How to measure electricity consumption without a monitor

isaac12345

Hi,

Recently I thought of measuring the amount of electricity my dryer consumes and I thought of simply turning it on for a minute and see the change in the meter. But I stood there for 5 minutes and it never changed. I assume that the refresh rate of the reading is more than 5 minutes.

Now I cant think of any other way of measuring the consumption without buying a monitor , which is quite out of my budget at the moment or looking at the manual.

Any suggestions?

Ich_2

A 2.5kW dryer will use about one unit every 24 minutes

utility_csa

Watch the red pulse output light.

Count these over a minute, multiply this by the time your dryer is on.

Usually 1000 pulses = 1kw.

macman

Look at the rating plate on the appliance (they all have them). Each kW (1000W) will cost x pence per hour, x being the cost of one unit on your particular tariff.

whowants2brich

This only works for items which are constantly drawing the same electricity (eg a halogen heater without a thermostat, a lightbulb, etc) But for things like a dishwasher, washing machine, tumble-drier or thermostat-controlled radiator, then this doesn't hold.

The first minutes straight after turning on the appliance will heat up the air/water/unit to a set temperature, and then cut out - this uses a lot of electricity. While the temperature cools down, or the programme runs, the unit will not use nearly as much electricity - until more heat is required. For a dishwasher or washing machine, a large amount of the electricity used is to heat up the water for the main wash cycle, and then the drying cycle at the end (if there is one). The bit in the middle for the actual washing, the spinning of the drum or the blades to circulate the water really doesn't use that much electricity.

All I'm saying is... for these appliances, you have 3 options:

a) take a base meter reading with everything else in the house off. take another reading once the machine has finished the load, and calculate the difference. note that if anything else is running, eg a motor for the central heating pump, or a light or the fridge/freezer, then this will not be accurate.

b) buy a plug-in monitor and see the reading.

c) download or acquire the user manual for the machine in question, it will have a page which details the electricity (and usually water) consumption for the various programmes.

S0litaire

Meters refresh the readings every few hours or after 1Kwh is used (I've never seen my digital meter change but i check it 2 or 3 times a day when passing it and it's usually a bit difference.

Check Ebay for a cheep Meter. it's worth the outlay! I got one for £5+p&p ( It was one of the monitors SKY gave out to it's customers a few years back, The owner never used it.)
Found the same type of meter on Ebay:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sky-Electricity-Power-Energy-Monitor-Meter-save-money-your-utility-bills-/300624918247?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Test_Measurement_Equipment_ET&hash=item45fea436e7

But just changed to pre-pay and the meter is very useful ^_^

victor2

Monitors capable of measuring the electricity used by an individual appliance, so long as it has a regular 13 amp plug on it, can be obtained for less than a tenner on your favourite auction site, such as this one. They can be used to measure the total power used for one complete cycle, and are usually accurate enough for the type of thing you want to do.