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Two built-in stainless steel wall ovens in a kitchen, close up on the control dials

Find out what an appliance costs to run

How it works

A Shelly EM Mini Gen4 sits behind the appliance's power point and measures every watt it draws. The Shelly app turns that into kilowatt-hours by the hour, day and month.

Add your tariff to the app, with its peak and off-peak times, and the chart splits the energy by rate. Multiply each part by its price and you have the running cost.

  1. 01

    Your appliance

    Plugs in and runs as it does now.

  2. EM Mini Gen4 Energy Meter 02

    Shelly meter

    Measures every kilowatt-hour it uses.

  3. Shelly app main controls for a meter named Home office, reading 86.6 W, 0.57 A and 241.1 V, with a 24-hour consumption chart. 03

    Your phone

    Shows the energy by rate, and the cost.

What it looks like on your phone

  • Live. The meter shows what the appliance is drawing right now.

  • What it cost. The Energy tab totals the day's kilowatt-hours and what they cost in dollars.

  • By rate. The chart splits the energy by tariff, so you can see how much landed in peak.

Step by step

  1. Fit the meter behind the power point

    The meter goes in the wall behind the power point the appliance plugs into, or in the supply to a hardwired one. The supply active goes to L and neutral to N. O feeds the appliance's active, and its neutral joins the supply neutral as before.

    Wire map EM Mini Gen4
    • Active (supply) L
    • Neutral N
    • Power point or appliance O
    Circuit overview
    LN230 V~ 50 HzPower pointOOLNShelly EM Mini Gen4
    Active (supply)Neutral / 0 VSwitched load

    In Australia, fixed 230 V wiring is licensed-electrician work. Use these diagrams to plan the job and brief your electrician.

    Showing the whole circuit

    Shelly EM Mini Gen4

    100%
    LN230 V~ 50 HzPower pointOOLNShelly EM Mini Gen4

    Select a terminal to follow its wiring.

  2. Add it to the Shelly app and name it after the appliance

    In the Shelly Smart Control app, tap the plus sign and add the meter. Name it after what it measures, such as Panel heater, so the charts say what they're about.

    Learn how to add a device to the Shelly app

  3. Open the tariff settings

    Tap the lightning bolt in the bar at the bottom of the Shelly app to open Energy, then tap Electricity Tariff at the top. The tariff lives here rather than on the meter, because it applies to every Shelly device on your account.

  4. Set your currency

    Under Preferred currency, enter AUD and tap Save. Pick your Billing date above it too, and tap its Save.

  5. Add each rate

    Tap Add tariff. Name it after the rate on your bill, such as Peak, enter its price per kWh in dollars (0.338 for 33.8c), pick a colour and tap Save tariff. Repeat for every rate on your bill. Our example plan has three: Peak, Off-peak and Super off-peak.

  6. Set when each rate applies

    Under Intervals, tap Add interval. Choose the tariff, tick the days it applies, set the start and end times with the arrows and tap Save interval. Add one for each block of the day. Our example plan needs four, every day: Off-peak 00:00 to 06:00, Peak 06:00 to 11:00, Super off-peak 11:00 to 14:00 and Peak 14:00 to 00:00. Once every hour is covered, Add interval greys out.

  7. Let it run for a week

    Use the appliance as you normally do. A week takes in weekdays and the weekend, which gives you a fair picture.

  8. Read the cost

    Open the meter and tap Charts. Under Consumption, pick the period you want, such as Last 24 hours, and turn on Show tariffs distribution. Total Energy shows the kilowatt-hours and what they cost in dollars, and the lines below split them by rate, so you can see how much landed in peak.

Frequently asked questions

What does it work out to on a real tariff?

On one Melbourne time-of-use plan, peak is 33.8c per kWh, off-peak (midnight to 6 am) is 16c and super off-peak (11 am to 2 pm) is 9.9c. A 2,000 W panel heater run from 6 pm to 10 pm uses 8 kWh, all in peak: $2.70 a night, about $81 a month. A dishwasher load of about 1.2 kWh costs 41c started at 7 pm, and 12c started at 11 am.

Should I use the Shelly app or Home Assistant?

If you don't run Home Assistant, use the Shelly app: it needs no hub and works out the cost from your tariff's times itself. If Home Assistant already runs your home, put the meter there and it joins the rest of your Energy dashboard.

Which appliances can it measure?

Anything on a power point or a circuit of up to 16 A, which is 3,840 W at 240 V. That covers heaters, fridges and freezers, a pool pump, a dryer or a small split system. Big hardwired loads such as an oven or a hot water system need a meter rated for more.

Does the cost include the supply charge?

No. The meter measures energy, so the cost is the usage part of your bill. The daily supply charge stays the same whatever the appliance does.

Still need a hand?

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