Kill A Watt - standard vs. EZ

Don't you have a lamp that you could use?

 

Doh!

 

My fridge (~5 years old) has a heater to keep the coils frost free. It works on a timer. That is what you might be seeing.

For my furnace I cheated and put it on a cord. I keep my Kill-A-Watt dedicated to the furnace.


If you really want to reduce your electric useage, buy one of these:

T.E.D. : Electricity Monitor, Energy Monitor, Power Monitor

This device is two parts. One part goes in your fuse panel. It is a measuring device two current measuring clamps - one for each phase. The other part is a plug-in display device. The data is run over your power lines.

The display box shows real-time power useage. It will also display kWh used for the day and for the month. It shows an estimated kWh total for the month. It will also show max/min/current voltage. You can also put in your tariff (rates) to calculate your costs.

It is essentially a MFD for your house. With it you will find phantom loads you might not have though of. And quickly see where costs add up.

With it I have reduced my consumption to about half (in winter and summer) and down to 25% for spring and fall!

It costs $150, but I probably paid for mine (in savings) in under 6 months.

 

For those pesky hard-wired or 220 VAC loads:

Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

You clamp it around one wire, measure the amps (approximately) and do the math. Try not to electrocute yourself

The Kill a watt is a much more elegant solution, but has limitations. A good toolbox will have both.

 

I've measured a bunch of CFLs and they really do save energy. The ones in my room are rated at 13w draw (65w output). They pull 11w with every bulb I tried. I then stuck the 2-way incandescent bulb back in and tested it. The incandescent bulb pulled 39w (30w output) on the low setting and 60-something on the high setting (70w) output.

I also tested some christmas lights and posted about em in another thread, here were my findings:

"I measured a set of traditional "small bulb" incandecent X-Mas lights with my Kill-A-Watt meter and with about 3 small strands on the tree it was pulling 139 watts. That is the equivilent to two 70watt incandecent lamps or 12.6 of the CFL bulbs PG&E donated to my school for me to give out to people on campus.

I have a hard time justifying running 3 strands of christmas lights when I picture 12 CFL bulbs burning in their place. Lots of wasted energy IMO."

"I just picked up some LED C9 christmas lights at ACE to try out. They are the C9 (large bulbs) type and were on sale for $8 for a 25 bulb strand.

I plugged them into my Kill-A-Watt meter and they do not pull enough current to register. "

 

Nice! Thanks for the link.

 

Um, Tony, we use a wide variety of calibrated/certified Fluke portable instruments, including amp-clamps and even portable scopes. They don't use dedicated plugs, like BacNET, but generic clamps/probes. The AEMC we use is still technically "portable" but of course a Fluke 335 is a hell of a lot smaller

You stated this device was going to be used at work. Unless ABB is financially on the rocks, just use the AEMC. What I like about using something like the AEMC is that you can monitor neutral and ground. You'd be surprised how much defective equipment is out there

 

I have been mulling over the PowerCost Monitor which seems to work in a similar fashion, except that the transmitter goes on the meter outside of your house.
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Looking at the T.E.D.,I think I like it a lot better, but I would be concerned about the extra cost of getting an electrician to install it.

 

To minimize electrocution options. Make items like the following to be able to use a clamp on Ammeter.

Note that the yellow 110V Plug/Recepticle allows "calibrating" other devices to your most accurate tool.

 

The meter on my house, and the central meter at my hobby farm, are Manitoba Hydro approved LCD meters. No mechanical wheel to read

 

I would suggest the TED. For small loads the wheel is going to turn too slow to be able to give good readings. The TED updates about once a second.

At night and when I'm gone I have my house down to about 30W total. (fridge and furnace not running) To get below that I'd have to kill the alarm clocks and the neon "night" switches. The wheel is barely turning at this low of a load.

I installed TED myself, but I'd suggest an electrician if you are at all uncomfortable working around live circuits. A competent electrician should be able to install it in 10-15 minutes. So you'd probably be at his minimum service charge.

 

what?

 

Beat's me

 

I have one. Have had it for about 7 months. It doesn't matter if you have a mechanical wheel or not. It will work with the led and the "eye".

It lets you know what the whole house is doing, the outside temp. Each month you need to reset it (oops forgot to do it) if you want to start at 0.00 for the running total.

It's not perfect, but it gets respectably close to the overall electric bill.

I think I paid 35 dollars for mine from some NSTAR promotion they were doing.

Steve in Grafton Ma
08 Mag Grey pkg 5

 

That was my first thought. Use a desk/table lamp to compare incandescent to CLF bulbs.

 

Watt??

Did I miss something?

 

The power meter at my hobby farm, and the one at my home, are certified by Manitoba Hydro. They don't have an LED and the don't have an "eye." There is a 6 digit LCD window that displays actual kwh usage. For example, 30,128 kmh

 

Although, I don't know what type of meter you really have as I can't see it I would find it hard to believe that is isn't one of the same types that everyone else uses.

Look at the installation guide. The LCD meters have an "eye" on them. It's in a different place for each meter.

http://www.save-electricity.ca/pdf/pcm2/installguide/BLI00194_E.pdf

Steve in N. Grafton Ma
08 MAG Grey Pkg 5

 

Thanks for the guide. I'm currently at the hobby farm. Went outside and carefully inspected my meter. I found what appears to be the "eye" but there is a plastic cover of some sort over it.

Why would there be a cover over this "eye?"