Whole house Watt meter

[Xringer]

Originally Posted by Exalta-STA

I see, thanks for the info. I guess I really have to invest in gadgets to accurately measure my power consumption

I just noticed that it only works with 115 volt appliances...the ones we have here are 220-240 volts...sigh

If you just want to know what the 230 loads are using in real-time, so you can get a reference usage,
Turn off all your other loads, at the breaker box, turn on the load and make it run at it's normal power, then go outside and read the watt hours off your meter.

It's not too hard to read, if you have one of the more modern digital meters.
I've posted instructions here somewhere..
It's not just accurate, it's exactly what you will be charged for..

Anyways, once you see that your dryer is using 4.3 kWh, you will then have
to get out your stop-watch on wash day..

[Exalta-STA]

Haha yes, the electricity provider installed digital poer meters to measure our consumption. Thanks for the tip.

And now I am using clotheslines to air dry our clothes

[Xringer]

Been reading mine for a while..
http://ecorenovator.org/forum/conser...-yourself.html

As I said above,
"It's not just accurate, it's exactly what you will be charged for.."

So, if you need to know exactly what a load is costing you,
A. You will need to know how much power it uses. (turn off everything else).
B. What your total cost per kWh is. (total bill/total kWh used).
C. How long your load is running.

If you buy a TED or other whole-house-meter, you can use
your power co. meter to determine the TED's accuracy.
Most Whole-House units can be calibrated.