Get Accurate Data with the Watts Up? Digital Power Meter
It's very helpful - and it can save you money - to know exactly what power certain appliances require over any time period. If your project involving solar power includes powering your refrigerator, for example, you can check the power label inside the unit, however the rated amps is not an indication of actual usage over a given time period. Using the power meter, a typical 22 CF refrigerator may have a label rating of 6.5 Amps, but will likely only require between 2.3kWh and 2.8kWh (kilowatt hour = 1000 watt hours) in a 24 hour period. It will likely surge to about 850 watts (7 amps) during start up, and operate at about 260 watts (2.17 amps) for the remaining duty cycle. This information is helpful in sizing the solar array, the inverter and the battery. You can take the guess-work out of the power you may need.

Energy Costs - consumers can conveniently monitor and easily determine energy costs to find out what their electric devices cost to operate.

Measure Ghost-Loads
Many items use power when they are plugged in but not in use (ghost-load) such as TVs, VCRs, Stereos, Microwave Ovens, battery chargers, Power Converters for computers, cordless phones and answering machines. Although it may not be worth unplugging all these items you could use this information to determine your total ghost-loads when sizing your solar power system, install on/off switches if a particular ghost-load is too high, prioritize replacement or even test new items before the final purchase.

This great device is only $99 for the standard model.
A PRO model with PC data-logging is also available.
Download the complete Data-Sheet (118k)

The Watts Up? Power Meter can be used to diagnose equipment problems.

Examples:

A computer won't turn on. Is it a power supply problem, hard drive or BIOS?  With the Power Meter, you can easily determine if the power supply is working, and how much power it is drawing. This could save valuable diagnosis time.

Your TV has no picture. Back in the old days you could see if the tube filaments were heated. A little tough to see if an IC is getting a few electrons! With the Power Meter you can determine if the set is drawing power, again saving your valuable diagnosis time!

The Watts Up? Power Meter can be used for equipment development and testing.

Examples:

Is the equipment power draw within specifications? The Power Meter can be used as an accurate and affordable tool to determine power factor.  By measuring the real power with the Power Meter and then measuring the "apparent" power by taking current and voltage reading with an RMS meter, you can easily find the power factor (PF= Real power/ "Apparent" (VxI) power).
 
 

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