Metering device?

[Anne Welsh Jackson]

Does anyone know if there's a device available which will meter the power usage from a single electrical point?

[MM]

I bought mine in Tschibo a couple of years ago. I believe they still have them. There's a Tschibo in Boston, Lincs, and another in Spalding's Springfields outlet shopping centre.

It's very useful. I have discovered exactly how much it costs to boil a kettle, do the hoovering, run a PC with and without the monitor switched on etc.

MM

[Bob Minchin]

Lots available to plug in to the front of the socket. Eg maplin sell them. If you want to wire something in then you need to make sure the ring main does not give you errors. The ones designed for whole house monitoring can be made to do the job. Make sure all live wires pass through the sensor loop - could be up to 3 on a ring socket with spur. Quite likely to need the wire length extending so not easy to do neatly.

Both types can be seen here

[George]

Is that with or without extras on the ringmain? you can buy a meter power usage that calculates all things that are powered on one specific ringmain and plugged into any socket but there is no device that will calculate a designated item on one specific socket.

[Anne Welsh Jackson]

Not too near Perth, then...

I'm needing to monitor the amount of electricity consumed by a steam generator iron, for a new venture I'm planning.

[Anne Welsh Jackson]

The premises I'm planning to rent comes with electricity supplied, so I just need to monitor the energy used by one single appliance, which might be 'high consumption'. Don't want the landlord complaining, so I'll offer to pay the extra charge for the extra energy consumed.

I think one of the 'el cheapo' models, mentioned by another poster, will do the job just fine.

[Bob Minchin]

One of the plug in ones will be ideal for that and quite accurate due to the type of load (no motors etc) Loads in the ebay link I sent earlier. Bob

[George]

So just use the steamer alone and then calculate from the meters readout.

ps if you're renting the preises then you are soley responsible for the electricity thats used regardless of what the landlord says,unless the electricity is included in the rent agreement?

[Anne Welsh Jackson]

That was the plan.

It is all-inclusive, but I don't want to over-do it! Must keep the landlord happy!

[Gordon Henderson]

I got one of these from Maplin some time back:

to do the job.

Gordon

[Anne Welsh Jackson]

Seems to do the job.

It doesn't look markedly different from the ones that Bob gave the e-bay URL for, does it?

[Peter Parry]

available at about £12. That particular model is accurate and reliable even on complex loads (It was one of a number tested by Elektor recently and my measurements are similar), others may be. The whole house monitors which clip over a supply line are significantly less accurate.

[Owain]

If the appliance is simple on/off control, rather than 'modulating' its comsumption, then an elapsed-hours timer on the appliance would probably be the most accurate way of determining its consumtion. It also shows you how much you've used the appliance which might be useful for servicing etc.

> Home > Process Control > Counters and Hour Meters

Owain

[Anne Welsh Jackson]

Being a steam generating iron, it will use less electricity when used on a lower setting, though? I'd rather count the amount of electricity used, than the number of hours. Just to make payment easier...

[Rob]

I noticed that - looks identical to the Maplin sourced one I have. It works fine btw, but I find the LCD display rather dim.

Rob

[AJH]

Like Rob mine had a faint LCD. It has ceased displaying completely now but before the end the voltage display indicated 340V suggesting a capacitor gone?? It is a Prodigit 2000MU and looks the same as the Maplin or CPC offering.

AJH

[Owain]

The heating element would be a constant load though, albeit cycled on and off by the thermostat, you just measure how many hours the element is on for.

Owain