What is this thing in this power panel

**Robert Huffman** · 04-19-2022, 04:21 PM

Saw this today and didn't know what it was. Two clips wrapped around the hot wires coming from the meter at top of panel. Label on them was ENERGY.INC That was wired to a small box sitting at the bottom of the panel and a braided wire ran from that to a double tap on a 20 amp breaker. I did see alarm sensors on a few windows. Don't know if that is related. No doorbell on the house. Maybe some type of sensor??

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**Jerry Peck** · 04-19-2022, 07:48 PM

Hopefully David, Bill, or one of the electrical contractors will also reply with more/better information, in the meantime ...

The items clipped around the service entrance conductors are Current Transformers (think of a clamp on ammeter and how it reads), with the sets of leads going to - something - I'm not sure what it is supposed to do, but I doubt that it is listed to be inside the panel (it most likely should be installed and mounted outside the panel).

With nothing else there and no other information, maybe it has a built-in wireless signal to a receiver someplace to provide information on how much power is being used?

I did a Google search for ENERGY.INC and didn't find anything useful either.

**Dom D'Agostino** · 04-20-2022, 05:50 AM

Load monitoring for energy management (most likely). It talks to a device that helps to see what power consumption patterns are used.

An example:
https://nerdtechy.com/best-smart-home-energy-monitor

**david shapiro** · 04-20-2022, 04:05 PM

Dom, you're spot on.
https://www.theenergydetective.com/p...ite-Manual.pdf
I don't know that's the model you're looking at, but it's the right company.

Jerry, the installation manual shows the module inside the cabinet with the panelboard.

Now the funny thing is that I don't know whether they're listed for use in the U.S.:

https://ramuk.intertekconnect.com/We...9?OpenDocument

All they mention is testing for compliance with a Canadian standard. Merry Christmas. I mean ho, ho, ho. You could ask ETL: 1 800 967 5352

**Jerry Peck** · 04-20-2022, 08:13 PM

Originally Posted by david shapiro

.Now the funny thing is that I don't know whether they're listed for use in the U.S.:

https://ramuk.intertekconnect.com/We...9?OpenDocument

All they mention is testing for compliance with a Canadian standard.

David,

From your link: "ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT FOR MEASUREMENT, CONTROL & LABORATORY USE"

The way I'm reading that is that it is for laboratory use

And, no, I haven't looked that heading up to see if it is "for laboratory use" only, could just be my reading of it.

**Rollie Meyers** · 04-20-2022, 08:14 PM

Inertek is a NRTL, just like UL, CSA.

**Jerry Peck** · 04-21-2022, 05:47 AM

Originally Posted by Rollie Meyers

Inertek is a NRTL, just like UL, CSA.

I'm aware of that.

The title listing 'laboratory use' is what caught my attention and curiosity.

**david shapiro** · 04-21-2022, 07:28 AM

While I'm kibitzing, Robert, I should mention two-three things.
One, I'm always uneasy when i see apparent corrosion, as at that top lug. Without severe corrosion, I don't fear losing contact between firmly mated conductive surfaces. However, i worry about moisture having entered arc chutes, invisibly damaging CBs' workings. Corrosion's addressed in NEC Section 110.12(B), Integrity of Electrical Equipment and Connections.
Two, NEC Section 408.52, Instrument Circuits, doesn't permit that 20 amp CB.
Oh, and the least of my worries, does the directory comply with 408.4, Field Identification Required, marking the CB as serving the transmitter as well as its main load?

I don't know that there's any requirement that instruments tucked into a cabinet under a panelboard have to be listed, so the Canadian listing may not be an issue. If the double-tapping were not allowed in accordance with the panel directory, I'm sure you've addressed that. As to whether the AHJ wants a permit and inspection before instruments are hard-wired, that would be a jurisdictional matter.