Logging power outages off the grid

[YB88]

My wife and I have a cabin in the mountains. We get electricity there, but no internet --- a full-time internet connection would be a lot of money for something not often used or useful (we can get sort of minimal internet while there via cell phones).

Power outages are always an issue, especially in winter. I have a big UPS to allow the fan on our propane stove to bridge modest (couple hours) outages. I've got a sump pump in the modest cellar (fortunately rarely used) as well as a dehumidifier.

At any rate, I'd like to have some way to check to see how many outages there have been since last visit, and how long each outage lasted. I don't have confidence that I could get reliable information about this from my power company unfortunately. They do text us when power goes out, sometimes at least, and sometimes they text us when it comes back. 'Nuff said.

There are off-the-shelf consumer devices to log outages and/or (more frequently just) to alert you that an outage has occurred. I find, however, that all of them assume that I have internet available.

I thought about trying to cobble something up using Raspberry Pi or Arduino (effectively very small cheap hobbyist 'computers' that can be purposed for odd stuff like this). I've no experience with either of these, and am not keen to jump into that rabbit hole if I can't find a really clear set of instructions to put something like that together. Unfortunately, again, all the online discussion I can find about doing something like this assumes I have internet available.

This post is just sort of a last gasp query in case I'm missing something obvious. A power outage recording device is certainly not a "must have", but if I am missing an option, it's something that I would *like* to have!


Note that I do realize that there are crude approximation options --- put a penny on top of ice a cup in the freezer, for example, or perhaps have a plug-in analog clock and guess at outage(s) duration using that. I'd really like to know for sure how many outages there have been, however, and how long each one lasted.


Thanks in advance for any thoughts on this.

 

[street]

Your power supplier should have automated meter reading capabilities. You have options that you can use if in AMR systems. One is get on the notify of electrical event when they happen, such as when the power goes out and when it comes on.

Your company should but your info in their system and automatic notifications with times and dates of outage and back online info.

We had that and many requested for this service because many didn't live there year around also.

 

[Spock]

The battery backup/UPS's I've worked with had an event log. Maybe they've gone cheap now and dropped it.

 

[YB88]

We do get notifications from our power company. My experience is that these aren't sufficiently accurate or reliable enough to know for sure what's really going on.

 

[YB88]

The battery backup/UPS's I've worked with had an event log. Maybe they've gone cheap now and dropped it.

My bigger UPS does have an event log and I looked into that with some hope. What I found was a simple count of events. No time/date stamps, no duration, nothing like that.


But that's an interesting potential vector ... maybe some other UPS does offer this, though probably an expensive one. But my APC UPS 1500VA unit at $200 wasn't cheap and doesn't do what I want here.


Nice thought though, thanks!

 

[foxfirev5]

Your power supplier should have automated meter reading capabilities. You have options that you can use if in AMR systems. One is get on the notify of electrical event when they happen, such as when the power goes out and when it comes on.

Your company should but your info in their system and automatic notifications with times and dates of outage and back online info.

We had that and many requested for this service because many didn't live there year around also.

I check my usage 3-4 times a week on Consumers Energy (Michigan) website. There's a one day lag but it's close enough to let me know the furnace was still running yesterday.

 

[YB88]

It's a funny thing when you go to clearly articulate a problem --- sometimes you come up with new ideas in the process.


I looked and found a 24-hour analog clock on Amazon. It's battery powered, but one can buy plug-in battery replacement units to deal with that. Still wouldn't give me a count of how many outages there were or the duration of each, but between my UPS giving me an event count and the clock giving me time delta for up to a 24-hour period --- and I'm more likely to know from the power company about greater than 24-hour outages --- that starts to approximate what I want. If in a somewhat clumsy way.


I might go that route if nothing else occurs. I'll poke around first and see if any modestly priced UPS units do detailed event logging.

 

[Spock]

"back in the day" we'd have the DOS autoexec.bat on a PC print the date/time (and whatever else). it wouldn't tell you how long power was out, but would tell you when power came back up. maybe you can find a really old PC (with the hardwired power supply switch that stays on) at a thrift store (museum).

 

[YB88]

"back in the day" we'd have the DOS autoexec.bat on a PC print the date/time (and whatever else). it wouldn't tell you how long power was out, but would tell you when power came back up. maybe you can find a really old PC (with the hardwired power supply switch that stays on) at a thrift store (museum).

Yup, I had a dual floppy IBM PC and an Apple II before that, so I remember that stuff pretty well. I actually wrote the installation software for a product using a batch file back in the 5-1/4" floppy disc days (things are a bit more sophisticated now).

I think these days one would use something like a raspberry pi or arduino to do the equivalent of what you're suggesting. And I'm thinking that it's not THAT important enough for me to learn the bits I would need to make that happen. Now, if it also turned out to be sufficiently fun ... maybe !

 

[skyking1]

your pi idea is fairly easy to implement, using the logs.
Install apcupsd
apcupsd | A daemon for controlling APC UPSes
Connect to an APC UPS, with a USB communication port, they are easy to come by.
https://www.apc.com/us/en/product/BE550G/apc-backups-es-550va-120v-8-nema-outlets-4-surge/

read the logs and you'll have the times and durations of all power outages that the UPS sees.
I'd build a zoneminder server and put some cameras up while I was at it, especially if you have birds or game around that can trigger a motion event. It is nice to see who has been visiting
https://zoneminder.com/

 

[YB88]

your pi idea is fairly easy to implement, using the logs.
Install apcupsd
apcupsd | A daemon for controlling APC UPSes
Connect to an APC UPS, with a USB communication port, they are easy to come by.
https://www.apc.com/us/en/product/BE550G/apc-backups-es-550va-120v-8-nema-outlets-4-surge/

read the logs and you'll have the times and durations of all power outages that the UPS sees.
I'd build a zoneminder server and put some cameras up while I was at it, especially if you have birds or game around that can trigger a motion event. It is nice to see who has been visiting
https://zoneminder.com/

Doubtless true, for certain values of "fairly easy". I'm pretty sure that wouldn't be the phrase I would end up using to describe the process from my own personal starting point.

I appreciate the knowledge about the APC daemon though, nice to know that exists in case I later change my mind about this.
I'm not sure it would be a matter of reading logs, however; I haven't found anything that promises that APC keeps internal logs with the data I want (?). But with the daemon, one could just frequently poll or perhaps the daemon could trigger an event ... anyway, I'm sure that sort of thing would be do-able. If I knew all the nuances of getting a pi up and running, figured out what programming languages are available to it (anything that generates a windows app? I'm really ignorant about pi), etc.

It's tempting to jump in, but the use case really doesn't justify it for me.

Thanks though !

 

[skyking1]

The logs are on the pi, running any form of linux. They are not in the UPS, it just talks to the pi or any other linux computer it is connected to.
It is just like the story about eating a whale. One bite at a time
Look at the Pi, find an easy to install linux distrbution with complete documentation, get it up and running.
get the UPS and install apcupsd on the pi and get them to talking.
When you come back to the cabin, log in to the pi and read the event logs.
That same little server can do all sorts of fun things. Sure, they would be more funner if you could give it a 'net connection you could remote into, but it could still be entertaining.
Or really frustrating.
Aw heck I just realized you are nearby. I could even possibly help.

 

[ERD50]

It's not clear (to me) if you are looking for remote alarms, or you just want to know about the past outages when you visit?

For remote alarms w/o internet, you could use an old cell phone to send a text. You'd have to pay a bit each month for service, but I think you can find some pretty cheap plans for that kind of usage.

I'm not sure, but you might be able to find some easy to use app/code for the phone that could monitor the cell battery/charge mode, and send you a text when it sees the charger dropped. The texts would be timestamped, so that's simple.


A few years ago, I looked briefly at some phone coding apps designed for non-programmers (I just wanted a simple 'script' for something like this, not a full fledged 'program'), and they looked pretty good and easy to use, but seemed to have limited access to the hardware (like the battery/charger state). But I may have missed it, or there may be better options now.

Someone else on the forum may know of some options for this, I'd be interested as well.


Other ideas (skip if in TL/DR mode): BTW, I've done some Arduino programming similar to this, to monitor my sump pump. I found a simple extension and sample code to email from an Arduino, but that requires internet. It also was a bit of code, but mainly because I went overboard with "feature-creep", just for the 'fun' of it and the experience (lots of history, email different conditions, send a bunch of info to a 4x20 LCD display, etc). For simple power monitoring, send an email/text, it could be pretty simple to go that route, but if there is some phone app that could let you script that, that should be easier.

-ERD50

 

[folivier]

Or look for a power outage logger, there are several on Amazon, that sends a message and logs to a cell phone by bluetooth. You could leave an older cell phone (who doesn't have those laying around?) connected to it to receive the alerts. Then check the logs on the phone when you get to the cabin.

 

[street]

I check my usage 3-4 times a week on Consumers Energy (Michigan) website. There's a one day lag but it's close enough to let me know the furnace was still running yesterday.

Don't sure of the system your power supplier uses but they should also be able to set you up for instant notifications of interruption of and restore power. Those alerts would come to your cell phone automatically.

When I was in the business 6 years ago now, it was very accurate, and tech had advanced a lot for consumer data they could follow and be notified in real time.

 

[YB88]

Batch responding to the most recent (and appreciated) posts:

I'm just looking to review a log of outages when I visit the cabin, and not get any sort of real-time notification.

I have a pretty high end phone (Samsung Galaxy S21) and with that I get minimal cell reception and spotty internet when I put the phone in one particular window of the cabin. I don't think it's worth it for me to add another line to my cell plan to keep another phone there, but ... dang, now that's got me thinking. It sure would be wonderful if I could turn up the heat in the place just ahead of a trip. Worth some thought there --- thanks. I'm not sure that an old phone would have the connectivity needed, however. Hmm.

I had NOT thought of a logger that uses bluetooth and some sort of phone (or even tablet with no connectivity?) to log the results. Wow, great thought, I will explore that.

My power supplier already does send me texts about when outages occur and when power is restored. I just have no confidence that they send me everything that happens or even that I'll always get matching "power out" and "power back on" texts. Or rather, I'm confident that I don't always get these, and have no reason to think that they'll get better about that. I'd rather be able to measure it myself.

This forum is great for stuff like this. Thanks to all who have expanded my mental horizons a little here.

 

[skyking1]

you can also get a mobile phone booster and put up an antenna. That would be super handy when you are there, unless you really prefer being totally and involuntarily unplugged.
I have one of these to put up at our house.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0897MKSKX/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
We camp every 4th of July in an absolute non service area east of Mount Rainier and Crystal mountain ski area. It is refreshing and fireworks free for the dogs.

 

[YB88]

you can also get a mobile phone booster and put up an antenna. That would be super handy when you are there, unless you really prefer being totally and involuntarily unplugged.
I have one of these to put up at our house.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0897MKSKX/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
We camp every 4th of July in an absolute non service area east of Mount Rainier and Crystal mountain ski area. It is refreshing and fireworks free for the dogs.

I've been thinking about the booster idea anyway --- thanks. My recollection is that you go down a bit of a rabbit hole there too in terms of figuring out which bands are being broadcast by your particular cell service by the closest tower(s). And of course, whether and when they might change those bands on you. I intermittently get 4g and lo-band 5g from T-Mobile and recall being a bit puzzled as to which product would be optimal to pick up both of those. Worth another look !

I'm thinking if I go the "extra cell line" route, I'd probably be better off with a dedicated hotspot (rather than a phone with hotspot enabled), ideally AC powered but with its own internal battery (or modest UPS). I'm not sure off-hand if a phone can be configured to always stay on, and if it ends up rebooting for whatever reason (periodic software updates if nothing else) I don't know that I could get it to reboot into the state I would want it in (?). And might it be better if in a break-in I lost a hotspot to thieves rather than a phone, given what credentials/passwords/ID stuff you have to enter to set up a phone.


Lots of stuff to think about, but this route is interesting insofar as it would allow me to do multiple other things I'd like to do ... such as an inexpensive home security setup, remote sensing of things like temperature and humidity, I could rig up a camera and point it to a snow depth gauge (we hike in with snowshoes and sleds in the winter) ...

I've considered trying to put in some sort of internet there before but have always been put off by the cost. If after some fixed up front costs the monthly fee was just for one more cell line, this might be well worth it. And yes, an antenna to make the internet connection more reliable would be worth exploring. Text messages are generally easier to get through (very little data), but it would be great to have even low speed, low volume-used internet there.

 

[skyking1]

It's a fun discussion. One of the options is a 4G USB stick that you can plug into a peplink or similar failover style router. One of the advantages is 12V power. Most of the peplinks take 12V DC, and a deep cycle marine battery would give days of continued operation after an outage. That's handy for keeping something up when it's a long ways to go reboot things.
Electrically it is much more efficient than having a big UPS making AC power that then gets converted to DC again for the devices.

 

[Sunset]

OP - You don't seem too concerned over losing power for an extended time, so I guess no worries if the place is without electricity for a week ?

Since power outages don't seem to bother you, I'm wondering why you want to know how many and how long ?

However, in the spirit of the thought, here is one idea and can use any old computer (or I guess a PI).

One simple thing would be a cheap old computer, and write a simple script to output to a file each day every X minutes.
When the computer goes off, and turns back on, it would write a special file name so you know it restarted just by the file name. It write a line into each file while logging giving the time, so when a file stops having entries you know the time it stopped.
The "Started Up" file would flag where to look for a power failure time.

Personally I'd have it write a new directory each month, and put all the files for that month in that directory. (Later if keen , one would write a script to parse the directories and summarize the power status per month).

The files would look like this:
Started Up 2022-12-10 12-02-42.txt --- computer started up
Logging Up Time 2022-12-10 12-02-42.txt --- now is logging to file each minute after starting
Logging Up Time 2022-12-11 00-00-01.txt --- continuing to log next day
Logging Up Time 2022-12-12 00-00-01.txt --- continuing to log next day
Logging Up Time 2022-12-13 00-00-01.txt --- continuing to log next day and power failure hits
Started Up 2022-12-13 05-22-33.txt --- computer started up few hours later
Logging Up Time 2022-12-13 05-22-33.txt --- now is logging to file each minute after starting

etc..

 

[YB88]

It's a fun discussion. One of the options is a 4G USB stick that you can plug into a peplink or similar failover style router. One of the advantages is 12V power. Most of the peplinks take 12V DC, and a deep cycle marine battery would give days of continued operation after an outage. That's handy for keeping something up when it's a long ways to go reboot things.
Electrically it is much more efficient than having a big UPS making AC power that then gets converted to DC again for the devices.

Wow, the peplink stuff is expensive though. T-Mobile has a decent hotspot for not too much money. The downside of that unit as I understand is that it has limited wi-fi range and no ability to add an external antenna. I guess I could kludge it with a wi-fi range extender.


The nice thing about the hotspot approach is that I could get a $5 or $10/month plan with quite limited data as a result. For much/most of what I would want to do, there shouldn't be too much data, though I would guess that some devices will be stupid in how much data the send/receive relative to what they really need.

This IS a fun thought experiment at any rate. I'm thinking I might start wiht a booster antenna or just a hotspot and then if/as things work, incrementally add stuff from there.

 

[YB88]

OP - You don't seem too concerned over losing power for an extended time, so I guess no worries if the place is without electricity for a week ?

Since power outages don't seem to bother you, I'm wondering why you want to know how many and how long ?

I have perhaps miscommunicated somewhere along the way then --- I am definitely concerned about losing power for an extended time. Logging over a couple of winters will give me a better sense for what I need to be prepared for.

However, in the spirit of the thought, here is one idea and can use any old computer (or I guess a PI).

One simple thing would be a cheap old computer, and write a simple script to output to a file each day every X minutes.
When the computer goes off, and turns back on, it would write a special file name so you know it restarted just by the file name. It write a line into each file while logging giving the time, so when a file stops having entries you know the time it stopped.
The "Started Up" file would flag where to look for a power failure time.

Personally I'd have it write a new directory each month, and put all the files for that month in that directory. (Later if keen , one would write a script to parse the directories and summarize the power status per month).

The files would look like this:
Started Up 2022-12-10 12-02-42.txt --- computer started up
Logging Up Time 2022-12-10 12-02-42.txt --- now is logging to file each minute after starting
Logging Up Time 2022-12-11 00-00-01.txt --- continuing to log next day
Logging Up Time 2022-12-12 00-00-01.txt --- continuing to log next day
Logging Up Time 2022-12-13 00-00-01.txt --- continuing to log next day and power failure hits
Started Up 2022-12-13 05-22-33.txt --- computer started up few hours later
Logging Up Time 2022-12-13 05-22-33.txt --- now is logging to file each minute after starting

etc..

Right, an old computer or pi or arduino could do this, just need your script/program to automatically execute on device startup.
I don't have an old computer laying around, however, nor am I keen to dedicate the space in a small cabin to something like that, and it's now starting to seem like quite a project for a limited use case. I guess if I were to go this route I might get a "mini PC" (such can be had for under $200) --- connect up with any sort of keyboard and mouse but I would want some sort of screen for this to check status and deal with any issues --- hmm, maybe a tablet could be used as a temporary display device ... this route is still an option I guess.

I started this thread with the tenuous hope of getting some other idea(s) for just an outage logging approach that would fit my situation (and fit my personal biases and limits ). Along the way, thanks to some great input, I'm now thinking about incrementally building up a modest remote access approach that can do multiple things for me. Lots of moving parts to all of this. And I'm sure that with an unlimited budget I could come up with something amazing (and disproportunate), but I am looking to keep both up-front and monthly costs down to something I can comfortable sell to my wife !

 

[skyking1]

If your arts and craftsy with some sort of an enclosure, you might be able to put a hotspot up where it can get decent reception. As everybody says your mileage may vary on that.