Maker Pro
Maker Pro

Watt meter / Power meter / kWh meter

F

flarkblark

Jan 1, 1970
0
FYI--

After searching at length for a watt meter, i.e. to determine
how much power my appliances are using (and to prove that the
power company is reporting bogus information), I discovered
the Kill-a-Watt by Ahern. It costed about $35 and so far
it appears to be functioning perfectly.
 
T

Tweetldee

Jan 1, 1970
0
flarkblark said:
FYI--

After searching at length for a watt meter, i.e. to determine
how much power my appliances are using (and to prove that the
power company is reporting bogus information), I discovered
the Kill-a-Watt by Ahern. It costed about $35 and so far
it appears to be functioning perfectly.


Yep, that's a nice instrument. I have had one for about a year, and use it
quite often on equipment that I'm working on. Always works, no hassle, no
setup, no calibration. Always ready to go in a few seconds. Good
investment if you need to know those things.
--
Tweetldee
Tweetldee at att dot net (Just subsitute the appropriate characters in the
address)

Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
 
F

flarkblark

Jan 1, 1970
0
Tweetldee said:
Yep, that's a nice instrument. I have had one for about a year, and use it
quite often on equipment that I'm working on. Always works, no hassle, no
setup, no calibration. Always ready to go in a few seconds. Good
investment if you need to know those things.

Having one has turned out to be quite interesting. We've resolved
our problem with our power company (they overcharged by a factor of 3),
but using the meter to measure the power use of everyday appliances
has shown that the ratings on the back of devices aren't always accurate.

For instance, a TV rated at 120 VAC and 1.5 amps should use up to 180 watts
using the simple P=VA equation. However it only uses 85 W on average.
Similarly our desktop computer is rated at 240 W but uses about 80 W
even when the CPU is 100% occupied. Meanwhile the printer while it's on
standby is a mere 4 watts.

A laptop computer meanwhile varies quite a lot: running the CPU
at 100% with the screen on uses 55 W; with the screen saver on, 30 W,
and with the screen on but CPU utilization reduced it uses only 23 W.
 
R

R.Lewis

Jan 1, 1970
0
flarkblark said:
"Tweetldee" <[email protected]> wrote in message

Having one has turned out to be quite interesting. We've resolved
our problem with our power company (they overcharged by a factor of 3),
but using the meter to measure the power use of everyday appliances
has shown that the ratings on the back of devices aren't always accurate.

For instance, a TV rated at 120 VAC and 1.5 amps should use up to 180
watts

? Depends on power factor.
It could be zero watts at 1.5 amps (although I *very* much doubt it.)
 
M

Mjolinor

Jan 1, 1970
0
watts

? Depends on power factor.

No it doesn't, irrespective of the power factor the TV should use up to 180
watts.
 
W

Watson A.Name - Watt Sun

Jan 1, 1970
0
Having one has turned out to be quite interesting. We've resolved
our problem with our power company (they overcharged by a factor of 3),

That's really a rip-off. You should have that one written up in the
newspaper and it should be a consumer piece on your local TV news.
Let everyone else know that they may be getting overcharged, too.
but using the meter to measure the power use of everyday appliances
has shown that the ratings on the back of devices aren't always accurate.

For instance, a TV rated at 120 VAC and 1.5 amps should use up to 180 watts
using the simple P=VA equation. However it only uses 85 W on average.

That's the way it should be. The rating should be the absolute
maximum and should never be exceeded, and the normal operating current
should always be lower than the rating.


[snip]

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Don't be ripped off by the big book dealers. Go to the URL
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R

R.Lewis

Jan 1, 1970
0
Mjolinor said:
No it doesn't, irrespective of the power factor the TV should use up to 180
watts.

If the TV is rated at 120VAC and 1.5 amps you have no idea what the watts
are other than it may be any number between 0 and 180.
 
M

Mjolinor

Jan 1, 1970
0
R.Lewis said:
If the TV is rated at 120VAC and 1.5 amps you have no idea what the watts
are other than it may be any number between 0 and 180.

Which is exactly what the first post said
 
H

Harry Conover

Jan 1, 1970
0
Having one has turned out to be quite interesting. We've resolved
our problem with our power company (they overcharged by a factor of 3),
but using the meter to measure the power use of everyday appliances
has shown that the ratings on the back of devices aren't always accurate.

Please elaborate on the power company overcharge. How did it happen,
did they correct the source of the error, and did they refund the
amount you were overcharged.

I'm particulary curious about this, as documented events of this sort
of vanishingly rare.

Harry C.
 
F

flarkblark

Jan 1, 1970
0
Please elaborate on the power company overcharge. How did it happen,
did they correct the source of the error, and did they refund the
amount you were overcharged.
I'm particulary curious about this, as documented events of this sort
of vanishingly rare.

Not that rare.

They upgraded our meters for remote sensing and that resulted
in $300/month bills that should have been a third of that.

I guess they wanted to downsize the meter reader people.

If we hadn't complained they would never have fixed the
problem.
 
H

Harry Conover

Jan 1, 1970
0
Not that rare.

They upgraded our meters for remote sensing and that resulted
in $300/month bills that should have been a third of that.

I guess they wanted to downsize the meter reader people.

This is a normal upgrade in most parts of the country, and generally
doesn't result in an overcharge.
If we hadn't complained they would never have fixed the
problem.

So how did they fix the problem, did you get a refund from the
electric company?

Harry C.
 
F

flarkblark

Jan 1, 1970
0
If we hadn't complained they would never have fixed the
So how did they fix the problem, did you get a refund from the
electric company?

Actually, it appears NOT. We are quite alarmed by the latest bill.
It appears they said one thing and did another.

That's PECO for you.
 
H

Harry Conover

Jan 1, 1970
0
Actually, it appears NOT. We are quite alarmed by the latest bill.
It appears they said one thing and did another.

That's PECO for you.

Picture yourself pounding you head against a rock wall, just to hear
the sound that it makes.

That's what dealing with a utility company is like!

Harry C.
 
F

flarkblark

Jan 1, 1970
0
That's PECO for you.
Picture yourself pounding you head against a rock wall, just to hear
the sound that it makes.

That's what dealing with a utility company is like!

Yeah...makes me want to go off-grid.
 
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