Gosh $25 a month if you leave AV on standby... Really ?

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wmoore

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Topic # 14985 29-Jul-2007 23:21

Gosh didn't realise my CD, DVD, TV, and Amp left on standby was costing me that much.....or are they ?????

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Nety

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Reply # 80294 30-Jul-2007 06:22

Depends a LOT on the device. Anything from 1 watt for my rear pro TV up to I think around 30 watts for our large CRT

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allstarnz

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Reply # 80316 30-Jul-2007 10:57

i got a copy of Computerbild from someone who was over in Germany recently. They did a whole lot of tests of screens. It seems for LCD's, only about 1 watt is used when they are on standby.

sbiddle

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Reply # 80321 30-Jul-2007 11:21

I can't recall the name of the device but there is a NZ made unit that clamps onto your incoming feed into your meter and can give you a realtime figure of your current power consumption. It's a very handy tool for measuring wasted electricity in a house.

nutbugs

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Reply # 80339 30-Jul-2007 12:44

Called Centameter I think. Can clip it on leads to individual appliances too I think to identify the high users.

rhysb

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Reply # 80410 30-Jul-2007 16:45

Where did you get those figures from vmoore? Just curious

Jama

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Reply # 80414 30-Jul-2007 16:59

A single 100W light bulb left switched on for 24 x 7 consumes around 72kWh which is about $12.00 per month, plus GST.

Mik_Man

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Reply # 81344 6-Aug-2007 20:16

If anyone is interested, centameter can be found at the following link...........

http://www.centameter.co.nz/

richms

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Reply # 81382 7-Aug-2007 00:39

The centameter has really bad accuracy at the low end of the scale, also it doesnt account for the reactive component of the power usage, or any non linear loads. Its great for getting an idea of the cost of the whole house as you turn big loads on and off, but useless for seeing what one or 2 small things are drawing. Plus it has no idea of voltage, so as that changes thruout the day (with the corresponding change in power being a square function because of ohms law) it can end up with a 10% error without even trying.

Richard rich.ms

cyril7

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Reply # 81404 7-Aug-2007 08:31

You can buy an electronic class1 (+-1%) power meter for a sixth the price of that centameter and it will accurately track down to 1watthr, however it will still only measure active power (not reactive) but would be a lot more informative than that device, requires you wire it in which is likley to be a problem for some.

Cyril

richms

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Reply # 81412 7-Aug-2007 09:28

You don't want reactive measured, since you don't pay for it. The centameter is just a amp-hour meter with a fixed multiplier (possibly you can set it, I don't know), so will end up counting reactive if there is an overall component. Also with small switching power supplies (and energy saving lights) typically being a directly rectified AC input connected to a capacitor, it will charge at an indeterminate point of the AC wave, as the supply exceeds the voltage in the capacitor, when this happens will depend on the size of the cap and the loading on it so will vary heaps, there is no way for an accumulating amp-hour meter to know what the voltage is at this time in order to be able to accurately calculate the power. I suspect from what I saw of the centameter and the other one thats similar that the clamp module just transmits an average amperage for the last X seconds about every 3 seconds since turning on a big load shows it count up over about 3 samples to the new $/hr reading.

Richard rich.ms

cyril7

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Reply # 81413 7-Aug-2007 09:33

As I said a $30 electronic class1 meter is alot more informative.

Cyril

Bung

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Reply # 81418 7-Aug-2007 10:06

A link to the source of these meters would be even more informative :)

cyril7

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Reply # 81432 7-Aug-2007 11:42

The 5196A single phase meter in this link can be obtained from the Australian office of Ampy although its not listed in the Australian product range.

Cyril

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Reply # 81436 7-Aug-2007 12:14

I've just called Jaycar about their MS-6115 Power Meter that's been out of stock for ages. A new shipment is expected before the end of August. Plug in to wall, plug into meter. Recessed socket so some plugs could be a problem.