[blackhead]

First off, does the electricity company's meter multiply the voltage
by the current to calculate the power, regardless of the phase?

I'm looking at whether to buy a wireless electricity monitor such as
this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Owl-Electris...lectricity/dp/
B000LQ79Q6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1202911664&sr =1-1

which clips around the input meter lead so measuring the current and
multiplies this by a set voltage to calculte the power consumption.

Or to buy a power monitor that actually measure the power used by the
device:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Plug-In-Powe...gy-Monitor/dp/
B000Q7PJGW/ref=pd_bxgy_ce_img_b?ie=UTF8&qid=1202911664&sr=1-1

Thanks

[Bob Eager]

On Wed, 13 Feb 2008 14:49:52 UTC, blackhead
wrote:

First off, does the electricity company's meter multiply the voltage
by the current to calculate the power, regardless of the phase?

I'm looking at whether to buy a wireless electricity monitor such as
this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Owl-Electris...lectricity/dp/
B000LQ79Q6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1202911664&sr =1-1

which clips around the input meter lead so measuring the current and
multiplies this by a set voltage to calculte the power consumption.

Or to buy a power monitor that actually measure the power used by the
device:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Plug-In-Powe...gy-Monitor/dp/
B000Q7PJGW/ref=pd_bxgy_ce_img_b?ie=UTF8&qid=1202911664&sr=1-1

Since this is a DIY group:

http://offog.org/code/electricity.html

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The information contained in this post is copyright the
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http://www.diybanter.com

[Ian_m[_2_]]

Get the proper power meter one.

My Efergy whole house meter reads 76W for my PC/monitor/ADSL modem when in
standby. A proper power factor corrected meter and what I am paying for
reads only 15W.

"blackhead" wrote in message
...
First off, does the electricity company's meter multiply the voltage
by the current to calculate the power, regardless of the phase?

I'm looking at whether to buy a wireless electricity monitor such as
this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Owl-Electris...lectricity/dp/
B000LQ79Q6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1202911664&sr =1-1

which clips around the input meter lead so measuring the current and
multiplies this by a set voltage to calculte the power consumption.

Or to buy a power monitor that actually measure the power used by the
device:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Plug-In-Powe...gy-Monitor/dp/
B000Q7PJGW/ref=pd_bxgy_ce_img_b?ie=UTF8&qid=1202911664&sr=1-1

Thanks

[blackhead]

On 13 Feb, 15:20, "Bob Eager" wrote:
On Wed, 13 Feb 2008 14:49:52 UTC, blackhead
wrote:





First off, does the electricity company's meter multiply the voltage
by the current to calculate the power, regardless of the phase?

I'm looking at whether to buy a wireless electricity monitor such as
this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Owl-Electris...lectricity/dp/
B000LQ79Q6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1202911664&sr =1-1

which clips around the input meter lead so measuring the current and
multiplies this by a set voltage to calculte the power consumption.

Or to buy a power monitor that actually measure the power used by the
device:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Plug-In-Powe...gy-Monitor/dp/
B000Q7PJGW/ref=pd_bxgy_ce_img_b?ie=UTF8&qid=1202911664&sr=1-1

Since this is a DIY group:

*http://offog.org/code/electricity.html

The point that the LED flash rate on the utility meter is proportional
to the rate of electricity consumption is very useful to know.

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poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
* *http://www.diybanter.com- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

[blackhead]

On 13 Feb, 15:52, "Ian_m" wrote:
Get the proper power meter one.

My Efergy whole house meter reads 76W for my PC/monitor/ADSL modem when in
standby. A proper power factor corrected meter and what I am paying for
reads only 15W.

After a bit of research, it looks as if the utility companies in the
UK simply multiply the instantaneous voltage and current and average
this over time to get the apparent power. This is what you pay for,
rather than the real power you use which is the product of the in
phase current and voltage. An ideal inductor as a load doesn't
dissipate energy but the utility company still gets you to pay for the
apparent power.

It looks as if the power meter is the best bet as long as it can
measure the apparent power which I pay for rather than the actual
power. Alternatively I can count the number of LED flashes on the
utility meter with a fast finger on my stopwatch




"blackhead" wrote in message

...



First off, does the electricity company's meter multiply the voltage
by the current to calculate the power, regardless of the phase?

I'm looking at whether to buy a wireless electricity monitor such as
this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Owl-Electris...lectricity/dp/
B000LQ79Q6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1202911664&sr =1-1

which clips around the input meter lead so measuring the current and
multiplies this by a set voltage to calculte the power consumption.

Or to buy a power monitor that actually measure the power used by the
device:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Plug-In-Powe...gy-Monitor/dp/
B000Q7PJGW/ref=pd_bxgy_ce_img_b?ie=UTF8&qid=1202911664&sr=1-1

Thanks- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

[Andrew Gabriel]

In article ,
blackhead writes:
After a bit of research, it looks as if the utility companies in the
UK simply multiply the instantaneous voltage and current

Correct.

and average
this over time to get the apparent power.

No, it's integrated over time to give you the actual energy usage.

This is what you pay for,
rather than the real power you use which is the product of the in
phase current and voltage. An ideal inductor as a load doesn't
dissipate energy but the utility company still gets you to pay for the
apparent power.

No it doesn't.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]