Is There a Way to Measure Appliance Electricity Use?

[Shel_B]

Is there some way to measure the amount of electricity that an appliance uses by adding something to the line - something that plugs into the socket and then the appliance plug will plug into that, or some similar device? Thanks!

[Mjx]

Should be in on the spec. sheet.

[Shel_B]

That's not the info I'm looking for. I want to measure actual use while the appliance is running, i.e., how much juice the fridge uses when it cycles on, how much the toaster uses when it's toasting, etc. Sorry if I wasn't clear.

[dcarch]

An amp clamp.

A recording chart amp meter.

dcarch

[Martin Fisher]

A Kill-A-Watt meter......

http://www.homedepot.com/p/P3-International-Kill-A-Watt-EZ-Meter-P4460/202196388

[Shel_B]

A Kill-A-Watt meter......

http://www.homedepot.com/p/P3-International-Kill-A-Watt-EZ-Meter-P4460/202196388

That looks about my speed, and is pretty much as I imagined what I wanted. Thanks!

[Shel_B]

An amp clamp.

A recording chart amp meter.

dcarch

Thanks for the tip... looks pretty complicated to me.

[alanz]

The Kill-a-watt is likely the best solution. I bought two of them from HomeDepot... I got them when I was determining appliance power draw when hooking up to small generators.

[Lisa Shock]

Got a Kill-a-Watt at Lowes and love it.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Our library has a kill-a-watt to lend out. No need to buy a unit if you are going to use it only occasionally. Very easy to use.

[Shel_B]

Our library has a kill-a-watt to lend out. No need to buy a unit if you are going to use it only occasionally. Very easy to use.

Definitely worth looking into. Thanks!

[pbear]

Another endorsement for the Kill-a-Watt. It's wizard and dead simple to use. Can display in watts or amps, and can display total killowatt hours used since plug-in.

[boilsover]

I, too, have a Kill-A-Watt and like it. But I believe they're not set up to handle 220/240V appliances. If someone knows differently, I'd like to buy the 220V version.

[Shel_B]

I've decided to go with the Kill-A-Watt. Here's an brief article about these devices.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine-archive/march-2009/appliances/energy-monitors/overview/energy-monitors-ov.htm