Ira Posted May 2, 2008 Report Share Posted May 2, 2008 Yes, tells you the current voltage, amp draw and total KW/HR consumed. A few other things too, iirc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bichon Posted May 2, 2008 Report Share Posted May 2, 2008 Try this http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/p ... _costs.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim r Posted May 2, 2008 Report Share Posted May 2, 2008 My last power bill was $550 ( maybe I need to take less showers or stop washing the dishes :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slightly Blue Dalmation Posted May 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2008 cool, thanks bichon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted May 3, 2008 Report Share Posted May 3, 2008 i didnt know u could get those! i was talking about doiin it the old skool way using a clip-on ammeter and using power = voltage xcurrent converting it into Kwh and x the cost per unit, so these gadgets work out the Kwh or the rough amount in money that the appliances use? Just be wary of doing it this way as you're not taking the power-factor of any items into account. You are actually measuring kVA, not kW. In most cases it will be close enough but if you have a lot of pumps you could be out by 30%. The plug-in style meters measure the phase angle between the voltage and current and compensate for power factor... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwalk Posted May 3, 2008 Report Share Posted May 3, 2008 Hi, I've got a power usage meter hooked up to my 150L tank, which has an air pump, dual 60cm lamps, 150w Jager heater and a fluval 205 ext filter hooked up to it. I'll reset the meter now, and tell you how many Kw are used in a 24hr period tomorrow night. Multiply that by the kwh price and you'll have a close estimate for a 150l tank. I can do this on 165l and 130l tanks if you want as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted May 3, 2008 Report Share Posted May 3, 2008 Just be wary of doing it this way as you're not taking the power-factor of any items into account. You are actually measuring kVA, not kW. In most cases it will be close enough but if you have a lot of pumps you could be out by 30%. The plug-in style meters measure the phase angle between the voltage and current and compensate for power factor... The warehouse one has a display for power factor. But...It always stays at 1.00 as far as I can see. So it may not be correcting for it. But...It's $15, you want laboratory grade accuracy go get yourself a second mortgage and buy the gear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted May 3, 2008 Report Share Posted May 3, 2008 Good point - you can't expect too much from a $15 device. Our cheap power quality meters start at about $6K... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwalk Posted May 4, 2008 Report Share Posted May 4, 2008 Using my elto power meter, hoping it is semi accurate , i recorded 2.8 kwh over a 24hr period. The tank size and specs are: 130l Aqua one tank on Polystyrene, 150w Jager Heater Double 15w Light hood, 30w total, on timer 11hr day 10w Fluval 205 external Filter Fish 1 x Red spot Plec 2 x Bristlenoses 5 x Striata loaches 1 x Male Siamese Fighter 4 x Pearl Gourami's 1 x Siamese algae eater 2 x Bronze Cories. Plus 8 est plants, Hope this info is of use to someone, I can test a bigger tank anytime, PM me if you want Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon1990 Posted May 4, 2008 Report Share Posted May 4, 2008 Where did you get your meter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwalk Posted May 4, 2008 Report Share Posted May 4, 2008 I got my meter from Bunnings palmerston north for about $18, a lot cheaper than DSE, who for the same thing want $29! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMAZONIAN Posted May 4, 2008 Report Share Posted May 4, 2008 Hi All. I run 50 tanks and my power bill for the coldest time of the year is only about $54.00 per month. In the summer it is only an extra $12.00 per month. Thats economy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted May 4, 2008 Report Share Posted May 4, 2008 Thats not economy, thats insulation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted May 5, 2008 Report Share Posted May 5, 2008 Just swapped mine over to my 4 foot tank, at the moment it's using about 325 watts. I'll check tomorrow at about the same time see what the total power usage is. I expect it will end up somewhere around 5 kw hours. If it stays at 325 watts constant that would be Ahhh...$43/month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted May 6, 2008 Report Share Posted May 6, 2008 Oops, forgot to check it at 12:30, so I'm an hour late. Reading is 6.7 kw/hr, so let's call it 6.5 per 24 hours. That would be $35/month. For a 440L tank, two cannisters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMAZONIAN Posted May 7, 2008 Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 Hi Allm I forgot to add that 98% of the tank heaters are only 55 watts and the other 2% are 100 watts. It was calculated be me when building the room that the heaters would have about a 12% duty cycle over 12 hours, which is about 2.7 hours running per day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richms Posted May 16, 2008 Report Share Posted May 16, 2008 Those elto meters give stupid values for anything with a switching power supply, its like its not properly calculating the watts averaged, and is just averaging the voltage and current and then muliplying. Apparently my magnetically ballasted fluros use 83 watts for the 2 of them (36 watts) yet my electronic ones which run cooler are taking close to 100. Power factor that it reports will not go below 70ish, its on 100 for things I know have crap power factor. Useless for computers, quite accurate on my 1000 watt halogen worklight and a heater. I worked out its about 80c/day for my 3 tanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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