Please suggest a ready made device or DIY level circuit for logging time , date ,duration of a device being on and off. I am trying to chart the periods when my hot water heater is drawing power and when it is not.
I have a nice inductive clamp-on switch that closes when the heater is powered.
I don't know how to log the on/off state.
Probably obvious but I don't want to break the bank on this project.
I do not need wireless connectivity but do need to be MAC or Ipad compatible.
Do not need to monitor power, just the on or off status.

Thank you for any clues

 

Please suggest a ready made device or DIY level circuit for logging time , date ,duration of a device being on and off. I am trying to chart the periods when my hot water heater is drawing power and when it is not.
I have a nice inductive clamp-on switch that closes when the heater is powered.
I don't know how to log the on/off state.
Probably obvious but I don't want to break the bank on this project.
I do not need wireless connectivity but do need to be MAC or Ipad compatible.
Do not need to monitor power, just the on or off status.

Thank you for any clues

Welcome to AAC.

I suggest you look at Home Assistant and ESPHome or Shelly. Home Assistant with Grafana can do everything you want. Alternatively, you could run Node-RED standalone with the Shelly device and do it. Home Assistant will give you a platform you will probably find very useful for many other things, though—and it integrates Node-RED for things that it is useful for.

 

If all you want to know is how much time it runs for during the day,
Get a cheap segment timer (about £4.50) and connect it in parallel with the heater.
Set it to noon at noon. The next noon, see what time it says. That's how many hours a day it runs.

 

I would start with a simple Google of "Hobbs Meter" and they are fairly common. Since you already have a signal to use when the device is On.

I have a nice inductive clamp-on switch that closes when the heater is powered.
I don't know how to log the on/off state.

Next up is you can consider any of the dozens of data acquisition units available that will chart your data and include a DTG (Date Time Group) on your charts. Even a simple Starter Kit from an outfit like Dataq Instruments or similar. If you want a simple wireless solution I would use, as suggested any of the ESP solutions like an ESP32 or ESP8266. Then on a home network you can access your data locally using your smart phone. Again, a simple Hobbs meter will give you a totalize function of accumulated run time.

Ron

 

Thank you for the helpful leads .I am trying to fathom Smart Home paired with PN2500 by Poniie. Nearly working. They connect with each other and I see the stats. I do wish there were a manual for the app. or that I were more savvy, or both.
I any case thanks again. I going to work my way through the several suggestion that have arrived.