John Rumm wrote:
Are you suggesting that the Aldi power meter is not a power meter?

No, what I was highlighting is that the write up for it offers no clues
as whether it is able to distinguish between real and apparent power
consumption[1] - so take readings taken on this sort of kit with a good
degree of scepticism.

[1] Unlike the Maplin equivalent device for example which measures the
power factor of the load and makes allowances for it. Note however that
even this one does not work well on small capacitive loads.

Actually, I see that the Aldi meter does show the power factor -
0.99 in this case.