Reading a digital meter
 

I have a new digital meter on my little house. I am trying to figure
out how much electricity is being drawn whenever most of my appliances
are off. I used to be able to gauge this by how long it took one
revolution of the wheel on the old meters. On this meter there is no
wheel, just a LCD readout. It lists the kWh and a couple other things
I don't recognize. It is a Elster, and has the identifiers Type2SD
and also e239953, which I thought might have been model #'s, but I
can't find anything on these, like a product manual.

Reading a digital meter
 

Snozz wrote:
I have a new digital meter on my little house. I am trying to figure
out how much electricity is being drawn whenever most of my appliances
are off. I used to be able to gauge this by how long it took one
revolution of the wheel on the old meters. On this meter there is no
wheel, just a LCD readout. It lists the kWh and a couple other things
I don't recognize. It is a Elster, and has the identifiers Type2SD
and also e239953, which I thought might have been model #'s, but I
can't find anything on these, like a product manual.

There are some folks in Florida who rebuild and sell new meters.
Perhaps they could help you:

http://www.hialeahmeter.com/index.html

You may have a GE meter and here's some info.

http://tinyurl.com/c2wz9q

TDD

Reading a digital meter
 

On Apr 21, 9:10*pm, The Daring Dufas
wrote:
Snozz wrote:
I have a new digital meter on my little house. *I am trying to figure
out how much electricity is being drawn whenever most of my appliances
are off. *I used to be able to gauge this by how long it took one
revolution of the wheel on the old meters. *On this meter there is no
wheel, just a LCD readout. *It lists the kWh and a couple other things

The electric meter directly shows the KWHs used, which is exactly what
you want to measure. So, what's the problem?






I don't recognize. *It is a Elster, and has the identifiers Type2SD
and also e239953, which I thought might have been model #'s, but I
can't find anything on these, like a product manual.

There are some folks in Florida who rebuild and sell new meters.
Perhaps they could help you:

http://www.hialeahmeter.com/index.html

You may have a GE meter and here's some info.

http://tinyurl.com/c2wz9q

TDD

Reading a digital meter
 

On Apr 22, 6:40*am, wrote:
On Apr 21, 9:10*pm, The Daring Dufas
wrote:

Snozz wrote:
I have a new digital meter on my little house. *I am trying to figure
out how much electricity is being drawn whenever most of my appliances
are off. *I used to be able to gauge this by how long it took one
revolution of the wheel on the old meters. *On this meter there is no
wheel, just a LCD readout. *It lists the kWh and a couple other things

The electric meter directly shows the KWHs used, which is exactly what
you want to measure. *So, what's the problem?



I don't recognize. *It is a Elster, and has the identifiers Type2SD
and also e239953, which I thought might have been model #'s, but I
can't find anything on these, like a product manual.

There are some folks in Florida who rebuild and sell new meters.
Perhaps they could help you:

http://www.hialeahmeter.com/index.html

You may have a GE meter and here's some info.

http://tinyurl.com/c2wz9q

TDD- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

It didnt come with an instruction manual

Reading a digital meter
 

Snozz wrote:
I have a new digital meter on my little house. I am trying to figure
out how much electricity is being drawn whenever most of my appliances
are off. I used to be able to gauge this by how long it took one
revolution of the wheel on the old meters. On this meter there is no
wheel, just a LCD readout. It lists the kWh and a couple other things
I don't recognize. It is a Elster, and has the identifiers Type2SD
and also e239953, which I thought might have been model #'s, but I
can't find anything on these, like a product manual.

It would seem you have the information you need. Record the start/stop
meter reading and times for your observation. That tells you exactly how
much usage was recorded over that interval.

Reading a digital meter
 

On Wed, 22 Apr 2009 07:48:44 -0400, George
wrote:

Snozz wrote:
I have a new digital meter on my little house. I am trying to figure
out how much electricity is being drawn whenever most of my appliances
are off. I used to be able to gauge this by how long it took one
revolution of the wheel on the old meters. On this meter there is no
wheel, just a LCD readout. It lists the kWh and a couple other things
I don't recognize. It is a Elster, and has the identifiers Type2SD
and also e239953, which I thought might have been model #'s, but I
can't find anything on these, like a product manual.

It would seem you have the information you need. Record the start/stop
meter reading and times for your observation. That tells you exactly how
much usage was recorded over that interval.
You may be forgetting the time it takes for such an observation.
Let's say his load when "most of his appliances are off" is 50 watts.
That means the KWH indicator will bump up by 1 every 20 hours.
Assuming, on average, it is half way to the next KWH when he starts to
look, all he has to do is stare at the meter for 30 straight hours
with all his appliances off! I think he was hoping someone would tell
him there was a way to measure something smaller than 1 KWH.

Reading a digital meter
 

On Apr 21, 4:46*pm, Snozz wrote:
I have a new digital meter on my little house. *I am trying to figure
out how much electricity is being drawn whenever most of my appliances
are off. *I used to be able to gauge this by how long it took one
revolution of the wheel on the old meters. *On this meter there is no
wheel, just a LCD readout. *It lists the kWh and a couple other things
I don't recognize. *It is a Elster, and has the identifiers Type2SD
and also e239953, which I thought might have been model #'s, but I
can't find anything on these, like a product manual.

If you are really concerned about modifying your electrical usage.
You might want to consider a Brultech data collector:

http://www.brultech.com/HomeEnergy/ecm1240intro2.html

Taking a single snapshot in time from your house meter really wont
tell ou much about overall usage patterns.

Reading a digital meter
 

On 4/21/2009 2:46 PM, Snozz wrote:

I have a new digital meter on my little house. I am trying to figure
out how much electricity is being drawn whenever most of my appliances
are off. I used to be able to gauge this by how long it took one
revolution of the wheel on the old meters. On this meter there is no
wheel, just a LCD readout. It lists the kWh and a couple other things
I don't recognize. It is a Elster, and has the identifiers Type2SD
and also e239953, which I thought might have been model #'s, but I
can't find anything on these, like a product manual.

Some digital meters have a single LCD segment (usually a square block or
arrow) that blinks once to correspond to one revolution of a mechanical
meter. I think there might also be a second blinky that indicates some
fraction of a revolution.

Reading a digital meter
 

On Apr 22, 7:40*am, wrote:
On Apr 21, 9:10*pm, The Daring Dufas
wrote:

Snozz wrote:
I have a new digital meter on my little house. *I am trying to figure
out how much electricity is being drawn whenever most of my appliances
are off. *I used to be able to gauge this by how long it took one
revolution of the wheel on the old meters. *On this meter there is no
wheel, just a LCD readout. *It lists the kWh and a couple other things

The electric meter directly shows the KWHs used, which is exactly what
you want to measure. *So, what's the problem?

I don't recognize. *It is a Elster, and has the identifiers Type2SD
and also e239953, which I thought might have been model #'s, but I
can't find anything on these, like a product manual.

There are some folks in Florida who rebuild and sell new meters.
Perhaps they could help you:

http://www.hialeahmeter.com/index.html

You may have a GE meter and here's some info.

http://tinyurl.com/c2wz9q

TDD

It takes it a long time to increment on kWh. Since it's in increments
of a kilo it makes it kinda of difficult. I'd have to stand there
waiting for it to flip one kWh, start timing, and then see how long it
flips another kilo. During the measuring period I will have
everything off, except water heater and fridge, so I can get a reading
of phantom power draw for my entire house.

Reading a digital meter
 

On Apr 22, 12:50*pm, Alan W wrote:
On 4/21/2009 2:46 PM, Snozz wrote:

I have a new digital meter on my little house. *I am trying to figure
out how much electricity is being drawn whenever most of my appliances
are off. *I used to be able to gauge this by how long it took one
revolution of the wheel on the old meters. *On this meter there is no
wheel, just a LCD readout. *It lists the kWh and a couple other things
I don't recognize. *It is a Elster, and has the identifiers Type2SD
and also e239953, which I thought might have been model #'s, but I
can't find anything on these, like a product manual.

Some digital meters have a single LCD segment (usually a square block or
arrow) that blinks once to correspond to one revolution of a mechanical
meter. I think there might also be a second blinky that indicates some
fraction of a revolution.

Thanks everyone.
Alan, I'll have to look again, but there was indeed some sort of
blinking arrow which has a square block appear occasionally. That
occurred to me, but I remember there was something strange about it,
like sometimes two blocks or something like that. Can't remember. So
I have to figure out how much watts that represents. I will be
getting my utility to do a "free energy audit" after I get my house
cleaned up some, and maybe they can clear things up for me.

Reading a digital meter
 

"Snozz" wrote in message
...
On Apr 22, 12:50 pm, Alan W wrote:
On 4/21/2009 2:46 PM, Snozz wrote:

I have a new digital meter on my little house. I am trying to figure
out how much electricity is being drawn whenever most of my appliances
are off. I used to be able to gauge this by how long it took one
revolution of the wheel on the old meters. On this meter there is no
wheel, just a LCD readout. It lists the kWh and a couple other things
I don't recognize. It is a Elster, and has the identifiers Type2SD
and also e239953, which I thought might have been model #'s, but I
can't find anything on these, like a product manual.

Some digital meters have a single LCD segment (usually a square block or
arrow) that blinks once to correspond to one revolution of a mechanical
meter. I think there might also be a second blinky that indicates some
fraction of a revolution.

Thanks everyone.
Alan, I'll have to look again, but there was indeed some sort of
blinking arrow which has a square block appear occasionally. That
occurred to me, but I remember there was something strange about it,
like sometimes two blocks or something like that. Can't remember. So
I have to figure out how much watts that represents. I will be
getting my utility to do a "free energy audit" after I get my house
cleaned up some, and maybe they can clear things up for me.

If you have some kind of indicator, the easiest way to get a rough
calibration of it is to check it against a 100W light bulb. Just
shut-off/disconnect everything else and see what your indicator shows for
the light bulb alone.

Don Young

Reading a digital meter
 

Snozz wrote:
On Apr 22, 7:40 am, wrote:
On Apr 21, 9:10 pm, The Daring Dufas
wrote:

Snozz wrote:
I have a new digital meter on my little house. I am trying to figure
out how much electricity is being drawn whenever most of my appliances
are off. I used to be able to gauge this by how long it took one
revolution of the wheel on the old meters. On this meter there is no
wheel, just a LCD readout. It lists the kWh and a couple other things
The electric meter directly shows the KWHs used, which is exactly what
you want to measure. So, what's the problem?

I don't recognize. It is a Elster, and has the identifiers Type2SD
and also e239953, which I thought might have been model #'s, but I
can't find anything on these, like a product manual.
There are some folks in Florida who rebuild and sell new meters.
Perhaps they could help you:
http://www.hialeahmeter.com/index.html
You may have a GE meter and here's some info.
http://tinyurl.com/c2wz9q
TDD

It takes it a long time to increment on kWh. Since it's in increments
of a kilo it makes it kinda of difficult. I'd have to stand there
waiting for it to flip one kWh, start timing, and then see how long it
flips another kilo. During the measuring period I will have
everything off, except water heater and fridge, so I can get a reading
of phantom power draw for my entire house.

Did you ever think of buying your own refurbished
old style mechanical meter? You can install your
own socket after the power company digital meter
so you have a real time analog read out. The old
meters are really inexpensive.

http://www.hialeahmeter.com/siphwame.html

TDD

Reading a digital meter
 

Don Young wrote:

Thanks everyone.
Alan, I'll have to look again, but there was indeed some sort of
blinking arrow which has a square block appear occasionally. That
occurred to me, but I remember there was something strange about it,
like sometimes two blocks or something like that. Can't remember. So
I have to figure out how much watts that represents. I will be
getting my utility to do a "free energy audit" after I get my house
cleaned up some, and maybe they can clear things up for me.

If you have some kind of indicator, the easiest way to get a rough
calibration of it is to check it against a 100W light bulb. Just
shut-off/disconnect everything else and see what your indicator shows
for the light bulb alone.

Don Young

Make that a 100-watt incandescent bulb. CFLs will lie.

I've got a "60-watt" CFL, that draws 21 VAs but only registers 10 watts.

This is called "cheating the light company."

Reading a digital meter
 

On Sat, 25 Apr 2009 08:52:28 -0500, "HeyBub"
wrote:

Don Young wrote:

Thanks everyone.
Alan, I'll have to look again, but there was indeed some sort of
blinking arrow which has a square block appear occasionally. That
occurred to me, but I remember there was something strange about it,
like sometimes two blocks or something like that. Can't remember. So
I have to figure out how much watts that represents. I will be
getting my utility to do a "free energy audit" after I get my house
cleaned up some, and maybe they can clear things up for me.

If you have some kind of indicator, the easiest way to get a rough
calibration of it is to check it against a 100W light bulb. Just
shut-off/disconnect everything else and see what your indicator shows
for the light bulb alone.

Don Young

Make that a 100-watt incandescent bulb. CFLs will lie.

I've got a "60-watt" CFL, that draws 21 VAs but only registers 10 watts.

This is called "cheating the light company."

No, it isn't. The CFL only uses 10 watts of real power. However, it
is true that because the current is somewhat out of phase with the
voltage, it draws more current than an incandescent bulb would. (In
more technical terms, its power factor is significantly less than 1).
Power companies aren't thrilled with that situation because the losses
in their lines ("i squared r" loss) is higher, but you aren't cheating
them. The CFL uses 10 watts, not 21.