZigBee wireless communication
unit. 3) Transmission of smart outlet systems information
done by ZigBee.
Figure 6. Menu page

The main window shows 12 outlets systems, with 4 sub-

Figure 4. ADE7763 inside structure
Figure 5. The hardware block of the Central display/monitor control system
pages of systems. Each sub-page monitors 3 outlet systems.
Each outlet updates the latest setting status from the subpages.
When the outlet system is not in use, the color is in grey.
When the outlet is working, it is in green color. If the color is
red, it means the system is cut-off.
The default sub-page is consisted of 4 pages: living room,
room, kitchen, and the bathroom. Each smart outlet system
can be numbered, and it will show up from the first sub-page.
For example, living room numbers outlets from 1 to 3, room
numbers outlets from 4 to 6, and so on. Each sub-page
provides the total current, total power, and the projected cost.
Also the 4 electrical parameters, namely voltage, current,
power, and frequency of each outlet system are shown. User
can monitor the usage condition and remote-control simply
by fingers on the central display/monitor control. Also, user
can tell the status of each outlet system in the main page from
different color. Advanced smart setting and loop protection
setting can be set on this page. Sub-page diagram is shown in
the Fig. 7.

Through USB transmission unit, information transmission

is done by the touch screen computer unit and wireless
communication unit. USB transmission unit and wireless
communication unit form the central display/monitor control
system coordinator, meaning the interface with the smart
outlet system. When the coordinator connected to the touch
screen computer unit, wireless communication can be made
among smart outlet systems. Touch screen computer unit
analyzes numbers sent by the smart outlets, and displays on
the screen. Setting can be made from touch screen to the Figure 7. Sub-page
desired smart outlets.
Each outlet system control block provides a smart set of
IV. USER INTERFACE tool menu. User can set each outlet accordingly. Once clicked,
The article designs this smart energy-saving and safe there will pop up a setting window. It provides advanced
system from the user’s perspective. It can monitor through

978-1-4799-2522-3/13/$31.00 ©2013 IEEE

settings, namely timing switch and standby mode. Smart set
tool page is shown in the Fig. 8.
Regarding timing switch, user can set the timing for power
on or power off for certain outlets. The outlet color will
change. Yellow means timing for off and blue means timing
for on. User can tell the setting status from the color. For the
standby mode, there are two options, which are smart setting
and user setting. When the home appliance is in standby
mode, the system cut off the power supply. The default is the
smart setting. When the power is lower than 1W, it starts
counting down for power cut-off. Countdown time is
defaulted to 5 minutes. Power will be cut-off if the appliance
hasn’t been used for 5 minutes. User can also set the timing
according to the power of appliance or their preference.
Figure 8. Smart set page
There is Branch option on each sub-page of the first outlet
system. This setting has to be executed with the appropriate
outlet system software. Once clicked, it will pop up a setting
page. Smart trip is the default setting, which will cut off the
last joined appliance if it detects overloading. Users can also
set the precedence of home appliance to keep the important
appliance from cut-off. Branch functions page is shown in the
Fig. 9.
Figure 9. Branch page
978-1-4799-2522-3/13/$31.00 ©2013 IEEE
V. CONCLUSION
The paper has successfully accomplished a smart
household energy-saving and safety power monitor system. It
uses electrical power sensing chip to monitor loadings and
power supply of each outlet. Also through micro-processor
and peripheral circuits, the system is made automatic and safe.
Wireless communication makes the remote-control of each
node possible and increases the quality of energy
consumption. User can grasp their current usage from clear
numbers and avoid overloading, loss, and injury. The
graphical user interface provides user an easy and convenient
control panel. This increases the practicality of the system
and it is beneficial for the household energy conservation and
safety for the electrical energy consumption.
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