watt meters

[Tom Del Rosso]

I want a watt meter, but the prices are all over the place. Some are too
cheap to be good. The one that Big Clive uses is nice but maybe more
expensive than necessary to get basic accuracy and reliability. I don't
see any that look like it anyway. At what price point do they transition
from good to worthless?

--
Defund the Thought Police

[Phil Allison]

Tom Del Rosso wrote:

====================

> I want a watt meter,

** Watt for?

> but the prices are all over the place.

** Bullshit.

> Some are too cheap to be good.

** More bullshit.

>The one that Big Clive uses is nice but maybe more
> expensive than necessary to get basic accuracy and reliability. I don't
> see any that look like it anyway. At what price point do they transition
> from good to worthless?

** Sure - lots of folk here have bought many, many such meters in order to compare performance and value.

JUST IN CASE some fucking nut job like you asked this very question.




.... Phil

[Trevor Wilson]

**I use a couple of these on my bench:

https://au.banggood.com/PZEM-028-AC-40-400V-100A-Digital-Multimeter-Voltage-Current-Power-Meter-Electrical-Instrument-Power-Factor-Meter-p-1790201.html?imageAb=1&rmmds=myorder&cur_warehouse=CN&DCC=AU&currency=AUD&akmClientCountry=NL

They're cheap and work fine.

[Michael Trew]

I use this Kill-A-Watt meter for testing appliances. It displays the
current Wattage/Amperage draw and kWh. It is reasonably priced to boot.

It is available from many retailers, but here's an example:

https://www.harborfreight.com/kill-a-watt-electric-monitor-93519.html

[Tom Del Rosso]

Thanks but I forgot to mention it should have an outlet rather than a
terminal block.

[Tom Del Rosso]

Thanks. I wanted confirmation that one of the inexpensive ones has been
tested and approved. The $17 models might still be crap but if this is
above that price point then that's what I needed to know.

[Trevor Wilson]

**Ah. Since this is a technical group, I assumed....

[Tom Del Rosso]

Thanks anyway, but if a device has a plug I'm not going to chop it off
just to be technical. :)

[Trevor Wilson]

**Nor do I. I have one permanently wired into my variable
auto-transformer (aka: Variac™), so I can monitor power consumption, as
I slowly wind up the juice.

[danny burstein]

[snip]

>> I use this Kill-A-Watt meter for testing appliances. It displays the
>> current Wattage/Amperage draw and kWh. It is reasonably priced to
>> boot.
>> It is available from many retailers, but here's an example:
>>
>> https://www.harborfreight.com/kill-a-watt-electric-monitor-93519.html

>Thanks. I wanted confirmation that one of the inexpensive ones has been
>tested and approved. The $17 models might still be crap but if this is
>above that price point then that's what I needed to know.

There are a bunch of Kill-a-watt brand name meters. The
basic one typicaly sells for about $25 and is available
at lots of places, including (sometimes) Harbor Freight.

I've been using them for two decades and have been quite
satisfied with them.

(Back when Usenet was still a thing people in the
various household, energy, and similar groups would
constantly reference them).

So yeah, that's the way to go.

One issue is that most of their models reset
to "zero" if you unplug it, so you have to
place it inline with your load in a location
where you can see the display. SOme of them
do (or at least did...) have the ability to
"lock" those readings and hold them if you
moved it off the outlet and then plugged it
in elsewhere.

(I last used one of those a decade ago..)



--
_____________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
dan...@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]

[Phil Allison]

Trevor Wilson wrote:
=================

>
> >
> **I use a couple of these on my bench:
>
> https://au.banggood.com/PZEM-028-AC-40-400V-100A-Digital-Multimeter-Voltage-Current-Power-Meter-Electrical-Instrument-Power-Factor-Meter-p-1790201.html?imageAb=1&rmmds=myorder&cur_warehouse=CN&DCC=AU&currency=AUD&akmClientCountry=NL
>
> They're cheap and work fine.

** I note the ferrite ring used for current sensing.

With just one pass through, the unit is not very sensitive.
With 10 turns of 1sq.mm enameled copper instead or as well - it acquires a new purpose at mW levels.



..... Phil

[Trevor Wilson]

**Good thinking. I'm pleased I bought two. Best of all, none of those
horrible LCDs. Proper LED display. Fast and readable.

[Phil Allison]

Trevor Wilson wrote:
=================
>
> >>>
> >> **I use a couple of these on my bench:
> >>
> >> https://au.banggood.com/PZEM-028-AC-40-400V-100A-Digital-Multimeter-Voltage-Current-Power-Meter-Electrical-Instrument-Power-Factor-Meter-p-1790201.html?imageAb=1&rmmds=myorder&cur_warehouse=CN&DCC=AU&currency=AUD&akmClientCountry=NL
> >>
> >> They're cheap and work fine.
> >
> > ** I note the ferrite ring used for current sensing.
> >
> > With just one pass through, the unit is not very sensitive.
> > With 10 turns of 1sq.mm enameled copper instead or as well - it acquires a new purpose at mW levels.
> >
>
> **Good thinking. I'm pleased I bought two.

** That is how my two range " RMS Current Monitor" operates.
See EA magazine, May 1997.

> Best of all, none of those
> horrible LCDs. Proper LED display.

** You on drugs ?

the display is very clearly LCD - with an orange backlight.



.... Phil

[Peter W.]

You have not stated the purpose. If it is for monitoring basic consumption of an appliance of some sort, about any cheap plug-in device will work reasonably well. Say... US$20 or so from Amazon.

If you are looking to see what your entertainment system is using and wish to add surge protection, then one of these: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71MnT9n5upL._AC_SL1500_.jpg also from Amazon is useful. I keep one for the main system and it does work nicely.

If you are looking for a bench tool and also for isolation, then look at something like this: https://www.byan-roper.org/steve/steve-at-play/antique-electronics-and-2/heathkit-ip-5220-variable.html I keep two. One permanently on the bench, one in the travel kit.

Please ignore the Drongo from Down-Under. It is off its meds and aging out, a wretched and pitiful combination.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

[Trevor Wilson]

**Oops. [Smacks head]. Must be the drugs.

[Trevor Wilson]

On 15/01/2022 9:27 pm, Phil Allison wrote:

**Seriously, I kinda mixed them up with this one. I bought one of these
initially:

https://www.banggood.com/Geekcreit-3-in-1-AC-60-500V-100A-Voltmeter-Ammeter-HZ-Hertz-Frequency-Meter-22mm-Digital-Current-Voltage-Amp-Signal-Light-LED-Lamp-Indicator-with-CT-p-1548114.html?rmmds=myorder&cur_warehouse=CN&ID=229

But I preferred the LCD ones.

Thanks for the correction.

[Michael Trew]

On 1/15/2022 0:50, danny burstein wrote:
> [snip]
>
>>> I use this Kill-A-Watt meter for testing appliances. It displays the
>>> current Wattage/Amperage draw and kWh. It is reasonably priced to
>>> boot.
>>> It is available from many retailers, but here's an example:
>>>
>>> https://www.harborfreight.com/kill-a-watt-electric-monitor-93519.html
>
>> Thanks. I wanted confirmation that one of the inexpensive ones has been
>> tested and approved. The $17 models might still be crap but if this is
>> above that price point then that's what I needed to know.

You're welcome. I'm happy with the $25 or so Kill-A-Watt for my
purposes, testing appliances.

> One issue is that most of their models reset
> to "zero" if you unplug it, so you have to
> place it inline with your load in a location
> where you can see the display. SOme of them
> do (or at least did...) have the ability to
> "lock" those readings and hold them if you
> moved it off the outlet and then plugged it
> in elsewhere.

Mine, in the $25 ball-park range, immediately resets when unplugged.