Power Monitoring/Reporting

Waffles on 07/01/2013 - 15:17

Hi Everyone,

I was thinking of doing some investigation of power usage in my household. I recall vaguely the concept of an adaptor of sorts that you put between a socket and your electronics to have a look at consumption.

I figure being able to see output by time over the course of a week or two would give me a sense of when I use electricity and how effective the "standby" modes of my various devices is.

What I would like to know is:

a) Does anyone have any recommendations of brands/devices for this?
b) Are these things accurate/effective?
c) Can they all provide "by hour" results?
d) Finally - anyone know of any current and decent deals?

Thanks

Electrical & Electronics

Comments

  • endotherm on 07/01/2013 - 17:25

    This deal is expired, but the comments are worth reading for an explanation on how these things work, and alternative devices and sellers. http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/71904

    You could monitor the whole-of-house with something like a centameter http://www.energymatters.com.au/clipsal-centameter-energy-mo… or if you have a smart meter on your house, you can theoretically monitor it in near real-time with a web portal or an in-home display (may not be available in all locations yet). http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/smart-meters/interactive-devices/i…

  • WT on 08/01/2013 - 14:04

    If you want a wall socket one, you can use either the jaycar one or the one they sell at mwave

    From memory, mwave was $15

    Jaycar was like $20 for 3 on sale. Gave one to dad, one to brother in law, one sits on one of my pc's

    Good to set up profiles on your monitor/tv.

    One thing I noticed, the kettle pulls more then 10A!!!

  • Guru-Choc on 13/01/2013 - 12:01

    http://www.cnet.com.au/belkins-new-power-saving-products-gli…

    Using a couple of them, seem to be fairly accurate, input your price for electricity and they give you average monthly and yearly cost. Reading the meter everyday because our bill averages 55kWh a day, I get nowhere near that, about 30-40 on average, no idea where most of the power goes still either :(

    As for the kettle pulling more than 10 amps, that depends on the voltage going into your house, power providers are now trying to guarantee 230V supply, in reality they struggle to get 220V and sometimes run as high 265V. So assuming a 2400w element in the kettle(should only be 2160w to comply with Australian wiring regs of 10% variance in voltage supply possibility, but most kettles don't), then 2400/240 = 10 amps, 2400/220 = 10.9 amps and 2400/265 = 9.05 amps. The lower th voltage coming into your house is the higher the amperage draw will be.

    G

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