Efergy Engage Hub Solo Online Power Monitor Review

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After using the Efergy Elite Classic for the last two months, I decided it was time to step up my home's power monitoring. Lucky for me, we had a second product already in house from Efergy that would do just that, the Engage Hub Solo.

The Hub Solo is an online solution for users to monitor their home power consumption no matter where they are in the world. With that said, there are some caveats, the Hub Solo is only meant for users that already have a one of the four available power monitors from Efergy, including the Elite Classic which we reviewed recently (linked above). For new users, you will have to fork out a few more of your hard earned dollars to get the full kit.

Features of the Hub Solo include an online dashboard that is free of charge and available on iOS and Android devices. There is also a standard browser solution for PCs. With the Hub Solo and its online service, users can download their energy history to their PC, along with setting a monthly budget allowing the Hub Solo to alert you when you near the limit.

MSRP of the Efergy Hub Solo is listed at $79.99 with a one-year warranty. For new users, the Elite Engage Hub system carries an MSRP of $179.99.

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Product packaging for the Hub Solo denotes its online monitoring capabilities. To the left, we have an image of the device itself.

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Scope of delivery includes the power adapter, Ethernet cable, and reading materials.

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The Hub Solo is a small white box that connects to your home's network, the top of the unit carries three LEDs for power, wireless connectivity and network connectivity.

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The back of the Hub Solo houses the fast Ethernet port and power input.

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A few steps are needed before setting up the Hub Solo.

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When setting up your Hub Solo, the Efergy website will attempt to detect it on your home network. If successful, you will see it listed below where you can register it to your account.

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After a few more steps, your hub is now paired and ready to go.

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Above, we have a look at the online dashboard for the Hub Solo. As you can see, we have real time power usage at the top left with budget and cost next to it. The bottom right allows you to download your usage data while a large chart displays your daily usage.

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The reports menu allows you to generate hourly or daily reports.

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Finally, we have the settings menu where you can change everything from electricity cost per kWh, along with viewing what equipment you have connected.

The Hub Solo carries an interesting concept of being able to monitor your power usage no matter where you are in the world. While this device is meant for your home, it has an endless number of uses for those so inclined to be creative. One such use as Efergy mentions in their marketing materials is to monitor the output of solar panel remotely and the same could be said for wind energy as well.

However, this device seemingly has a few issues. To start things off, I will say I haven't had an accurate reading from the device since I set it up. This is most certainly due to only a single US and single UK power clamp being used together as they don't seem to work well together. Part two is a quality issue where the included 5v power adapter was dead on arrival and the US clamp I have in house doesn't seem to work either.

With all of that said, the dashboard software for this solution is quite elegant. Everything is laid out in an organized manner making it very easy to use and navigate through. The settings menu allows you to adjust electricity cost along with set up your home's settings and even download historic usage for your home. Even with the negative things we found in testing, setup is quick and easy, using the device is simple and for those that decide to purchase one for yourselves, I certainly hope you have better luck than I.