Power Meter in Aldi next Sunday

Lakeuk

It runs of two button batteries that come with it and can be easily replaced

sanfly

bought one of these and confused by the readings there help line is non technical more or less told me tough when i asked a tec question, maybe somebody here knows?
1) My freezer is showing 70 watts when in use my volts are 232 and my current is 0.54, multiple the 2 and i get 125.28 watts, why the difference in watts?
2) The input for cost per Kwh shows 000.000, @ 16 pence per Kwh i guess my input of 000.160 is correct.
cheers

Cardew

You are quite right in that 0.54amps at a voltage of 232v is 125.28 - however technically it is 125.28va 'volt amps' which is not the same as watts when dealing with AC voltage.

I don't know how 'technical' you are but the difference will be the power factor. Without getting into the realms of electrical theory, an appliance with a low power factor(perfectly normal) will draw more current. Google Power factor if you want more information.

I dont have your meter - but mine measures both watts and va.(press the watts button again) As I sit typing this my meter is monitoring my PC and is reading 172 watts but 214va.

The good thing as far as domestic customers are concerned is that we are only charged for watts consumed - not volt amps.

To measure consumption of a freezer the only useful measurement is the cumulative kWh total as your compressor will switch on and off - see post #4. Presumably your 16p is for tier 1 price, you can't be paying more than 10p for the majority of your electricity?

sanfly

thanks Cardew, i can see the power factor on the meter so presumably multiplying that by the watts readings, will = the other, will have a go see what happens, yes you are right tier 1 price, really only interested in the KWH this new freezer uses to try and see if it is within the spec of hotpoint.

Cardew

sanfly wrote: »

thanks Cardew, i can see the power factor on the meter so presumably multiplying that by the watts readings, will = the other,

Not quite that simple I am afraid - the 'simple' explanation of Power Factor is here!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_factor

I wish the internet had been around when I was studying electrical theory!!

Fortunately Power factor and va are of no importance to domestic customers. Watts and kWh are what matter.

creddish

I bought one of the Aldi units on Sunday. Interesting little device.

Reading the Manual I could not see any instructions on resetting the "Max Amps" and "Max Watts" readings. These are retained even when the unit is removed from the power socket. I tried the Helpline (pleased to see it was an 0800 number) but they couldn't help. I suggested that removing the batteries does it but it's not a very convenient way to do it. That's the best option they offered. However, after playing around with it a bit more I discovered that pressing and holding the "Down Arrow" button for a few seconds does in fact reset these values.

Pressing and holding the "PRICE" button resets the consumption data. This is described in the Manual. Unfortunately it also resets the price data.

Colin

bertkwok

Hi folks,

We also bought one of these devices, and its been fun going around the plug points finding out how greedy each gizmo is.

Also some gymnastics and extension sockets were needed to get to some sockets.

I found this calculation -:

unit cost x power consumption in watts divided by 1000

So if your price per Kwh was 7p and the watts output of your device was 135w, your calculation would look like this.


7p X 135w / 1000 = 0.9 pence hour to run the said device.

Hope this is a help to some wanting a quick way to find out costs.

Also bear in mind that some devices regulate power usage, and so the watts may not always be constant. :beer:

thescouselander

Another money saving tip - some libraries are now lending out Energy Meters for free - they are definitely doing it round here (south glos.). Might be worth checking with your council to see if they have a similar scheme.

cepheus

thescouselander wrote: »

Another money saving tip - some libraries are now lending out Energy Meters for free - they are definitely doing it round here (south glos.). Might be worth checking with your council to see if they have a similar scheme.

Seems a sensible idea for those interested in real energy conservation.

Energy meters are OK for electricians, but surely householders don't need one each? Once you've measured your appliances that's it isn't it?

How much energy does it take to make an energy meter? Is this just another marketing ploy so you end up with another semi-useless peice of junk cluttering up your house?

Perhaps the council could run a sort of 'library' for all the things we rarely use and could just borrow when we need them, a bit like library books. Hire shops often charge a fair proportion of what the appliance is worth to buy outright.

needaspirin

Why resurrect a 2 year old thread?