I have just recieved my plug in watt meter. Gonna put it to the test.

[amerikat]

I'll find out just how much electricity each device is drawing.

[gristy]

1. smart!

If you want to control something, you've got to be able to measure it first. Be sure to post a list for us when you're done. Test some lamps too... for calibration, if anything!

[amerikat]

2. I intend to test incandescent to fluorescent among other things

Ya can't beat real live test results.

[finecraft]

3. I bought my husband one of these three years ago

He has monitored everything in our house. He loves this thing. This week he is monitoring the clock radio in the bedroom. Last week it was the coffee pot. Beware- it is addictive :)

[amerikat]

4. strange, ugly and unpatrioric things are expossing them selves

from your cats asses....i'm sure the cats had the best intentions. Perhaps your cats will burry them in the garden real soon. As for me.......Pluging every devise in so I ncan know how much it draws.

[wakeme2008]

5. LOL do NOT plug that into your PC

you really do not want to know :)

[Massacure]

6. Especially with Doom 3 running with all graphics settings maxed out.

The meter would probably read pretty close to my PC's rated power supply of 600 watts.

[One_Life_To_Give]

18. Sounds high to me

IIRC The big consumption in the PC is the motors, HD/CD/DVD drives and the CRT.
My experience is that the digital designers typically require power supplies to be rated for steady state operation at their theoretical worst case impulse load. Which has lead to the 960W power supply never delivering more than 250W and the 200MHz system with LCD display drawing 47W. YMMV

[skids]

7. Been wishing for one of these...

With wireless or X10 for data-logging purposes. I suppose once Zigbee starts to hit shelves it
might happen. Really in a more sane world these things would be dirt cheap and ubiquitous.

[aztc]

8. This is FANTASTIC!

I really appreciate point-of-use solutions like this. Wouldn't it be great if new appliances all had a consumption meter built in. Especially if the readout could be programmed to display consumption in dollars and cents!

[NNadir]

9. This is a cool device! How much did it cost?

It offers an excellent opportunity to understand home power consumption.

[skids]

10. They're $30 at amazon.

For a premium, you can get one from another manufacturer that doesn't have to go inline and just clips on (uses a split core toroid inductor and assumes 120V, so not as accurate.)

It's good to see them that cheap. Still home automation integration is badly needed/overpriced.

[amerikat]

11. $28 free shipping from

http://supermediastore.com/power-surge.html It's $31 now. Still free shipping.

[amerikat]

12. A few test results for you all.

I plugged a few things into the "Kill A Watt" here are the results.

21" computer monitor. 87 watts. in standby mode .07 watts.

Lamp with 75 watt incandescent bulb. 75 watts.

Lamp with compact fluorescent bulb. 14 watts at start up 11 watts when warmed up.

Computer(AMD 64 bit with three hard drives) 86/121 watts. 86 watts at idle and up to 121 watts while crunching numbers or ever opening a new window. This surprised me, I didn't think the cpu and cooling fan working would have any noticeable effect on power consumption.

[Dead_Parrot]

13. They don't...

...but the transformer's a hog... :)

[Kolesar]

14. I borrowed one of those two years ago

Would you like me to type and post my data? I recall the PC+monitor was 140W and the 27" tv 190W.

[amerikat]

15. Sure. post the data.

Did it help you lower your electrical consumption?

[Kolesar]

16. Well, I watch less tv and surf the internet more

40 watts saved! Seriously, I have not had any major appliance acquistions since then. It did make a point for putting the tv, stereo, and charger-xfmrs on power strips so I can shut them down.

The data is on a ratty page in my inbox on my desk. It may be a while until I type it.

[amerikat]

17. Thanks, I'd like to see it when you get the time to type it in.(nt)