Is anyone aware of a device that you plug into a wall socket and then plug your appliance into that and it measures the "cost" of running the appliance?
I would imagine this as a relatively simple and very useful device, and therefore likely to be in existence, but I just haven't seen one for sale.
Joe
Excellent! Thank you...EXACTLY what I was looking for!
Joe
No probs mate. You might want to google the product name to see if anyone sells it for less - smarthome tends to markup quite a bit. I usually use them as a catalog to see if something even exists, and then go find it elsewhere (ebay, mfr, etc) to actually buy it.
For anyone interested in this device, I found it for $27.50 (some places sell if for $40) at:
Joe
oops
In fact, the Kill-A-Watt will accumulate kWh over time, so you can leave it plugged in for a while and the figure the average usage per day or week.
My big complaints are that it doesn't store peak usage (which would be useful for planning emergency backup power) and the kWh total can't be reset without killing power to the appliance. It's also darn hard to read from a distance or an angle and it blocks both plugs in a duplex outlet, but putting it on an extension cord solves those.
Chip C
Very good site, thanks. Anymore other site for DVD burners?
Thanks, I mean DVD burner. Do you have good sites or deal with any honest ebay seller? I hang around ebay waiting for a chance to buy a "reasonable" price two-layer DVD burner.
I have one on the way off eB ay , slightly under $30 delivered Amazon had em just under 30 shipped free too.
There's a better one that apparently stores data and plugs into a computer serial port for interesting detail, can be had under $50 at auction... wish I had one to tinker with, but thirty bucks is a lot for tinkering when I can guestimate for free.
Dual layer DVD burners are very cheap. It's the damn media that is too expensive. About $10 a disk.
Nifty idea. The biggest energy users are probably the most difficult to figure though. If you plug in a refrigerator, you get a reading while it runs, but no way of telling how long it will run on a given day. Or how often an AC compressor will cycle, etc.
Radio Shack used to sell them, but once they are gone, they don't anymore. I got the last one my local store had.
Instead of using electronics for the measurement, why not use a regular kWh meter. All you need is the meter, meter base, a board to mount it on, a cord and a box with outlets. Plug into the wall and plug the appliance into it. You can get watt-hour meters off the internet. I use one all the time to measure power consumption of various electrical devices.
Forty bucks is about right. I got one on Ebay. someday I'm going to put it on my fridge. Probably scare me too much.
Called a Kill A Watt, and available at Radio Shack.
Unless you are in an all gas house, you will miss the very large contribution stove/oven, water heater and maybe electric heat.
Charlie
Me too. Boy, wait until you see how much power your television is consuming while it's "turned off". (not to mention the igniter on a gas range).
Drifter "I've been here, I've been there..."
Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.
Ask the community — no account required