"Doug" wrote in message

stuff snipped

Can I use a voltmeter with probes to measure what the refrig uses? Do
I just measure the 2 sides of the refrig's electrical plug? Or how do
you do this measurement?

No. You need a "tong" meter and a special cord that isolates the hot
from
the neutral to measure only instantaneous current. Or a special cord
that
lets you put an ammeter in series with the unit. Most pocket meters
can't
handle that sort of current, anyway. Look on your meter, if it reads
amps,
it should say 10 or 20A max on the jacks. That's why the Kill-a-watt is
so
useful. None of that is required. Plus, even the cheapest ones can read
power use over time in kWh which no common multimeter I know does. The
more
expensive units have memories and cost computers built in, but unless you
have lots of power blinks or outages, that's overkill, IMHO.



I should have said multimeter not voltmeter... my mistake.
Specifically can the Fluke 117 do it using it's amp meter?

First, if you're determined (and it will take making up a special line cord
to accomplish), read the MAX AMPS listing on your Fluke. That will tell you
if it can handle current drawn by the unit. You can probably get away with
measuring fridge if there's a slow-blow fuse on the meter, but it's
dangerous to do unless you feel comfortable with wiring up a special outlet
(which I did) to allow you to measure an appliance's amperage. You have to
read the current draw in series, not in parallel like a voltmeter. Unless
you are using a tong meter (clamp on induction measuring device) the meter
needs to become part of the entire circuit.

I know some are wondering how is a Fluke 117 in my hands with my lack
of knowledge but let's just say that the price was too good to not buy
... and no I didn't steal it, got it on ebay new.

It's a fine meter, but not so much for this job. An instantaneous reading
of the current, which is all your Fluke is likely able to do, won't tell you
much about weekly costs to run. That's because a fridge uses differing
amounts of energy during its operational cycles.

Break down and buy the Kill-a-watt. No special cords, no electrocution
hazard and the ability to log readings over long periods of time to average
out fluctuations. Even my meter that hooks into an RS232 port of a PC to
allow logging readings can't tell you what a Kill-a-Watt can. It's the
right tool for the job and it will have uses far beyond the current one.

--
Bobby G.