"jon" wrote in message ...
On Fri, 31 Jul 2020 11:24:31 +0100, Pamela wrote:

Is this sort of plug-in power meter suitable for measuring a desktop PC
with a switched mode power supply?

I bought something similar a long time ago but found it was giving
misleading readings. Are these better now?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Consumption.../dp/B07FZZ17ZY


Switchmode power supplies don't seem to adversely affect the supply
electricity meter, but I am sure a large inductive load with a directly
chopped supply would affect everyone up the road.

I have a meter (from Maplin) which measures power in both W and VA, one
assuming that current and voltage are in phase and the other taking into
account the fact that they are not. Real power [W] = apparent power [VA] *
power factor.

I presume it is the real power that an electricity meter registers and that
you want a plug-in meter to read.