A smart circuit breaker switch can make your home or office more energy efficient. These devices can also monitor power usage in real-time and provide information on the energy usage of a circuit. In fact, advanced smart circuit breakers can act as meters and deliver power consumption information in real-time.
If you want to know how a smart circuit breaker switch works, continue reading this article.
What is a Smart Circuit Breaker Switch?
A smart circuit breaker is a type of electrical outlet that is controlled with a free app. This type of switch connects with popular smart home devices such as Google Home and Amazon Alexa. Using a mobile phone or computer terminal, the user can remotely adjust the breaker to the desired setting. It also records real-time power usage statistics of load-side electrical appliances. Users can receive and analyze this information through the app.
A smart circuit breaker is a new type of circuit breaker secondary system that is made of microelectronics, computer technology, and new sensors. It has an administrative unit that consists of power electronic technology, a digital control device, and a sensor that works together.
The sensor collects operation data and communicates it to the smart circuit breaker’s administrative unit. With these two components, the smart circuit breaker is able to detect faults before they become actual faults.
The data hub of the smart circuit breaker works with your home router to gather information on energy usage. By using your smartphone, you can manage all of your smart circuit breakers from anywhere in the world.
How Does It Work?
A smart circuit breaker switch has several key differences from a conventional circuit breaker. Instead of using a conventional circuit breaker, these switches are able to recognize energy patterns and five free trip connecting rod mechanisms.
This way, they can accept the command to close the circuit and complete the closure process immediately. They use power electronic technology and digital control devices to replace the mechanical structure. The basic principle behind the development of these switches is that they use the power of information and energy.
A smart circuit breaker uses a microcontroller (Arduino Uno R3 or ATMEGA328) to detect earth currents and set the status of each function. In addition to this, these devices are also compatible with smart home assistants such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home.
A circuit breaker switch has two metal contacts, called an electrode. Under normal operating conditions, these contacts are closed. When there is a sudden increase in the voltage, the switch’s trip coil gets energized and separates the two contacts. This stops the flow of electricity in the circuit.
Smart circuit breakers use the power supply to control various electronic devices. When connected to the Wi-Fi network, these devices can monitor, control, and protect various electrical appliances remotely. The smart circuit breaker switches are capable of monitoring short circuits and overvoltage and can even protect against surges. And, because these switches use Wi-Fi, they are also compatible with Google voice recognition and Google.