SYSTEM FOR MONITORING UTILITY USAGE

摘要

Electronic circuitry monitors the electrical energy consumption of a system and displays the current cost of the energy usage. The projected monthly billing cost is calculated at the current rate of consumption, and an alarm signal and control output are generated if the projected cost is higher than a budget amount. Energy consumption is sensed optically at the electric meter (3) and a proportional number of high frequency pulses are added to the household electrical network. These pulses are remotely sensed at any point within the household electrical network and are fed to a microprocessor (50) for counting and conversion to cost parameters. Clock pulses are also directed to the microprocessor (50) for calculating the billing period and for displaying time parameters. A keyboard (70) enables initializing and modifying the cost and time parameters in the microprocessor (50).