[Shop-talk] power meters, TED

[Wayne]

On 6/17/2010 2:16 PM, Mike Rambour wrote:
> I was not going to say anything but since someone else has, I will too.
>   I don't understand the need for this thing, it will NOT tell you what
> is wasting energy, only that energy is being used. The Kill-A-Watt thing
> that you plug into individual plugs and can check actual appliance use

I have a kill-a-watt and it's good for checking individual 120V items.  You do need to leave it plugged in for like a week to get a good average of usage.  ie:  your fridge cycling off & on in response to different weekday / weekend usage as well as its defrost cycle.  Same applies to your TV, etc.  I read some dipshit's review praising how he measured his TV for 5 minutes and thus "knew exactly how much it cost per month"

My computers cost ~$5/each/month if left on constantly.  I put them in stand by now.  The fridge runs about $3/month.  What I've figured out is it's really the big stuff (HVAC, water heater, well and septic pumps) that are using the most.  But they're hard wired 240V.  The TED has some inductive pickup, so I figure you can put it across the mains and measure the whole house;  or hook it to an individual circuit (like the water heater.)  And for that I'd like to have one.

-Wayne