I developed the following model in FreeCAD (FCSTD Source / STL), which will allow for the attachment of the sensor right over the disc (it’s important to mount the sensor at the side of the spinning disc, and not center it on the disc precisely). You could then use a TCRT5000 sensor to catch these. Most meters have a similar way of reading them - sometimes it’s a magnet (which you could then use a magnetic reed switch or hall effect sensor), and sometimes one of the digits (usually 0 or 6) have an infrared reflector on it (my gas meter’s 6 also has this). Every liter of water that I use, this disc spins once. The inductive proximity sensor will “sense” the metal part of the disc, but not the plastic part. The theory is, that as we use water, the little disc spins. In my case, the water meter has the disc clearly visible: You can often tell by looking at the meter if this will work. You may have to re-position the sensor to fit your meter.

This will work on any meter which is able to work with the Cyble system (there is usually a “c” in the model number). Inductive Proximity Sensor, (around $2 each).I figured I could build something for much cheaper, and do it without batteries. You can occasionally find the sensors on Ebay, however they have a battery (non-replaceable but a ten year lifespan), and they are very expensive (more than 100 euros). The gas/water company can get “cyble monitors” which allow for remote meter reading.

I already covered the power usage in a previous post, so this will describe my setup to monitor our water usage.įortunately, our gas meter (Pipersberg G4 RF1 c) and water meter (Sensus 620) both have a small metal and plastic disc, which spins. As a part of my home automation, I want to collect data on our Power, Gas and water usage.

Sensus water meter sensor