FYI--
After searching at length for a watt meter, i.e. to determine how much power my appliances are using (and to prove that the power company is reporting bogus information), I discovered the Kill-a-Watt by Ahern. It costed about $35 and so far it appears to be functioning perfectly.
Yep, that's a nice instrument. I have had one for about a year, and use it quite often on equipment that I'm working on. Always works, no hassle, no setup, no calibration. Always ready to go in a few seconds. Good investment if you need to know those things.
Having one has turned out to be quite interesting. We've resolved our problem with our power company (they overcharged by a factor of 3), but using the meter to measure the power use of everyday appliances has shown that the ratings on the back of devices aren't always accurate.
For instance, a TV rated at 120 VAC and 1.5 amps should use up to 180 watts using the simple P=VA equation. However it only uses 85 W on average. Similarly our desktop computer is rated at 240 W but uses about 80 W even when the CPU is 100% occupied. Meanwhile the printer while it's on standby is a mere 4 watts.
A laptop computer meanwhile varies quite a lot: running the CPU at 100% with the screen on uses 55 W; with the screen saver on, 30 W, and with the screen on but CPU utilization reduced it uses only 23 W.
it
no
watts
? Depends on power factor. It could be zero watts at 1.5 amps (although I *very* much doubt it.)
No it doesn't, irrespective of the power factor the TV should use up to 180 watts.
In article , snipped-for-privacy@mail.com mentioned...
That's really a rip-off. You should have that one written up in the newspaper and it should be a consumer piece on your local TV news. Let everyone else know that they may be getting overcharged, too.
That's the way it should be. The rating should be the absolute maximum and should never be exceeded, and the normal operating current should always be lower than the rating.
[snip]180
If the TV is rated at 120VAC and 1.5 amps you have no idea what the watts are other than it may be any number between 0 and 180.
180
Which is exactly what the first post said
Please elaborate on the power company overcharge. How did it happen, did they correct the source of the error, and did they refund the amount you were overcharged.
I'm particulary curious about this, as documented events of this sort of vanishingly rare.
Harry C.
Not that rare.
They upgraded our meters for remote sensing and that resulted in $300/month bills that should have been a third of that.
I guess they wanted to downsize the meter reader people.
If we hadn't complained they would never have fixed the problem.
This is a normal upgrade in most parts of the country, and generally doesn't result in an overcharge.
So how did they fix the problem, did you get a refund from the electric company?
Harry C.
They probably installed the wrong current transformers for the meter.
Actually, it appears NOT. We are quite alarmed by the latest bill. It appears they said one thing and did another.
That's PECO for you.
Picture yourself pounding you head against a rock wall, just to hear the sound that it makes.
That's what dealing with a utility company is like!
Harry C.
Yeah...makes me want to go off-grid.
Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.
Ask the community — no account required