Electric (Kill-a-Watt) question

Piwoslaw · 03-14-10, 10:48 AM

Today I used my kill-a-watt type energy meter to see how much electricity our washing machine needs for 1 cycle. When I hooked it up the washing machine was off, so I expected to see zeros, but that was not the case. It showed that the machine was pulling 0.033 ampers, but 0 watts. Here is more info:
Voltage between 231.4V and 233.4V
Current 0.033A
Frequency 50.10Hz
Power 0W
7.9VA
cos(phi) between 0.99 and 1.00

I know that W is usually not equal to VA, but is some function of VA and cos(phi). On the other hand, when the washing machine was spinning, cos(phi) was around 0.97 and W was almost equal to VA.

My question is: Does my washing machine consume power when "off", ie. when the meter reads 0W but 0.033A and 7.9VA?

Clev · 03-17-10, 11:47 AM

I just hooked up my Kill-A-Watt to our washing machine. I watched the current for two minutes and saw only zeroes.

03-14-10, 10:48 AM	#1
Piwoslaw Super Moderator Join Date: May 2009 Location: Warsaw, Poland Posts: 962 Thanks: 188 Thanked 110 Times in 86 Posts	Electric (Kill-a-Watt) question Today I used my kill-a-watt type energy meter to see how much electricity our washing machine needs for 1 cycle. When I hooked it up the washing machine was off, so I expected to see zeros, but that was not the case. It showed that the machine was pulling 0.033 ampers, but 0 watts. Here is more info: Voltage between 231.4V and 233.4V Current 0.033A Frequency 50.10Hz Power 0W 7.9VA cos(phi) between 0.99 and 1.00 I know that W is usually not equal to VA, but is some function of VA and cos(phi). On the other hand, when the washing machine was spinning, cos(phi) was around 0.97 and W was almost equal to VA. My question is: Does my washing machine consume power when "off", ie. when the meter reads 0W but 0.033A and 7.9VA?

03-17-10, 11:47 AM	#2
Clev Wannabe greenie Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Crestline, CA Posts: 74 Thanks: 1 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	I just hooked up my Kill-A-Watt to our washing machine. I watched the current for two minutes and saw only zeroes.