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UK diy (uk.d-i-y) For the discussion of all topics related to diy (do-it-yourself) in the UK. All levels of experience and proficency are welcome to join in to ask questions or offer solutions. |
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kwh
Has anyone else used the pluging power and energy monitor from maplins
? Does it measure the same as on the electricity meter ? ( Ive just got one for my pc..) Simon |
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wrote in message oups.com... Has anyone else used the pluging power and energy monitor from maplins ? Does it measure the same as on the electricity meter ? ( Ive just got one for my pc..) Simon Both types of meter only measure the current (Amps) and the Voltage to give a rough idea of the power (Watts) the appliance uses. These little individual ones can sometimes be useful if you want to argue with the Leccy Co. about a bill. :-P Voltage (V) multiplied by Amps (A) = Power (Watts) |
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In article .com,
wrote: Has anyone else used the pluging power and energy monitor from maplins ? Does it measure the same as on the electricity meter ? ( Ive just got one for my pc..) To measure how much the PC is using? It will tell you its power consumption in watts on the back. Although this is likely to be a maximum, I doubt it's that far out as an average. Especially if you include a CRT monitor. -- *If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done? Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
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Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
To measure how much the PC is using? It will tell you its power consumption in watts on the back. Although this is likely to be a maximum, I doubt it's that far out as an average. Especially if you include a CRT monitor. Well... PC mfrs have little incentive to put an accurate, representative, normal-case power consumption figure on their machines. OTOH, they have one incentive for putting a Big number on (Big = Better: This One Has A 400W PSU, This One Is Only 250W, So The 400W Must Be Better - More Powerful, More Room For Expansion, More To Boast About), and a contrary reason for putting a Small number reflecting Green Credentials - in which case they'll put a "takes as little as 20W font size=1in standby on a good day with a following wind/font" label. The more likely of the above is seeing the max power rating of the PSU. In reality, a "domestic" PC with one or two hard drives and an "ordinary" CPU will take sthg in the 150W-250W range, with another 30-50W for an LCD screen and maybe double that for a CRT. The Maplin box won't give especially accurate figures for a PC, because of the "weirdness" of the switched-mode PSU - unlike a nice resistive load like a lightbulb, you can argue for hours about how far the "real" power consumption of a PC with a SMPSU is compared to its supp-voltage x measured-current taken, and go on for longer still about peaks versus idling (are you running Prime95 while MP3-encoding a 100GB collection of music, striped across 5 10,000rpm HDs, or just doing Usenet?). Measuring the heat produced over an hour of representative running would be just about the most accurate way of measuring the power consumed, if you were really deeply interested! Stefek |
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Stefek Zaba wrote:
SNIP Measuring the heat produced over an hour of representative running would be just about the most accurate way of measuring the power consumed, if you were really deeply interested! Stefek Interesting idea! I might just drop my PC into a bucket and see how long it takes to boil 10l of water. HeHe :-) |
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Thanks for the replies, my PC is a home brewed thing , it was only one
of the things i wanted the monitor for anyway. Currently it's measuring the KWH of my electric blanket.. ( 0.06 kwh for 1 night!) It seems to give reasonable readings. With a kettle/ heater it was the same as on the lable of the appliance more or less. It's quite useful for checking how much an overnight heater is using as well. I don't know how accurate the power factor measurment is on somthing like this though, I was wandering since this is important to the KWH accuracy isn't it ? |
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hmm that going to be a test for when I'm *really* bored then, because
of the amount of devices plugged in on standby . not to mention my sky + .. Do some electricity meters behave differently then ? |
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