Hi,

Does anyone use one of those energy monitors that measures how much
electricity you use? If you've seen my other thread about heating hot
water on economy seven, you'll know I'm wondering whether to switch
from economy seven.

I thought an energy monitor might be useful to let me see how much we
use in the day vs. at night. Am I right to think they are just an AC
clamp meter that fits on the meter tail and transmits to an LCD?

I had a read of the owl web site, the make I had found (please feel
free to recommend others). Although this has a USB module, as far as I
can see, it only sends real-time information, so to monitor my usage
24/7, I would need to leave my computer on 24/7. That kind of defeats
the purpose of saving energy if I have to turn something on to measure
what I am using!

Though you can view usage on the LCD, I think a computer link is the
best way to view the data. Do you agree? Is there anything on the
market which records usage and then uploads it to your computer when
convenient?

If not, is it worth buying an AC clamp meter with USB output and using
that to measure my usage as and when I want to? Wouldn't it be more
versatile and allow me to do other jobs with it? I suppose the only
disadvantage to that is that it is not wireless so the PC would have
to be next to it.

TIA

Fred wrote:

Hi,

Does anyone use one of those energy monitors that measures how much
electricity you use?

Yes - I got a free one.

If you've seen my other thread about heating hot
water on economy seven, you'll know I'm wondering whether to switch
from economy seven.

I thought an energy monitor might be useful to let me see how much we
use in the day vs. at night. Am I right to think they are just an AC
clamp meter that fits on the meter tail and transmits to an LCD?

Exactly that.

I had a read of the owl web site, the make I had found (please feel
free to recommend others). Although this has a USB module, as far as I
can see, it only sends real-time information, so to monitor my usage
24/7, I would need to leave my computer on 24/7. That kind of defeats
the purpose of saving energy if I have to turn something on to measure
what I am using!

Though you can view usage on the LCD, I think a computer link is the
best way to view the data. Do you agree? Is there anything on the
market which records usage and then uploads it to your computer when
convenient?

I can only answer for mine - the LCD does show a daily profile, but it's
fairly crap. Mine comes with a socket of the base that contains an
undocumented serial RS232 output that can be hooked up to a computer.

If not, is it worth buying an AC clamp meter with USB output and using
that to measure my usage as and when I want to? Wouldn't it be more
versatile and allow me to do other jobs with it? I suppose the only
disadvantage to that is that it is not wireless so the PC would have
to be next to it.

TIA

That could be quite versatile if your meter tails are inside

--
Tim Watts

In message , Fred
wrote

I had a read of the owl web site, the make I had found (please feel
free to recommend others). Although this has a USB module, as far as I
can see, it only sends real-time information, so to monitor my usage
24/7, I would need to leave my computer on 24/7. That kind of defeats
the purpose of saving energy if I have to turn something on to measure
what I am using!

You are correct about the OWL USB module. The computer connected to it
has to be left on 24/7 to monitor the results. The software is rather
basic and can fall over when your computer or laptop goes into
screensaver/power saving mode so these features need to be turned off.

BTW, you can find the OWL USB modules for around £10 incl postage so
don't pay the "RRP" for something that is probably only worth £5

I have a USB module purchased after buying ten OWL monitor and I
wouldn't recommend this accessory.

You are better off finding a monitor with a built in memory that can be
downloaded to computer at a later date.

I would also warn about spending a lot of money on a monitor in the
first place. It is useful for determining your consumption pattern but
you will probably do this in the first few days of ownership. Afterwards
it will just sit there without you taking too much notice of it.

--
Alan
news2009 {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On Aug 22, 5:11*am, Fred wrote:
Hi,

Does anyone use one of those energy monitors that measures how much
electricity you use? If you've seen my other thread about heating hot
water on economy seven, you'll know I'm wondering whether to switch
from economy seven.

I thought an energy monitor might be useful to let me see how much we
use in the day vs. at night. Am I right to think they are just an AC
clamp meter that fits on the meter tail and transmits to an LCD?

I had a read of the owl web site, the make I had found (please feel
free to recommend others). Although this has a USB module, as far as I
can see, it only sends real-time information, so to monitor my usage
24/7, I would need to leave my computer on 24/7. That kind of defeats
the purpose of saving energy if I have to turn something on to measure
what I am using!

Though you can view usage on the LCD, I think a computer link is the
best way to view the data. Do you agree? Is there anything on the
market which records usage and then uploads it to your computer when
convenient?

If not, is it worth buying an AC clamp meter with USB output and using
that to measure my usage as and when I want to? Wouldn't it be more
versatile and allow me to do other jobs with it? I suppose the only
disadvantage to that is that it is not wireless so the PC would have
to be next to it.

TIA

Individual apliances should be tested, this is an easy way to montitor
things like the refrigerator to know if it needs repairs or is just a
energy hog, for this I use a Kill-A-Watt meter, you plug your apliance
into it, it records energy used over maybe 100 hours. For individual
circuits to check for shorts, or bad wiring a clamp on amp meter that
goes to .01 a is good, most sold at stores only go to .1 amp but cheap
models I found at a electric supply store. For whole house monitoring
you have options that connect to you meter but you wont identify
problems with a whole house set up. To minimise electricty usage you
need to do your own audit , I find a Kill a Watt and a clamp on meter
the way to get started to know what each thing uses. once you identify
the energy hogs you can make decisions on what to do next.

In message , Alan
writes
In message , Fred
wrote

I had a read of the owl web site, the make I had found (please feel
free to recommend others). Although this has a USB module, as far as I
can see, it only sends real-time information, so to monitor my usage
24/7, I would need to leave my computer on 24/7. That kind of defeats
the purpose of saving energy if I have to turn something on to measure
what I am using!

You are correct about the OWL USB module. The computer connected to it
has to be left on 24/7 to monitor the results. The software is rather
basic and can fall over when your computer or laptop goes into
screensaver/power saving mode so these features need to be turned off.


I've recently bought the OWL usb bit. Yeah the software isn't brilliant,
but it's ok. You can export the data ( per minute for historical data,
per 6 seconds for the 2 minute time period live data) as a CSV file for
anay

BTW, you can find the OWL USB modules for around £10 incl postage so
don't pay the "RRP" for something that is probably only worth £5


Yeah, I agree, though I didn't get it quite as cheap as that.

I have a USB module purchased after buying ten OWL monitor and I
wouldn't recommend this accessory.

You are better off finding a monitor with a built in memory that can be
downloaded to computer at a later date.


Are there any though? - I've don't think I've come across them. I think
it depends. I already had the main Owl unit, free from the local
council, I have a PC that normally runs 24/7 anyway. So it was a
reasonable punt to by the usb unit. I do find it more useful to be able
to go back and look at the historical usage patterns.


I would also warn about spending a lot of money on a monitor in the
first place.

There probably is no reason to pay anything for a monitor. We ended up
with 2 free ones - one from nPower - I'm not even a customer -though I
think I just had to sign up for it (and pretend IIRC about being over 60
or something). also got a free one form the LA as part of some scheme
they were doing giving out monitors to see how much they reduced power
consumption. I imagine asking around would find someone with one lying
around they don't use much

Our local library also hires them out for free to library users.


--
Chris French

Tim Watts wrote:

I can only answer for mine - the LCD does show a daily profile, but it's
fairly crap. Mine comes with a socket of the base that contains an
undocumented serial RS232 output that can be hooked up to a computer.

Is yours one of the currentcost ones? If so, it is documented

http://www.currentcost.com/cc128/xml.htm

On Sun, 22 Aug 2010 11:11:45 +0100, Fred
wrote:

I thought an energy monitor might be useful to let me see how much we
use in the day vs. at night.

Doesn't your electricity meter do that?

In message , chris French
wrote
You are better off finding a monitor with a built in memory that can
be downloaded to computer at a later date.


Are there any though?

There may be a couple at:

http://www.energy-monitor.co.uk/comp...?gclid=CNv_p6-
-zaMCFY1k4wodGg6Wuw

The site doesn't give much information about what is stored and for how
long on the units that do have PC connections so a visit to the
manufacturers web site to download a manual may be in order.

Watch out for one of the special offers they have !!! Pay £15 more than
another supplier and get an (active) data cable (circa £8 to £9) and
some "free" low energy light bulbs.


--
Alan
news2009 {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

"Fred" wrote in message
...
Hi,

Does anyone use one of those energy monitors that measures how much
electricity you use? If you've seen my other thread about heating hot
water on economy seven, you'll know I'm wondering whether to switch
from economy seven.

I thought an energy monitor might be useful to let me see how much we
use in the day vs. at night. Am I right to think they are just an AC
clamp meter that fits on the meter tail and transmits to an LCD?

I had a read of the owl web site, the make I had found (please feel
free to recommend others). Although this has a USB module, as far as I
can see, it only sends real-time information, so to monitor my usage
24/7, I would need to leave my computer on 24/7. That kind of defeats
the purpose of saving energy if I have to turn something on to measure
what I am using!

Though you can view usage on the LCD, I think a computer link is the
best way to view the data. Do you agree? Is there anything on the
market which records usage and then uploads it to your computer when
convenient?

If not, is it worth buying an AC clamp meter with USB output and using
that to measure my usage as and when I want to? Wouldn't it be more
versatile and allow me to do other jobs with it? I suppose the only
disadvantage to that is that it is not wireless so the PC would have
to be next to it.

TIA

There is a handy feature comparison chart of a good range of monitors he
http://www.electricity-monitor.com/e...hart-i-26.html

They all seem to say they have substantial memory features, but just what
that means in practice, I suggest you enquire of them.

S

On Sun, 22 Aug 2010 14:02:53 +0100, chris French
wrote:


Are there any though? - I've don't think I've come across them.

Yes the Currentcost Envi CC128 (not Trec).
http://www.currentcost.com/product-cc128.html
FAQ:-
"Can I use it on my E7 or E10 supply?

Yes, the Current Cost monitor allows for two different day rates using a
secondary clamp."

It can actually handle 10 different channels of RF from their clamp units.

It stores 2 hourly totals for 31 days,daily totals for 90 days, monthly totals
for 84 months.
It can handle 10 different channels of Rf from their clamp units.
It has a kinda non-standard TTL serial output which requires their £7.50 adapter
cable to interface with USB.
They run an Ebay store but the unit is also available from some electricty
boards.

--
Geo

On Sun, 22 Aug 2010 11:11:45 +0100, Fred wrote:

I thought an energy monitor might be useful to let me see how much we
use in the day vs. at night. Am I right to think they are just an AC
clamp meter that fits on the meter tail and transmits to an LCD?

Basically yes, get the CurrentCost one it has a TTL level serial
output but there is a cheap lead to convert that to USB or you can
build a convertor to RS232. Live data is sent every six seconds, and
historical every so often. IIRC you can also force a dump of all the
data it has stored, so you don't need a PC to be on all the time to
log everything.

The data is sent as XML and the formatting is published. It's fairly
trivial to process. There are quite a number of 3rd party programs
that can do this if you are not up to writing something yourself.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On 22 Aug, 16:49, Peter Parry wrote:
On Sun, 22 Aug 2010 11:11:45 +0100, Fred
wrote:

I thought an energy monitor might be useful to let me see how much we
use in the day vs. at night.

Doesn't your electricity meter do that?

Exactly so! There's lots of people about that think you can't do
anything without a computer.

All the above is ********.
All you need is the device that plugs into a socket and then you plug
your appliance into the device. And a notebook. A bit of paper that
is.

Your fancy clip on ammeters need to go round a single conductor. The
only place that's possible is adjacent to the electricity meter. Oh
damn, the electricity meter already does that.

On Mon, 23 Aug 2010 01:45:44 -0700 (PDT), harry wrote:

Doesn't your electricity meter do that?

Exactly so! There's lots of people about that think you can't do
anything without a computer.

All the above is ********.
All you need is the device that plugs into a socket and then you plug
your appliance into the device. And a notebook. A bit of paper that
is.

True enough but that only monitors a single device, which may or may
not be the one that is actually "wasting" the most power. High power
things like kettles and cookers tend to be only on for short periods,
so don't actually consume that much energy. It's the medium power
stuff (few hundred watts) that is on for long periods that consume
energy. 150W for 15hrs (old PC and monitor, TV...) 2.25kWHr, thats 45
min at 3kW. A 3kW rapid boil kettle only takes a couple of minutes
when full and from cold to boil, I very much doubt that the kettle is
used full and from cold over twenty times a day...

Having a decent log of actual useage allows you to plot things like
this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/allsorts-60/3891740435/

Which makes it fairly easy to spot the longer term energy users and
things like coffee machines...

--
Cheers
Dave.

On 23/08/2010 10:28, Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Mon, 23 Aug 2010 01:45:44 -0700 (PDT), harry wrote:

Doesn't your electricity meter do that?

Exactly so! There's lots of people about that think you can't do
anything without a computer.

All the above is ********.
All you need is the device that plugs into a socket and then you plug
your appliance into the device. And a notebook. A bit of paper that
is.

True enough but that only monitors a single device, which may or may
not be the one that is actually "wasting" the most power. High power
things like kettles and cookers tend to be only on for short periods,
so don't actually consume that much energy. It's the medium power
stuff (few hundred watts) that is on for long periods that consume
energy. 150W for 15hrs (old PC and monitor, TV...) 2.25kWHr, thats 45
min at 3kW. A 3kW rapid boil kettle only takes a couple of minutes
when full and from cold to boil, I very much doubt that the kettle is
used full and from cold over twenty times a day...

Having a decent log of actual useage allows you to plot things like
this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/allsorts-60/3891740435/

Which makes it fairly easy to spot the longer term energy users and
things like coffee machines...


Indeed - makes it easier. Do you know the source of the c.500W
background consumption? I have similar, and it /appears/ to be things
like the washing machine, dishwasher, microwave etc just being plugged
in - not actually doing anything. I can only account for about 60 of my
500 - but a more systematic look at it all should identify the culprits.

Rob

On Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:56:23 +0100, Rob wrote:

Indeed - makes it easier. Do you know the source of the c.500W
background consumption?

Only about 1/2 of it, probably most is being consumed by the server
and the other associated network bits and bobs. We also have a couple
of lights (CFLs) that are on 24/7 or during the night. It all adds
up, though TBH I'm not sure how accurate the CC is at low power
levels. The clamp is fairly sensitive to position/orientation of the
tail through it.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:11:29 +0100 (BST), Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:56:23 +0100, Rob wrote:

Indeed - makes it easier. Do you know the source of the c.500W
background consumption?

Only about 1/2 of it, probably most is being consumed by the server
and the other associated network bits and bobs. We also have a couple
of lights (CFLs) that are on 24/7 or during the night. It all adds
up, though TBH I'm not sure how accurate the CC is at low power
levels. The clamp is fairly sensitive to position/orientation of the
tail through it.

So far as how accurate the __energy monitors are at low power, the
answer for mine is "not very". I've noticed that when there is
almost nothing on - computers off, TV off, lights off, heating off
the first 200W or so barely makes a dent.

Although all this technology is wonderful stuff, there is still
a large element of "know your problem" to identifying __wasted power
consumption. Things like: what goes on in the kids' bedrooms? Has
that light in the loft been left on for the last 6 months? Are you
taking things for granted - such as a pond-pump that runs 24*7?
Do your security lights spend most of the night switched on ('cos
next-doors cat likes to sit right under the sensor?)



--
http://www.thisreallyismyhost.99k.or...1318185066.php

On 23 Aug, 11:11, "Dave Liquorice"
wrote:
On Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:56:23 +0100, Rob wrote:
Indeed - makes it easier. Do you know the source of the c.500W
background consumption?

Only about 1/2 of it, probably most is being consumed by the server
and the other associated network bits and bobs. We also have a couple
of lights (CFLs) that are on 24/7 or during the night. It all adds
up, though TBH I'm not sure how accurate the CC is at low power
levels. The clamp is fairly sensitive to position/orientation of the
tail through it.

--
Cheers
Dave.

I done a full survey with the plug to the socket thing. My biggest
user is the TV! (42" plasma)

On 22/08/2010 11:11, Fred wrote:
Hi,

Does anyone use one of those energy monitors that measures how much
electricity you use? If you've seen my other thread about heating hot
water on economy seven, you'll know I'm wondering whether to switch
from economy seven.


To make that call I don't think you need any fancy technology, just a
couple of years' meter readings (do you keep your old bills?)

With E7 day rate is about 15p; night rate about 5p.

On a "normal" tariff you will pay about 10p/unit.

Therefore if your day units used exceed your night units used then
there's no point in E7.

On Mon, 23 Aug 2010 15:35:02 +0100, Vortex7
wrote:

(do you keep your old bills?)

I have my old bills but they were pre-children, so our usage has
changed since but I agree, a month or two of observing the meter might
answer some of my questions. The disadvantage of relying on the meter
is it tells you what was used in a twelve hour period. These monitors
allow you to see minute by minute. I suppose on a cost basis it
doesn't matter whether 6kWh is one hour at 6kW or 6 hrs at 1kW but
knowing that would help identify what was using the power.

Therefore if your day units used exceed your night units used then
there's no point in E7.

MY day units always exceed my night units. One price comparison site
said the national average was 40% night : 60 % day, so most people's
day units exceed their night units. I think hose figures must be for
people with storage heaters. My only night heating is a 3kW immersion
heater, so our night: day ratio is even less. Last time I worked it
out there was not much difference whether we were on economy 7 or not.
I need to do those calculations again. If I switch off the immersion
and use oil, there would be no reason to keep the economy 7.

On Sun, 22 Aug 2010 14:02:53 +0100, chris French
wrote:

I've recently bought the OWL usb bit. Yeah the software isn't brilliant,
but it's ok. You can export the data ( per minute for historical data,
per 6 seconds for the 2 minute time period live data) as a CSV file

I hadn't heard of the other makes, so I'm off to research the other
links people gave - thanks.

I was puzzled by the above. My understanding was that the owl would
not upload historical data; only real time usage. Are you saying that
it does?

Thanks.

On Sun, 22 Aug 2010 11:20:19 +0100, Tim Watts wrote:

That could be quite versatile if your meter tails are inside

I've had a quick look but though I could find multimeters with serial
or usb outputs, I couldn't find any clamp meters with them. I did see
some probes you could buy to convert a multimeter to a clamp meter; I
think you set the meter to read voltage and they output 1mV per 0.1A
or something like that. I don't know how good they are though.

Another thought is what powers the serial output? If it is the
multimeter, how long would the battery last if on continuously?
Perhaps a purpose built module is the answer after all?

Thanks.

"Fred" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 22 Aug 2010 14:02:53 +0100, chris French
wrote:

I've recently bought the OWL usb bit. Yeah the software isn't brilliant,
but it's ok. You can export the data ( per minute for historical data,
per 6 seconds for the 2 minute time period live data) as a CSV file

I hadn't heard of the other makes, so I'm off to research the other
links people gave - thanks.

I was puzzled by the above. My understanding was that the owl would
not upload historical data; only real time usage. Are you saying that
it does?

Thanks.

But is CSV what you want in any case? Changing it into useful spread sheets
and graphs would be a major job in itself for anyone not already set up to
handle the processing.

S

On 22 Aug, 11:11, Fred wrote:
Hi,

Does anyone use one of those energy monitors that measures how much
electricity you use? If you've seen my other thread about heating hot
water on economy seven, you'll know I'm wondering whether to switch
from economy seven.

I thought an energy monitor might be useful to let me see how much we
use in the day vs. at night. Am I right to think they are just an AC
clamp meter that fits on the meter tail and transmits to an LCD?

I had a read of the owl web site, the make I had found (please feel
free to recommend others). Although this has a USB module, as far as I
can see, it only sends real-time information, so to monitor my usage
24/7, I would need to leave my computer on 24/7. That kind of defeats
the purpose of saving energy if I have to turn something on to measure
what I am using!

Though you can view usage on the LCD, I think a computer link is the
best way to view the data. Do you agree? Is there anything on the
market which records usage and then uploads it to your computer when
convenient?

If not, is it worth buying an AC clamp meter with USB output and using
that to measure my usage as and when I want to? Wouldn't it be more
versatile and allow me to do other jobs with it? I suppose the only
disadvantage to that is that it is not wireless so the PC would have
to be next to it.


You can get a 'check meter' from electrical wholesalers, I also saw
one on TLC's website recently, theirs was about £12. You will need to
mount it on a suitable board or box, with appropriate sockets or other
accessories for the appliances you want to measure. This will be a lot
more accurate than any of the digital gizmo's, for a start it measures
true kWh, not just the amps, and it works down to very low wattages.
Also it avoids all the bother with software etc, you just write down
the reading at appropriate times.

In message , Fred
writes
On Sun, 22 Aug 2010 14:02:53 +0100, chris French
wrote:

I've recently bought the OWL usb bit. Yeah the software isn't brilliant,
but it's ok. You can export the data ( per minute for historical data,
per 6 seconds for the 2 minute time period live data) as a CSV file

I hadn't heard of the other makes, so I'm off to research the other
links people gave - thanks.

I was puzzled by the above. My understanding was that the owl would
not upload historical data; only real time usage. Are you saying that
it does?

No. if you get the USB connect module as well then that records the
data on the PC it is connected to (whilst it is on).
--
Chris French

On Thu, 26 Aug 2010 17:53:19 +0100, Spamlet wrote:

But is CSV what you want in any case? Changing it into useful spread
sheets and graphs ...

A spreadsheet that can't import a .csv is not with the disc space it
is occupying. Comma Seperated Variables is about the lowest common
demominator you can have.

would be a major job in itself for anyone not already set up to handle
the processing.

Import the CSV to a sheet highlight the bits you want as a graph
(chart...) and select the type of graph you want. Can't get much
simpler.
A lot easier than dealing with XML...

--
Cheers
Dave.

"Dave Liquorice" wrote in message
ll.co.uk...
On Thu, 26 Aug 2010 17:53:19 +0100, Spamlet wrote:

But is CSV what you want in any case? Changing it into useful spread
sheets and graphs ...

A spreadsheet that can't import a .csv is not with the disc space it
is occupying. Comma Seperated Variables is about the lowest common
demominator you can have.

would be a major job in itself for anyone not already set up to handle
the processing.

Import the CSV to a sheet highlight the bits you want as a graph
(chart...) and select the type of graph you want. Can't get much
simpler.
A lot easier than dealing with XML...
--
Cheers
Dave.

With respect, spreadsheets are a mystery in themselves to a great many
people. Many would not even know what csv means. And they can be very
troublesome. For example, I wanted to turn my Outlook Express address book
into a database file proper, but I had used shift enter to make line breaks
and this was interpreted as a new record for each break. There are many
such pitfalls, especially as most people use the enter button (para) instead
of proper line breaks. Rarely have I been able to use csv without doing a
lot of editing of extraneous commas before all the fields would end up in
the right place. Many people would find this baffling. (In fact it has
been this that has plagued those wishing to make address labels - as per an
earlier question - more than the layout and printing of the labels
themselves.) And yes, it would still be easier than learning xml, sql etc.

S

chris French wrote:
There probably is no reason to pay anything for a monitor. We ended up
with 2 free ones - one from nPower - I'm not even a customer -though I
think I just had to sign up for it (and pretend IIRC about being over 60
or something). also got a free one form the LA as part of some scheme
they were doing giving out monitors to see how much they reduced power
consumption. I imagine asking around would find someone with one lying
around they don't use much

Hmmm... I wonder how feasible it would be to make a cheap USB transducer?
I have a Linux router with USB port sitting next to the electricity meter.

Perhaps a cheap USB soundcard ($3 on DX) or 'Skype phone' and a coil around
the meter tails, plus a quick software FFT to measure the power of the 50Hz
harmonic? I wonder how well calibrated that might be? Is there an audio
level for 'line in' or 'microphone' inputs?

Theo

On 28 Aug 2010 21:58:00 +0100 (BST), Theo Markettos
wrote:



Perhaps a cheap USB soundcard ($3 on DX) or 'Skype phone' and a coil around
the meter tails, plus a quick software FFT to measure the power of the 50Hz
harmonic? I wonder how well calibrated that might be? Is there an audio
level for 'line in' or 'microphone' inputs?

You can buy an owl or currentcost current transformer separately to "roll your
own" - about £7 - £10.

Have a look at this for the soundcard system:-
http://www.infinitespectra.com/freew...400/index.html

--
Geo

On Fri, 27 Aug 2010 09:33:03 +0100, chris French
wrote:

No. if you get the USB connect module as well then that records the
data on the PC it is connected to (whilst it is on).

Thanks for the clarification, I was confused about the phrase
"historical data".

On Sun, 22 Aug 2010 04:22:08 -0700 (PDT), ransley
wrote:

Individual apliances should be tested, this is an easy way to montitor
things like the refrigerator to know if it needs repairs or is just a
energy hog, for this I use a Kill-A-Watt meter

Maplin seem to stock a variety of meters:
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Search.aspx?MenuNo=95165

N67NFU at 14.99 looks like it may be the same as sold by CPC. Does
anyone know anything about these models?

L61AQ has been recommended in this group; is it the kill-a-watt model?
But the disadvantage is no battery back-up.

I think that N67HH has battery back-up so that it keeps the data when
unplugged for easy viewing.

Does anyone have experience of any of these (or other) models?

TIA

Fred wrote:
On Sun, 22 Aug 2010 04:22:08 -0700 (PDT), ransley
wrote:

Individual apliances should be tested, this is an easy way to montitor
things like the refrigerator to know if it needs repairs or is just a
energy hog, for this I use a Kill-A-Watt meter

Maplin seem to stock a variety of meters:
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Search.aspx?MenuNo=95165

N67NFU at 14.99 looks like it may be the same as sold by CPC. Does
anyone know anything about these models?

L61AQ has been recommended in this group; is it the kill-a-watt model?
But the disadvantage is no battery back-up.

I think that N67HH has battery back-up so that it keeps the data when
unplugged for easy viewing.

Does anyone have experience of any of these (or other) models?

TIA

Fred,
I don't know if you are after an accurate result but in a recent inquiry
to Maplin, they replied to me that none of their products currently
calculate true RMS power. ie the sum total of instantaeous
voltage*current at the same instant.
This means they will likely be incorrect for anything with a switch mode
power supply, TVs, Videos, computers, modern low energy light bulbs etc
and also be incapable of accurate measurement of anything with a motor
in it- fridges, freezers, hoovers etc.

Does not leave a lot in a modern household!

What they will do is enable you to track down things consuming power all
the time that you might have overlooked in any economy drive.

Bob

On Sun, 29 Aug 2010 11:54:12 +0100, Bob Minchin
wrote:

I don't know if you are after an accurate result but in a recent inquiry
to Maplin, they replied to me that none of their products currently
calculate true RMS power. ie the sum total of instantaeous
voltage*current at the same instant.
This means they will likely be incorrect for anything with a switch mode
power supply, TVs, Videos, computers, modern low energy light bulbs etc
and also be incapable of accurate measurement of anything with a motor
in it- fridges, freezers, hoovers etc.

Does not leave a lot in a modern household!

Crickey! What's left?

It depends what you mean by accurate. I don't need to know to the
nearest tenth of a watt or anything like that but on the other hand, I
don't want completely meaningless results either.

Fridges and freezers are on all the time, or should I say plugged in
all the time (I appreciate their thermostats switch them on and off
throughout the day and night). It would be interesting to know how
much they use.

I'm also curious to know how much it costs to run the dishwasher,
washing machine, tumble drier, etc. That said, I'm not sure the
results would change our habits: the clothes still need to be washed
and the food still needs to be chilled. Switching these off isn't
really an option!