Household power meters

A very convenient tool for metering consumed electricity in everyday life is the one widely used recently in the market of measuring instruments, household wattmeter. This device serves as a portable meter for energy consumption and associated material costs.

This is very convenient for planning energy costs, as well as for optimizing some household consumers. The device is a digital device, in appearance resembling an adapter or adapter, equipped with an indicator display and several control buttons.

The device measures and displays on the display the consumption parameters of household electrical appliances connected through it to the household electrical network. These parameters are: mains voltage, current drawn by the load, power factor (cosine phi) of the load, consumed active power (the device calculates it), the time of continuous operation of the consumer, the total number of kilowatt-hours of electricity consumed, the cost of electricity consumed, if specified rate.

Peak power and peak current are also recorded. Other functional parameters are possible, and just a real-time clock showing the current time, and even an audible alarm when the maximum allowable power set by the user manually is exceeded.

Using the buttons, you can configure the device by setting the necessary parameters, such as: the cost of a kilowatt hour of electricity, the maximum allowable power, current time, etc. Switch between voltage, current, active power, etc. also made using buttons. Usually there are three or four buttons, depending on the manufacturer.

The device itself is very easy to use, it sticks into a power outlet, like a tee or adapter, then - the consumer plug is turned on in the device, and the display of consumption parameters on the display automatically starts.

The main characteristics of such a device allow you to turn on almost any home appliance through it, the total power of which does not exceed 3600 watts, because the maximum current for such a wattmeter is usually limited to 16 amperes and should not be exceeded. You can turn on the TV, computer or refrigerator, individually or simultaneously through a tee, and thus accurately know the parameters of their consumption.

The parameters of such wattmeters are generally very similar, as mentioned above, the current through the device should not exceed 16 Amps. The alternating voltage, within the mains voltage, is easily measured by the device in the range from 190 to 270 volts, and the maximum measurement error is actually within one percent.

Often, batteries or a small 3.6-volt nickel-metal hydride battery are added to the wattmeter circuit, this is necessary in order for user-specified settings, such as: time on the clock, the cost of one kilowatt-hour of electricity, restrictions on maximum power, and others, saved between use of the device.

In different wattmeters, these settings can be different, because in some models there is something that is not in others. Some wattmeters, due to the presence of batteries in them, do not turn off the display even in inactive mode, but the batteries can be removed if desired.

Different models have some distinctive features: some can give a forecast of electricity consumption for a week, a month and a year in advance, some have the ability to separately display the values ​​of the total, active and reactive power, and in other models there are no or present real time clocks.

A detailed description of one of the types of household voltmeters:Energy meter - ROBITON PM-2 wattmeter