Problem Statement

Last month, I experienced a problem with my household electricity bill. The bill was much higher than expected, but I could not identify which electrical appliances were consuming the most electricity. As a result, I had to pay an excessive amount. This experience inspired me to choose **“Excessive Electricity Consumption”** as my project problem statement, with the aim of identifying and reducing unnecessary electricity usage.

Solution

A low cost DIY kit using CT sensor + ESP32 to track real-time current, voltage and power per appliance-showing households exactly what's driving up their bill.

In Detail

Solution in detail: Our system uses SCT-013 current transformer (CT) sensors, each clamped around the wire feeding an individual appliance — inside the breaker panel for hardwired appliances, or via a modified extension cord for plug-in ones. Each sensor detects current safely, without touching the wire. These sensors connect to an ESP32 microcontroller, which converts the readings into real power (watts) and energy (kWh) values and sends them over WiFi to a live dashboard. Users can see, appliance by appliance, exactly how much electricity each one is consuming and what it costs. Each sensor is calibrated against known-wattage devices for accuracy, and the full kit costs around ₹2,000–3,000 for 4 appliances — far cheaper than commercial monitors (₹8,000–25,000) — making it practical for typical Indian households to finally see which appliance is driving up their bill.