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You can buy a device off Amazon called a kill-a-watt meter and it will tell you exactly how much electricity it actually uses.
P3 P4400 Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00009MDBU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_o9IMBbZ7ZG5WK
If you're interested. If not then just sit back and enjoy your fantastic fridge!
I've seen so much photoshopped pictures for shit to buy on amazon. It's all terrible and hilarious.
Such as this. Like, why? Why is it so hard to ACTUALLY take pictures of it?
My other comment got long-winded, so I’ll just comment again:
You could save yourself the majority of the calculations by using a monitoring device, brand named kill-a-watt.
You can plug your AC directly into this device, plugged into power, and it will keep track of your consumption. Your friend’s electric bill will show the price per kWh, so all you will need to do is take your actual kWh value you measured on your monitor, and multiply it by the cost per kWh. Round up when you pay your friend, and tell them thank you 🙂
P3 P4400 Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00009MDBU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_NAGdBbPXZ6TG8
Grab one of those and prove it to him. If it's worth 20 bucks to show you're not the issue.
I've got to know, what's your farm's power footprint look like? SOMEBODY GET THIS MAN A KILL-A-WATT
I love repurposing hardware though. I wish more setups were like yours than ... well, all the baby-whales
Realistically that Anova uses 800 W while it’s heating. Once things are hot, it barely uses any power because water has such a high heat capacity. I would bet it costs $0.20 to run it for 12 hours.
Do your housemates leave computers plugged in and turned on all day and night? Use the blow dryer or microwave a lot? It is nonsense to suggest that you use more electricity than anyone else unless they are going to invest in some devices to monitor power usage and actually compile evidence to suggest otherwise. And, for an electric bill, that just isn’t worth anyone’s time or money.
If you are curious, you can always buy a Kill A Watt meter to see exactly how much electricity a given device uses over time. In NYC, 1 kWh costs about $0.21.
Everyone's talking about cost savings, or system wear.... I'll attack it from a different angle....
- Figure out your desktop's power usage. A Kill-A-Watt is <em>great</em> for this.
- Switch it into Kilowatts, if it isn't already....
- Multiply it by your $/Kwh value...
- Ponder the worth of your annoyance when realize that you have to get up to push a button, and wait for the stupid thing to boot up.
Could I lower my bill by powering down some servers? Certainly. However, they serve a purpose, and they can't serve that purpose if they're offline.
I think this is the best solution. Pay the $100 this month in good faith and agree this is how you will do it moving forward. Would only work if Home is where you exclusively charge though.
Or get a kill a watt... P3 P4400 Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00009MDBU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_wLmFBb12NNQSW
I think that is a good idea. We have a household of 4-5 (gas heating, hot water, I work at home with a power-hungry computer running 12 hours a day) and largest 2-month Hydro bill has been $190 in the last 5 years.
Biggest consumers in our house: laundry, cooking, spot electric heating in winter.
Log onto your BC Hydro account, drill down to daily (hourly) usage, and see if there is a constant drain or spikes. We're typically running 3-6 cents/hour overnight. Is your baseline somewhat higher - if so, this might be an appliance that is plugged in.
You could buy an electricity meter and run through what you have plugged in: https://www.amazon.ca/P3-P3IP4400-Electricity-Usage-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU/ - run a fridge/freezer for a couple days to get an average.
In the house i lived in growing up, we had an old refrigerator that once shut off pulled our electric bill by $100.
My only suggestion is to do one room at a time and see how that affects things. Or you can buy a Wattage Usage Monitor from Amazon and plug that into things to see how much they are using.
https://www.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Electricity-Usage-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU
Why not buy a Kill-A-Watt?
It seems it would be less dangerous.
it's something i've dealt with in business and residential settings, coming from the perspective of audio/video/IT equipment and the impact of dirty power on said equipment. I have also seen voltage sag destroy video and IT equipment (mostly power supplies, but in some cases, switches/servers/video processing gear.) I can't imagine compressors and electric heating elements like poor quality power any more than most circuitry.
edit: you can get something like a kill-a-watt to monitor your input and output power metrics for a single outlet.
For monitoring actual power usage I would recommend buying a Kill-A-Watt or similar power monitor. They work great for figuring out exactly what each device in your house is using. https://www.amazon.com/P3-International-P4460-Electricity-Monitor/dp/B000RGF29Q
It’s going to be pennies. Your scooter is almost certainly not to blame.
And if you need to prove it, buy this: P3 International P4460 Kill A Watt EZ Electricity Usage Monitor https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000RGF29Q/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_kIRzFbMYWFSCZ
If you can, do a capacity test. You'll only need 1 tool: a Kill-A-Watt meter.
Drain the bike to empty. Attach the meter to the charger cord. Do a full charge. Report back with the numbers.
You can calculate exactly how much the electricity costs if you check the bulbs and do some math. Electricity is billed in kWh, with mine being between $0.10 and $0.15 per kWh. (a kWh is 1,000 watts used for 1 hour) You can also buy a kill-a-watt ($20 amazon) to tell you how much you are using.
I would not charge extra rent for turtles, as they don't contribute to wear and tear, but I would increase the deposit because I've heard aquariums can lead to water damage.
I hope everything works out ok.
You can use a plug like this that reports the kWh used (not recommending this one in particular, just something like this): https://www.amazon.com/Electricity-Monitor-Voltage-Overload-Protection/dp/B07DPJ3RGB/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=power+meter&qid=1627764334&sr=8-3
Just be careful that whatever one you choose can handle the current required
You should also buy a Kill-A-Watt to measure everything, like the wattage it’s using, amperage, and cost to you as well… they’re cheap on Amazon and really handy around the house
P3 International P4460 Kill A Watt EZ Electricity Usage Monitor https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000RGF29Q/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_42WN7CGHCMEQSTTH7ZNH
Prusaslicer will do a cost of filament for you. In the filament settings tab, the is a cost entry. Set it to the cost for the 1kg roll of filament. Now slice your object. In the "Sliced Info" section on the right (it will appear after the slicing is done) there is an entry for cost. This is the cost of the filament used.
Depending on who they are, you could then use something like a kill-a-watt meter to determine how much energy is being used. Adjust energy consumption for local rates, and your good to go.
I am not sure how to calculate wear and tear on your printer, then there is setup delivery time. These can both be 0 as this is a friend, but something to consider.
Absolutely! Only way to know for sure is to get a product that will monitor you Kw consumption. In my old place I had a non-energy star rated commercial refrigerator, and it easily cost me extra $40/mo in electric bill.
As an aside note, if you're looking to curb your electric bills, look into the usual LED lights and home automation. These really help in reducing your general energy usage. Smaller carbon footprint is just a bonus in addition to having a much lower utility bill each month.
Hi, I am looking to build something similar due to my ample data hoarding needs and this seems perfect with a small footprint, I also live in nyc and living here presents a challenge with space. Anyways I was wondering if you could post power consumption specs preferably at idle and at full load and anything in between that you can do without much trouble. Best way to do this is if you have a kill-a-watt but If you don't already have it I would definitely recommend getting it as it is only 19 bucks on amazon, can be used for much more than just replying to this comment (lol), and is great for tracking watt usage and power consumption that can translate into real world savings. Thanks in advance either way
Your PC might draw up to 400-500W at peak (with a display hooked up) but it depends on a lot of factors. You can get a device like a kill-a-watt and get a much more accurate reading.
Instead of guess work and calculations get an Electricity Usage Monitor like this one:
https://www.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Electricity-Usage-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU
Set everything up like you will during the show and play at the volume you'll play at. I think you'll find the electricity usage much less than the peak numbers. Make sure the generator is only for sound and doesn't share power with lights or anything else.
When was your mother’s house built, is it appreciably older?
It may be worth it to buy some sort of power monitor like this:
> Kuman KW47-US Electricity Usage Monitor Plug Power Watt Voltage Amps Meter with Digital LCD, Overload Protection and 7 Display Modes for Energy Saving (NO-Backlight), white
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DPJ3RGB/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_YTKYF7NZ070W30XDY5AQ
And see if you have dirty power or not. This may be venturing into “hire an electrician” territory.
you need to measure it at the wall with something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Electricity-Monitor-Voltage-Overload-Protection/dp/B07DPJ3RGB/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=watt+meter&qid=1625163271&sr=8-5
The ones I tested were about 55 watts true and most will be that +/-10% or so. I've read here a few days ago where someone used a Kill-A-Watt and measured 30 watts with theirs.
You really want the PPFD to be close to the same when doing light profiling of plants. A generic 50 watt green COB is going to be quite different than an underdriven Vero 29 at 50 watts or a "150w" UFO, for example. I go off intensity and work backwards from there.
When I do light profiling, I'll often use 2 gallon buckets for seedling/early veg and brute force the problem:
nah, you're pretty close, but just know that stated device power usage specs are frequently different than actual, and if you really want to get good data, empirical analysis is best . https://www.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Electricity-Usage-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU/ would do it all for you, just run it on your entire grow power source (plug your power strip into it), or measure each device independently for an hour, and read the kWh reading on the meter.
The best and most accurate way that I know of (unless your power supply is one of those smart ones like corsair has) is to use a Kill-A-Watt meter from Amazon, link below.
​
Basically you will take the Kill-A-Watt meter and plug the PSU into it this will tell you the exact amount of power in Watts that the PSU is using. Than you will just need to factor in the efficiency of the power supply and you will know what the PSU is outputting. For example lets say that the PC is using 250w of power at the wall (Kill-A-Watt meter) and the PSU has a 90% efficiency ratting, that means you are losing 10% of the power. So... 250 - 10% = total power output of the PSU or 250 - 25 = 225w of power the PC is using.
​
Note:
The efficiency ratting of the power supply should be provided by the manufacture. The efficiency that the power supply operates at will vary with the amount of load being placed on the PSU. Keep this in mind when using the formula above as the resulting number is an estimation and the actual amount could be more or less. Some manufactures will provide you a chart showing the exact efficiency level of the PSU under various loads, this can be useful in determining a more precise output wattage.
​
Link:
Keep in mind that you may not need pre-installed EV charging. After some discussions with my building's manager, I was able to change my assigned spot in the parking garage to one that is next to a wall outlet (NEMA 5-20), and I'm charging from that using the Mobile Connector. Using the 5-20 adapter, I can usually get ~ 6 mph of added range while charging, so over night I can easily add 70 miles of range. That's more than enough to cover the vast majority of my local driving. On the rare days where I drive more or charge less and don't get caught up by the following morning, within a day (or two, at most) I'm back to "full" every morning.
To determine pricing, I used the 5-15 adapter that came with the MC and an inline power meter for a few months to determine average usage. Using local electricity prices and my typical (pre-COVID-19) driving patterns, I was using on average a little under $25/mo of electricity, and so we agreed I would pay $30 each month.
So, in a nutshell, if you see a facility you like but it doesn't have EV charging, you might check if something similar can be worked out.
This support guy is misinformed. He's confusing the by-design feature with the bug. The first is where the laptop can go over 130 watts in certain cases (and maybe for a limited time). The second is where the laptop is unable to receive more than about 105 watts of power from the A/C adapter.
The first step for you is to get detailed measurements: when running your game, what is the rate of charge? Worst case scenario for me was about 1% of drain every 1:40. If you're seeing a drain from 100% to 20% in 5 hours, that's about 1% of drain every 3:45. We don't know yet what the expected drain is from a system that's fully powered.
The next step is to ask to escalate the issue to this guy's manager, or try again with a different support agent.
The final step, if none of this works, is to buy something like this on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DPJ3RGB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1. Measure the power draw while gaming. If your device can't pull over about 105 watts, you can use that data to prove to support that your machine has a problem.
I highly doubt your computer is pulling 13 amps. That's ~1300W if you're talking about 120v USA power. That's impossible given your PSU can't even support that.
The clue is right in your story: "It worked fine at his house." That leads me to believe the breakers in your apartment complex are likely either old, defective, or some combination of both. It's not that the new 20A breaker is handling more current, but rather that it's new.
If you want to know for sure, pick up a Kill-A-Watt meter from Amazon ($35) and plug in your PC via that. I use one of these for testing systems that I work on all the time. It's a great tool to validate power consumption of overclocks, etc. when tuning a system.
With your system's configuration, I'm going to guess that it will draw... 350W at full synthetic load. If you end up buying a meter, reply to my post and let me know how close I got. :)
https://www.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Kill-Watt-Monitor-uso-electricidad/dp/B00009MDBU
For $20 you can get a Killawatt, it'll show how much power you are actually drawing. Super useful for checking how much power you are actually pulling... too many variables to just guess.
Lights and hand held gadgets don't consume much electricity. You will find that large appliances are the culprits: fridges and dryers are the worst.
Get yourself an Electricity Usage Monitor to test each appliance - they don't cost that much. The monitor sits between the wall outlet and the appliance's plug. Leave it for a few days with each appliance to get a better read/idea.
ryzen 3 3100, 1660 super, 450W PSU here.
idling on desktop: 60-70W
watching youtube, microsoft office, light gaming: 70-110W
cyberpunk 2077 1080p low-mid settings: 220-230W
22" 1080p 60hz monitor 15-20W
i'm just using wattage meter / watt meter / electricity monitor
I think what you're looking for is Watts (W), which is a measure of power.
power (W) = current (amperes) • voltage (volts)
You can also figure out the Watt-hours (Wh), which will tell you how long a power bank that can deliver x Watts will last before needing to be recharged. Watt-hours is (to me, at least) a more meaningful way of understanding power and time than mAh, which doesn't tell you anything about voltage, without which you can't determine power.
If you really want to know how much power your Surface Pro 3 (which I used to own, before upgrading to an SP4, and then an SPX) uses, get one of these, and measure it under various workloads:
https://www.amazon.com/Poniie-PN2000-Electricity-Electrical-Consumption/dp/B0777H8MS8/
Power banks like the Zendure will use a lot of power to charge, so don't skimp out on a charger. If you buy junk, it won't last, won't do what you need, you'll be forced to replace it, and you'll wind up spending more than if you bought what you should have in the first place.
What country is this? If this is the US, then as long as the place is less than 60 years old or so you'll have breakers that will trip when there is too much current draw. If you don't feel safe, then I'd buy one of these: https://www.amazon.com/Electricity-Monitor-Voltage-Overload-Protection/dp/B07DPJ3RGB
It monitors your power usage in real-time so you can see the amperage drawn through the outlet. You can experiment and see for yourself what various loads draw.
Here is my approach - size for 15A/120V circuits and double for inrush & derating.
Amps = (Watts / Volts) * 2
Per laptop : (150W / 120V) * 2 = 2.5A per laptop
Per desktop : (250W / 120V) * 2 = 4.2A per desktop
laptops per 15A circuit = 15 / 2.5 = 6 (6 * 150 = 900W nominal (not including inrush))
desktops per 15A circuit = 15 / 4.2 = 3 or 4 (4 * 250 = 1000W nominal)
25 laptops / 6 laptops per circuit (round up) is 5 circuits
5 desktops / 4 desktops per circuit (round up) is 2 circuits
Seven 15A / 120V circuits
** Also the computer power rating and actual use can vary greatly, improving your headroom/safety **
or course you can use less but why not plan for upgrades, etc.
Also, consider adding this power meter to your toolbox and you can confirm exactly whats happening.
https://smile.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Electricity-Usage-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU
Worst case scenario, get a outlet meter for the ACs
It would be cool to see how your measurements compared to the actual electrical power usage.
Can you plug your stove into one of these and repeat?
https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Electricity-Analyzer-Monitoring-Equipment/dp/B07M8JKLG5
Something like this can measure how much power your computer is using over a certain time. You could run a game on it (even minecraft) for a few hours to figure out roughly how much power it uses when working.
That could probably work. Though it would be helpful to know exactly how much power those appliances use. A Kill-a-watt is handy. Both the peak and average consumption. But the manufacturer specs can get most of the way there:
- fridge: The DH016A1W-1 uses approximately 6.2 starting amps and 1 running amp. 272 Kilowatt Hours Per Year
- freezer: Power:79 watts/ 1.1 Amps. Estimated Yearly Electricity Use: 251 kWh
6 hours for both of them is 360 watt hours total. Easily covered by a li-ion portable power station.
The starting amps is more demanding. The freezer probably has similar starting amps. Just 1 of them is 750 volt-amps. Hope that they don't turn on at the same time.
The Anker you linked is only 500W output. It might be able to start the compressors if the surge is very brief but it might not. Go for something bigger like the Jackery 1000. With a 2000W surge rating it can also handle both devices starting up simultaneously. Additionally it would have enough juice to run the fridge/freezer for almost 18 hours.
I started with a fully charged battery, then plugged the L1 charger into a KILL-O-WATT meter I had and noted the milage. I also changed the L1 charge setting on the car to REDUCED while using that Meter inline. Then I just drove and charged for 2 weeks as normal.
After 2 weeks I checked the meter after the final charge, noted the actual kWh used, then noted the milage.
Got my Electric Bill and looked at the rate which is 6.57¢ per kWh. But that is without taxes and fees. So I took the total bill and divided it by the kWh used to find the actual cost per kWh including taxes and fees. That was 14¢ per kWh.
I just took the kWh consumed number from the KILL-O-WATT meter and multiplied it times 0.14 to get the actual COST of the electricity need to charge the car over that 2 weeks.
I only charge at home so that made it rather easy.
Buy one of these and you'll for sure.
It depends. Your LEDs should be about 15” from the top of your plant(s). If your distance is correct, it could be that it’s getting too much light...
If it’s in your budget, buy one of these for your lights plug: https://www.amazon.com/Poniie-PN1500-Electricity-Electrical-Consumption/dp/B07VPTN8FZ/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=wattage+meter&qid=1620099441&sprefix=watta&sr=8-3
This measures the true wattage pull your lights are drawing from the wall. Different size tents have optimal wattage levels. I grow in a 4x4, and the ideal true wattage in there is 630w. I have 4 different COB LED panels and i run two at full blast (bloom and grow) and two with just grow switches on, which nets me a total 640w pull, which is pretty close.
The switches (bloom v grow) will not affect whether or not it’s actually flowering. That’s what the light cycle is gonna do. Or if it’s auto, it’ll auto.
You can get a knockoff kill-a-watt pretty cheap. I think this is the one I have. It has worked well for me for DIY LED light testing.
I get it. If it gets the job done then, sure it's fine.
Yeah the TS1000 (and higher), while not anything extraordinary, are definitely a big jump up in output per watt because they have a driver and go from 60-70% power efficiency up to 90+.
The TS600 other similar varieties of low efficiency driverless lights like
this "D" version of spider farmer lights usually have that same extra circuitry on the face of the board in constrast with the ones with drivers that have only LED diodes on it.
I have two SP series lights that I am a fan of.
They have meters on amazon you put in between the plug and outlet. You enter your cost per kWh and it has a little screen to tell you the cost.
BALDR US Electricity Monitor, Power Energy Usage Meter, Kill A Watt https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JLT8NSG/
Propane will save you a shit ton. Probably a thousand bucks in Batteries plus a far larger inverter. Propane is a litte scary at frist, but always have a bit of ventilation and a CO alarm. Propane would work fine for half of your requirements IMO. Can you use battery powered lights? If so, then you really only need to power your comp, fridge, and phone. If you drive like at all then you should just charge your phone and a spare battery pack from the cigarette lighter. Cutting it down to 2 things. Which will probably allow you to get away with a system about 30% of the size. What are you doing with your P.C for 15 hours? Im guessing work of somekind. If your doing emails and video conferencing stuff then I would highly recommend a tablet or small laptop, even if you need a strong P.C for video rendering or gaming, do you need it on for 15 hours? Also a gaming laptop will be a bit better on power. You need to buy a Electricity Monitor, like This and start loging how much you really need, then people can start recommending actual setups.
If they're AFCI it's possible that one of your appliances is shorted to neutral and causing it to trip.
In my office/server setup, I use a Kill-A-Watt to monitor how much power is being drawn. This will tell you if you're getting close to using that 15 AMP limit.
Hook it up to a kill-a-watt (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000RGF29Q/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_imm_t1_l6GRFbS80F6YT) and test its power consumption. I am pretty sure they probably use less wattage than you think. Especially after it initially warms up.
Haha, I wish I could help! Just checked the Amazon reviews though, and everyone seems happy. Being able to switch from veg to flower is nice!
The one thing I can recommend for tracking watt usage though is a Kill a Watt. I have one hooked up to everything. It's really nice for seeing how much your lights, fans, and everything are actually pulling. You can even punch in how much your electricity is to give you a rough estimate of how much money you're spending on growin'.
Good luck!
Depends on the size of the battery, and how much current the electronics draw. A typical phone charger draws around 100mA, and if it's a 5 watt lamp (LED) that would draw another 250mA, give or take. Add in some inefficiency for the inverter and lets call it a total load of 500mA, or 0.5 amps, on the battery.
Battery capacity is measured in amp-hours, a 1 amp-hour battery can provide 1 amp for 1 hour, or 2 amps for half an hour, etc. etc. Amazon sells a 35 amp-hour battery, that would run my very roughly estimated load for 70 hours.
edit I forgot, you said you were in the UK, that makes my current estimates wrong, but the principle is the same, determine how much current your load draws (you can use something like a Kill a Watt to measure it), and you can figure out how long the battery will last.
Yes I used HWinfo. I don't want to burst your bubble, but just do a little reading online. Everyone agrees. $16.67 on Amazon, get one:
I used two PSUs with the GPU hooked up to a dedicated PSU that wasn't running any other perifs, then plugged that PSU into the Kill-a-watt so I knew I was measuring that GPUs actual wall draw. It's no where close to how low the software registers.
Mine does. Here ill edit in a link to amazon.
P3 International P4460 Kill A Watt EZ Electricity Usage Monitor https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000RGF29Q?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf
It records the amount of electricity used and also allows you to set a price for the electricity and then over time it will add your costs up automatically.
You can determine exactly how much the AC and other items cost to use per hour by plugging them into this Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor product on Amazon, then you can be in better control of the bill
A tip to help with the electric bill, you can determine exactly how much the AC and other items cost to use per hour by plugging them into this Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor product on Amazon
Those are 15 amp fuses it looks like. Each circuit can support 15 amps.
1000 watts divided by 110 volts equals 9 amps. So on it's own, it's fine. But go through and do that with everything on the same circuit and you'll get your total amperage draw. You'll probably be okay as long as your microwave or toaster oven or fridge or like... I dunno old school TV or vacuum cleaner isn't on the same circuit. And that's peak power, so while it's actually cooking your wattage is going to go down and only kick on periodically.
You've got around 600 watts of overhead to play with, though I would personally round it down to 500 watts just to be safe. So your toaster oven is a no go, but if you have a couple lamps on the same circuit you're fine.
If you're *really* interested in the power draw of an instant pot, buy a kill-a-watt meter from amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Electricity-Usage-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1542156244&sr=8-2&keywords=kill-a-watt
I'm not well schooled on UPS's - In my home, 10 minutes is enough for me, historically my area's power is very reliable with the occasional outage (maybe 3-4 times in the last 15 years) lasting only a few minutes. So the UPS only has to supply power for a short time.
In your case, I would go thru a sizing exercise to determine how big a UPS you need to supply the devices you have connected to it for as long as you deem necessary. A Kill A Watt device is a good tool to determine how much your device(s) use.
Once you know your power draw and if your UPS supplies less than the specs say, maybe your battery needs replacement. If so, don't just get an ebay or Amazon special, when one of mine failed several years ago, I went to Batteries Plus and matched it (model and terminal configuration) to a name brand (Duracell) with a decent warranty.
Get yourself a Wattmeter like this one and see if current is spiking high enough on your PS to trip the 15 amp (assumed) breaker.
If it’s not, then something else plugged in on the circuit is pushing it over the edge.
If you want to know for sure (in the future) get a Kill A Watt to check how much your stuff is using.
For the AC, you'd need to get a thermostat that can tell you how much it's actually running (prob can't do that in an apartment but something to keep in mind/look into for future). I have a Nest and it can show hours per day and a detailed breakdown per day. I'm averaging 11 hours per day in the last couple weeks, going as high as 14 hours per day!
Also, investing in a kill-a-watt device is worthwhile. You can quickly unplug a device, plug this thing in, and then plug in your device. It tells you the current wattage, and can even monitor usage over time.
https://www.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Electricity-Usage-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU/
If you are curious as to how much your plasma (are folks still running those?) is taking, this is a quick way to do it.
The Sense will start identifying devices in your home and you can label them to know exactly what is using the most power.
You might be able to use something like this to measure power consumption at the wall, then multiply that by your utility rate to figure out how much the car is costing to charge.
https://smile.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Electricity-Usage-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU?sa-no-redirect=1&th=1
As a CG artist who works from home, I do indeed factor in electrical costs with my contracts, andthese little badboys work wonders for keeping track of your electrical usage.
The i3-8100 is a 65W processor and given what you've described as the workload, I doubt you'll be hitting the limit of that 150W PSU. In other words, you'll be just fine running 3-4 VMs with this hardware setup, Just don't do any crazy CPU intensive tasks (like a stress test that pegs the cpu @ 100%) or you'll come close to that power limit.
That said, you're not really giving yourself that much room if you ever decided to move this system to a larger case and started slapping a few 3.5" drives in it, so keep that in mind when considering up-sizing in the future.
P.S - Do you yourself a favor and get one of these bad boys so you can monitor the power draw. Kill-A-Watt monitor (Amazon)
Edit: Added link to Kill-A-Watt
Look into a Kill A Watt. It will read voltage and other measurements on items that plug into it. They are $20 on Amazon. I keep one plugged in to a convenient outlet in our 5th wheel so I always know the AC voltage.
If you charge with the 110v charger that comes with the car, you can plug it into a <strong>Kill-a-watt</strong> meter for $20. That'll show you actual consumption. It'll even let you enter your electricity price and then it'll tell you how much money you're putting in the car for fuel.
In addition to what other folks have recommended, you might consider picking up a Kill A Watt (or similar) device. They make it easy to determine how much power a specific appliance is using, and can be a big help in tracking down this sort of problem.
Hunh. I would start turning off circuits and watch the main meter for significant changes. Or maybe your library has a Kill A Watt meter you can borrow (like this:https://www.amazon.ca/P3-P3IP4400-Electricity-Usage-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU) that you can use to check devices and see which might be the culprit?
awesome! I'll pick up this one then and report back. Thanks!
I bought a shitty one for under $20 you'll obviously have to find the euro plug equivalent but just buy the cheapest one for a full day and show the result
If you are just looking for the energy monitoring you might consider aKill-A-Watt meter. It doesn't have any on-line monitoring (unless there is an upgraded model) but it works pretty good that figuring out consumption of devices.
Its not the stove either. those coils are pretty efficient regardless of age and they are not used that much.
use this item to measure your dyson heater usage. :
Maybe look into a power monitor
I recommend measuring each device with a meter. Here's an example of one.
Also pay attention to the power factor. Cheap crappy PSUs have lower quality power factor correction. Now, in most countries, probably yours too, it's illegal to charge home users for a bad power factor, however, in my country there was recently a small scandal with people with a smart meters getting (hugely sometimes) overcharged because the smart meter was metering with the power factor.
If it's old school (non-inverter) check CPS (hertz) as well. That will tell you if your governor is working. A sticky governor can cause surging when the load changes. I've used a Kill A Watt for years to check older generators.
Buy one and monitor the voltage. Check against another plug in the house to see if it is a whole house issue or a room issue.
Be very cautious of running audio gear on a generator or battery bank
Low quality / modified sinewave / inconsistent electricity can destroy your equipment
I'd avoid this unless you really know what you're doing
As far as just measuring the power consumption, you can use a monitoring device like this https://www.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Electricity-Usage-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU
Try something like this - it's on the AC side, but DC power in = AC power out with a few percent for efficiency loss.
This is the biggest bunch of BS I've ever seen.
>Gaming consoles are likely to be left plugged in and on as the TV, but it consumes a significant 15kWh per hour
Uhhh, NO. Just no. 15 kWh per hour means an average draw 15 kW (15,000 watts). The most a normal 15 AMP US home plug is rated for is 1,800 Watts at 100% load. A home EV car charger can't even provide 15 kW. That would be 62.5 Amps at 240V. There's no freaking way.
So, what is it? Well, I just ran my home theater though a Kilowatt to see what it's drawing on stand by. I have 4 video game consoles (including a PS5), a Hi-Fi AV receiver, a Roku, and an Alexa. It's pulling less than 60 Watts at idle. That's a significant amount of power, but still less than 15 kWh per week.
> it can give out a surprising saving when switched off completely.
What type of fancy ass kettle are you using. My kettle has a mechanical switch. It draws 0 AMPs at standby.
>“If your alarm clock is mains operated and is plugged in all the time, it can cost you around £24.48 annually.
Finally one that's possible!! ... but not probable.
Using today's energy prices, that alarm clock would have to pull 5 Watts. A modern clock pulls 0.5 to 1 W.
If you're still rocking your grandparents 1970s alarm clock with an incandescent bulb, you're probably pulling 5 watts. But most of those are long in the trash.
No it will not be the same, it should go down.
CPUs and GPUs have dynamically changed their power draw so that they only pull the amount of power that's needed to complete their given tasks.
Since you were previously mining, and now aren't, your GPUs are doing much much less work. This in turn means they need less power.
That being said, it's impossibly to tell you how much your bill would reduce. There are just too many variables at play. A 3060 should only use ~12W of power at idle though which is pretty low.
That being said you would need to account for:
- How much power are you drawing when mining (which can be effected by any clock settings you've changed)
- What the rest of your hardware is, and what it pulls
- What the cost of your electricity per kW/h is
- etc
If you really wanted to get detailed information, you can get electricity usage monitors: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00009MDBU
OP, it may be helpful to take inventory of needs vs wants and what your daily usage would be. See how much juice your fridge takes before picking up a 'solar generator'/power banks. That will help with determining how big a device you'd need and how much juice to store.
There are devices like the 'Kill-A-Watt' that help you measure how much energy particular devices consume. Here is a generic one: https://www.amazon.com/Electricity-Electrical-Consumption-Backlight-Protection/dp/B09BQNYMMM/
PGE usually only goes down for a few days when they do, but charging with solar could be an issue if it's cloudy/foggy in your part of the Bay.
Ecoflow has a good ecosystem. Some of their devices can be daisy chained to an additional external battery, increasing storage options. You could pick up a refurb 720Wh Ecoflow River Pro from their eBay store for $399.00 and a folding 110W solar panel for $180, which would be right around $630 after CA taxes. They're in SF, so you'd get it in a few days.
The next month, you could pick up a 2nd solar panel (can daisy chain up to two for faster charging) and then a 2nd 720Wh battery for $299 to increase your storage/power time.
Cheaper on their eBay page than their website, but here are the specs: https://us.ecoflow.com/products/river-pro-portable-power-station-refurbished
Just for a fridge, I'd probably skip the 'solar generator'. The amount of food in a fridge would probably be worth less than the $650 spent.
Now if you have a chest freezer (3.5 cu ft to 5 cu ft), then the amount of meat stored would be worth it.
Also, could use it to charge phones and laptops, power a fan. It has a 12v cigarette plug-in, so you could use those types for efficiency. Can also power internet router/TV for news, ham radio for communication, or even a drone (DJI Mini 2 usually runs around $400) for checking things out remotely.
Ultimately it really depends on your use cases.
Honestly pretty tough to trip a breaker just for a PC. Do you have anything else in the same room that has a heavy draw, such as a window AC unit, or a mini fridge? Also is your PC on a power strip or plugged directly into the wall?
As far as software, really nothing out there that specifically does what you want. There are some that measure estimate power usage of some components individually like GPU-Z or HWinfo64, or HWMonitor.. but nothing that tells you a "total system usage", just each individual component.
You are better off spending $20-30 on a watt meter for the wall outlet like this - https://www.amazon.com/Poniie-PN2000-Electricity-Electrical-Consumption/dp/B0777H8MS8/
Testing your stuff, then returning it if you have no further use for it.
For every solar question that takes the form of:
Can my solar run {insert machine here}
First measure the actual energy consumption of that device. If it is an AC powered device I would suggest a Killawatt meter. Measure the energy used throughout the whole duty cycle of the device: Night->day & winter->summer.
Honestly, my ballpark estimate is that no. That is not enough battery and/or solar to run that machine year round without interruption. It will run during peak sunlight hours and probably just fine in the summer months. But probably not through the night on the winter/cloudy seasons. It's close though, so maybe I am wrong.
One simple thing you could do, during use, is to have a Kill-A-Watt plugged into an outlet, and keep an eye on the power frequency. It should be 60 Hz, ideally. I don't know what might be considered a "spec" for frequency, but my 5500W generator's service manual had you set it to 61-63 Hz (I think) with no load, and as a load was added, the frequency would drop to/slight-below 60Hz. I think I was seeing around 57-58Hz on mine, at nearly a full load.
If the tractor's engine power (or its governor-sensitivity) are not quite up to the task, you'll see that 60Hz start dropping, and you'll have one hint that you're overloading it. For most tractor purposes, the governor's control over the engine speed may be perfectly fine, but it's possible that it will allow more RPM-sag than you'd want, when running a generator.
A Kill-A-Watt will also show you the output voltage, I believe the voltage is supposed to stay over 110V. If you're seeing low voltage, or low frequency, that's a hint that something is not keeping up with the demand. Whether that's the generator, the wiring from the generator to the house (which will only impact voltage, of course, not frequency), etc.
You can also get devices to help monitor the draw through your transfer panel. I added a Reliance box with inductive measurements off the transfer panel wiring, showing me what is flowing from the generator. That was a nice way to help understand my draw, with different loads, so I had a sense of how close I was to overloading the generator.
https://www.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Electricity-Usage-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU
Supongo que en Doit, Novey o Discovery deben tenerlos.
Buy yourself a power meter and see how much power you are actually drawing.
How many streams are you running, do you allow remote access, are you transcoding?
If you are just running locally and direct playing you really don't need anything to powerful. I ran a old HP enterprise grade PC with an i5-3470 and it ran no issued and only ran at 20 Watts.
Do some calculations on whether a 5 Watt or so savings is worth the extra coin.
A "Kill A Watt" is a nice tool for tracking appliance current.
I wasn't exactly sure what laptop you have but most laptops are already very power efficient because they are made to run off a battery. There may be BIOS options to turn off the discrete GPU but if you aren't using it it might effectively be power gated and essentially off. You can always buy a Kill A Watt meter and measure the power usage yourself. Wait until after the battery is fully charged though or remove it if possible to not throw off the readings by also charging the battery at the same time.
https://www.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Electricity-Usage-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU/
OP, Maybe buy one of these (https://www.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Electricity-Usage-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU) and track your usage to see if it lines up? Possible your meter is off, OR, they're using the wrong meter or something fishy with your landlord.
You are at risk of underpowering the cards ( just as bad ), the pop comes from pulling too much power out of the wall not the PSU. Get a cheap one of these https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0777H8MS8? and see how much you are pulling currently
If you replaces all your light bulbs with LEDs, it leaves you with basically 2 things: refrigerators and AC's. There is the water heater too, and you could replace the heating element if you suspect that. There are plug in amp meters like this (out of stock), but you may be able to find something similar in the market here or ali express if you have to go that route. Most will give you stats like peak and average use, so plug something in for a few hours to get an idea.
First off, good for you for wanting to help save electricity. Like others this claim of power usage seems dubious, but assuming you are scientifically minded, why not know for sure? This device, the Kill-A-Watt, will tell you exactly how much power any appliance is using in real-time and that will assist you in deciding where to save power in your home. I have one and it is awesome. https://www.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Electricity-Usage-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU
Another tool to use is an Electric Usage Meter, you can plug appliances into it to see exactly how much power it is using and Calculate cost and forecasts by week, month, and year:
If you're actually curious about the full power draw over time, the tool is cheaper than you'd think.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DPJ3RGB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
But I do use my UPS for "live" power draw.
Laptops are pretty efficient these days. I use one of the newer M1 Mcabook Pros for work and its power adapter is a 96 watt adapter. Desktop, it really depends on what you have in it. A mid-range gaming desktop will usually have ~750 watt power supply, though you're not always using the full amount (same for the laptop adapter too).
If you're serious about it, buy one of these and plug your work computer into it for a day to see how much it draws.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08GSPLZBN/
A decent solar setup of ~600 watts could handle a laptop and a few other devices with probably just a 200 amp hour lithium battery perrty easily, rough cost ~$2,500 or so. What will kill your battery though is running the air conditioner. For comparison, iirc my 13500 BTU air conditioner pulls about 1600 watts. The 200amp lithium batteries range from about $700-$1000 each so you can see how quickly the price jumps for supporting AC.
I'd recommend investing in a kill-a-watt to measure power consumption directly at your outlets. If you're around the Ditmars area I'd by happy to lend you a spare one I have. Chances are there's one or more devices using more electricity than you think and this device will help you identify just how much power they use which you can then multiply by your electric rate on your bill.