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Author Kill-A-Watt Meters on E-Bay.
Richard P.

2007-05-19, 8:25 pm

Just a quick question to the group. Is $24.00 US for a Kill-A-Watt meter a
good price? Thinking of picking one up to monitor the actual power
consumption of some of my appliances and devices.

Thanks!


Vaughn Simon

2007-05-19, 8:25 pm


"Richard P." <not@home.eh> wrote in message
news:RCL3i.197176$DE1.95717@pd7urf2no...
> Just a quick question to the group. Is $24.00 US for a Kill-A-Watt meter a
> good price? Thinking of picking one up to monitor the actual power
> consumption of some of my appliances and devices.


I might be funny about these things, but something like that I would rather
buy from a "real" retailer rather than on e-bay. Google around, there is
nothing fantastic about that price. $18.99 here: http://tinyurl.com/2xfpd5

Vaughn


>
> Thanks!
>
>



Richard P.

2007-05-20, 3:25 am

Thanks... I just went with what I was familiar with (i dont normally shop
online).


"Vaughn Simon" wrote in message

> I might be funny about these things, but something like that I would
> rather buy from a "real" retailer rather than on e-bay. Google around,
> there is nothing fantastic about that price. $18.99 here:
> http://tinyurl.com/2xfpd5



CJT

2007-05-20, 3:25 am

Richard P. wrote:

> Just a quick question to the group. Is $24.00 US for a Kill-A-Watt meter a
> good price? Thinking of picking one up to monitor the actual power
> consumption of some of my appliances and devices.
>
> Thanks!
>
>

I think that's about what they cost at Harbor Freight.

--
The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to
minimize spam. Our true address is of the form che...@prodigy.net.
Mike Payne

2007-05-20, 8:25 pm

You might also want to check out www.theenergydetective.com

They sell a whole house real time energy monitor.

mike


"Richard P." <not@home.eh> wrote in message
news:RCL3i.197176$DE1.95717@pd7urf2no...
> Just a quick question to the group. Is $24.00 US for a Kill-A-Watt meter
> a good price? Thinking of picking one up to monitor the actual power
> consumption of some of my appliances and devices.
>
> Thanks!
>
>



[SPICEISLE.COM] Brian Steele

2007-05-21, 5:25 pm

Are there any 220V versions of the Kill-A-Watt Meter?


Regards,
Brian


nicksanspam@ece.villanova.edu

2007-05-21, 5:25 pm

[SPICEISLE.COM] Brian Steele <brian@spiceisle.com> wrote:

>Are there any 220V versions of the Kill-A-Watt Meter?


Yes.

Nick

[SPICEISLE.COM] Brian Steele

2007-05-21, 5:25 pm


<nicksanspam@ece.villanova.edu> wrote in message
news:f2t0d6$7mk@acadia.ece.villanova.edu...
> [SPICEISLE.COM] Brian Steele <brian@spiceisle.com> wrote:
>
>
> Yes.
>
> Nick
>


Any links you can share? I'm trying to find one that I can order online.


Thanks!
Brian


nicksanspam@ece.villanova.edu

2007-05-21, 5:25 pm

[SPICEISLE.COM] Brian Steele <brian@spiceisle.com> wrote:

>
>Any links you can share? I'm trying to find one that I can order online.


I don't remember where I saw them, but I found some by googling. They look
like the US version, but with a UK-style receptacle on the face.

Nick

Eeyore

2007-05-21, 5:25 pm



"[SPICEISLE.COM] Brian Steele" wrote:

> Are there any 220V versions


You mean notionally 230V presumably ?


> of the Kill-A-Watt Meter?


Yes.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PLUG-IN-ELECT...1QQcmdZViewItem

UK model


Graham

[SPICEISLE.COM] Brian Steele

2007-05-21, 8:25 pm


<nicksanspam@ece.villanova.edu> wrote in message
news:f2t3eb$7nm@acadia.ece.villanova.edu...
> [SPICEISLE.COM] Brian Steele <brian@spiceisle.com> wrote:
>
>
> I don't remember where I saw them, but I found some by googling. They look
> like the US version, but with a UK-style receptacle on the face.
>
> Nick
>


Found this:
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Search.aspx...&source=15&SD=Y


Regards,
Brian


Eeyore

2007-05-21, 8:25 pm



"[SPICEISLE.COM] Brian Steele" wrote:

> Found this:
> http://www.maplin.co.uk/Search.aspx...&source=15&SD=Y


There's a cheaper buy it now on ebay.co.uk (posted in this thread) for a similar
device.

Graham

[SPICEISLE.COM] Brian Steele

2007-05-21, 8:25 pm

"Eeyore" <rabbitsfriendsandrelations@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:46521F15.41AC4571@hotmail.com...
>
>
> "[SPICEISLE.COM] Brian Steele" wrote:
>
>
> There's a cheaper buy it now on ebay.co.uk (posted in this thread) for a
> similar
> device.
>
> Graham
>

Unfortunately the seller only ships to UK and Ireland :-(.

Gonna see if I can get one of my UK contacts to pick one up and send it to
me here in Grenada, West Indies...

Thanks,
Brian


GregP

2007-05-25, 3:25 am

On May 19, 5:28 pm, "Vaughn Simon" <vaughnsimonHATESS...@att.FAKE.net>
wrote:
> "Richard P." <n...@home.eh> wrote in message
>
> news:RCL3i.197176$DE1.95717@pd7urf2no...
>
>
> I might be funny about these things, but something like that I would rather
> buy from a "real" retailer rather than on e-bay. Google around, there is
> nothing fantastic about that price. $18.99 here:http://tinyurl.com/2xfpd5
>
> Vaughn
>


It seems a bit extravagant and unnecessary to me. The wattage can
easily be computed by multiplying volts times amps. If that's not
good enough, a clamp-around ammeter will do the job (only 1 required).

David Williams

2007-05-25, 3:25 am

-> It seems a bit extravagant and unnecessary to me. The wattage can
-> easily be computed by multiplying volts times amps. If that's not
-> good enough, a clamp-around ammeter will do the job (only 1
-> required).

That works for DC, but not necessarily for AC. If the voltage and
current are not exactly in phase with each other, so the maximum
current occurs exactly simultaneously with the maximum voltage and so
on, the average power over a complete AC cycle is *not* the product of
the RMS voltage and the RMS current. The power is less than the
product. If the load is purely inductive, so the voltage leads the
current by 90 degrees of phase, or purely capacitive, so the current
leads the voltage by 90 degrees, the power is *zero*, although both the
RMS voltage and the RMS current are non-zero.

In practice, things like motors are substantially inductive, as are
transformers.

A good wattmeter compensates for phase shifts, and measures true power.

dow
Eeyore

2007-05-25, 3:25 am



GregP wrote:

> It seems a bit extravagant and unnecessary to me. The wattage can
> easily be computed by multiplying volts times amps.


NO !

That's *apparent power* not watts at all.

True watts / apparent power = power factor

Graham

Vaughn Simon

2007-05-25, 9:25 am


"GregP" <Gregp507@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1180060118.164526.302670@u36g2000prd.googlegroups.com...
> It seems a bit extravagant and unnecessary to me. The wattage can
> easily be computed by multiplying volts times amps. If that's not
> good enough, a clamp-around ammeter will do the job (only 1 required).


$20.00 seems extravagant? How much do you pay for a clamp ammeter?

Actually, a clamp ammeter and a calculator won't come close to doing the
job of a Kill-a-watt because normally you don't want to know just watts, you
want watt-hours over a typical time period. That means you would also need to
stand there all day with a stopwatch to record how long the load was on the line
and then do a bit more math.

An example; my KAW told me the truth about a new super-duper high
efficiency portable air conditioner that I bought for my bedroom. Turns out
that it used more power in a typical night than the old plain-Jane window unit
that it promised to replace. Thanks to the KAW, it is history.

Finally, I have never felt any particular need to own more than one
Kill-a-watt.


>



Steve Spence

2007-05-31, 9:25 am

Then you do not understand what a kill-a-watt meter does.

It's a ah meter with pf and freq monitoring as well. Well worth the $20 or
so that folks pay for it.

--
Steve Spence
Director, Green-Trust
http://www.green-trust.org
"GregP" <Gregp507@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1180060118.164526.302670@u36g2000prd.googlegroups.com...

> It seems a bit extravagant and unnecessary to me. The wattage can
> easily be computed by multiplying volts times amps. If that's not
> good enough, a clamp-around ammeter will do the job (only 1 required).
>



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