Mark Lloyd wrote:

On Wed, 18 Jan 2006 04:33:40 GMT, CJT wrote:


Kevtrane wrote:


John,

I have a question about power meters, I would like to do some
consumption monitoring at my house. I see the cheap plug in meters and
the $500 Fluke recording multimeters. Is there anything in between? I
would like to measure on some 220V appliances and I don;t think that
the plug in ones will do it. Any advice?

Thanks,
Kev

Quoted Text
"I purchased my own power meter but I understand that some utilities
have
such equipment for loan to their customers."


FWIW, Harbor Freight has some really cheap, serviceable clamp-on
ammeters. They won't give you all the information a wattmeter would
(especially when power factor is important) but they can nonetheless
give you some pretty good clues at very low cost.


Can the clamp-on ammeter be used without separating wires?

No, but you can make a short extension cord (or modify an existing one)
with a section in which the wires are exposed so that they can be
accessed separately.

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