My 27Kw Real Time Energy Usage...

[eveares]

Just though I would see how much Power and Current I could pull with all my devices in my house switch on.

Photo below is from the dashboard of my Efergy Engage online whole-house energy monitor.

My Real Time Energy Usage

• eveares
• 17 Jun 2016

Comments welcome :)

Also worth noting that there was some devices I forgot to switch on and include in the test including; a 700W Spa Bath, 2000W Hair dryer, 250W worth of CFL studio lights, a 2500W Pressure washer, and about 1800W of Disco lights including a Smoke Machine.

Over a 110 Amps I pulled, if my Energy Monitor is accurate that is.

Regards: Elliott

 

[winston1]

You have been conned and wasted your money. That device measures current which by itself cannot tell how much power is being used.

Power = volts x amps x power factor.

Neither the voltage or power factor is measured.

 

[eveares]

On the Enage Effergy Dashboard, you enter your mains voltage. I have it set at 240V as my mains voltage generally hovers around 240V-243V (Measured with MM on several occasions).

True it does not take PF into account like other similar power meters, but then again I don't see how you could do that without taping into the local voltage source so you can correlate the voltage and current levels at a given point in the mains 50hz cycle.

Anyway, most of the devices I had loaded in my test were resistive. I will post back later of everything I had on during the test.

 

[eveares]

Edit: just realised something. Using my plugin power meter, my 70W HPS lamp reads 80W total power with a PF of 0.35, surely that does not mean the true power is only 28 Watts. I take it the current must of been just over 0.95 Amps which I did not check when measuring the Power and PF if the 70W HPS lamp.

 

[winston1]

Edit: just realised something. Using my plugin power meter, my 70W HPS lamp reads 80W total power with a PF of 0.35, surely that does not mean the true power is only 28 Watts. I take it the current must of been just over 0.95 Amps which I did not check when measuring the Power and PF if the 70W HPS lamp.

If it is a proper power meter the true power is 80 watts. 240x0.95x0.35 =79.8w.

 

[eveares]

Yea it's a true power meter, it's one of these.

 

[Doggit]

Is this really an exercise in just how much you're unnecessarily using, or how accurate your power meter is. Does the meter verify the number of Kw's you get charged for, or is it just showing the amount you're consuming at any one time.

 

[ericmark]

I can see how a power meter can alert one when something has been left on. However in my house at least there is always some power being used, be it items on charge or items on stand-by it never hits zero. So if the odd light was left on, it is unlikely I would realise due to power meter readings. So it would need to be something major like the oven. Can't leave rings on, they auto switch off after a set time.

As to the plug in energy meters, well yes they have a few uses, I have used mine to monitor the power used by the heater that keeps my brewing fridge at 20°C which let me work out average usage and so select a heater just big enough which in turn reduces the problem of over shoot. It actually worked out at 5W so I use an 8W bulb as a heater.

I have also used it with the refrigeration units, both to check insulation, if it fails the average usage goes up, although until the motor is running full time, unlikely it will be cost effective to replace it. And again to see power used cooling my beer, to work out the possible use of simple ice packs to cool instead of plugging in the fridge/freezer. It used 0.10 kWh in 4 days over the last hot spell we had.

Over the years I have found a few odd times when the label on the appliance did not reflect the power used. Fluorescent lamps caught me out, 60W 110 volt fitting using 0.8A for example, but used simple clamp on to find that. And mothers freezer running 24/7, turned out thermostat had failed. But in the main the energy meter just uses extra energy and eats up batteries, so really waste of time.

 

[Doggit]

Hah, my thought exactly Eric. Energy meters have been sold as a way of getting us to use less energy, but most people will look at them, and then walk away. In truth, they are best for the energy companies as being a cheaper way to get their meter readings, but at our expense, not theirs.

They are a complete and utter con, as you're either energy conscious, and don't need them, or you're using them for a quick bit of info. For the general Hoi Poloi, they're just useless.

 

[eveares]

Can't leave rings on

I amuse your talking about cooking rings, also called Hob's.

They are a complete and utter con, as you're either energy conscious, and don't need them, or you're using them for a quick bit of info. For the general Hoi Poloi, they're just useless.

I agree most what, but they may be useful if you have a large house and want to know if all your family is drawing to much power without going round the house and checking every device. My granddad, used to (and may do so) take his meter reading every day to see how much energy he had/has used day to day.

For the 27Kw I got in my original test; these are all the devices I had on in their highest/maximum setting.

Hob: 7.4Kw
Oven: 3.5Kw
Kettle: 3Kw
Toaster: 1.8Kw
Microwave: 1.4Kw
Grill: 2Kw
Pillar Drill: 350W
Iron: 2.4Kw
Hoover: 2.2Kw
TV: 330W
Fan Heater: 2Kw
UFH: 700W
House Lighting inc shed: 800W
Hi-Fi's: 100W Aprox
Computers/UPS's: 450W
Steam Mop: 1.6Kw

 

[EFLImpudence]

My granddad, used to (and may do so) take his meter reading every day to see how much energy he had/has used day to day.

What did he do with the information?

 

[eveares]

What did he do with the information?

Not sure, Think he just used to like to compare the day to day readings (the number his meter read) and see if he could collateral the difference in readings with his electrical usage habits.

He also struggles (or at least did a few years ago when he first started reading is meter regularly) to grasp that a Kwh is the unit of energy that domestic supplies are charged by, defined by the energy that a 1Kw resistive device uses over a one hour period.

In the past he has asked me things like "Is a 3Kw electric kettle very expensive to run?" without specifying a time period that it is on for. I have assume he struggled/struggles as energy usage is not something obviously visible and tangible like X litters of water.

 

[EFLImpudence]

In the past he has asked me things like "Is a 3Kw electric kettle very expensive to run?" without specifying a time period that it is on for.

You could have told him that it is cheaper than a 2kW one to heat the same amount of water due to less heat escaping.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Yet again I sit here wondering why anybody would ever need any kind of monitor to tell them to switch off stuff they don't need on.

 

[securespark]

I would find one useful for energy saving.

I would use it to alert me to the times when electricity usage increases, thus making me aware of the frequency of use of heavier appliances.