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Calculate kilowatts?



Do you know how much energy is used on all night for downloading torrents computer? Or, for example, how much can a single movie download? It seems to be all free, because in the torrent we have “file communism”, but still - what is the price of one “free” movie?

And how much is a couple of hours included in the background of the TV? Well, how much money is spent on one cycle of washing things in a washing machine?
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Of course, the option is to take instructions to your device, find out all the specifications, and calculate the necessary data. But there is another option - just take and measure everything, quickly and without intermediate calculations, entrusting everything to automation.

This problem should be solved by the “Power meter consumed by household appliances” from MasterKit, the test of which I decided to conduct.

The device must perform several functions:


Equipment includes a box, the device itself and instructions.


Fig.1. The complete device.

The plug on the device is closed with a lid. It was pleasantly surprised that the batteries needed to save data when the device was turned off or electricity was attached. The batteries have already been inserted into the device, a plastic ribbon that breaks the contact protects them from discharge. We remove the ribbon, and the batteries immediately begin to supply the device with energy. A battery is needed so that all the data stored in the device’s memory will be stored for a long time. The battery cover is fixed with a screw and not a latch, as usual. On the one hand, the screw is safer, on the other hand, it is not possible to replace the batteries without using a screwdriver. How difficult a set of batteries is hard to say. The display has a battery level indicator.


Fig. 2. The back of the meter.

Specifications stated as follows:
  1. Rated voltage: 220V;
  2. Maximum load power: 3680 W;
  3. Maximum current: 16A;
  4. The range of power displayed on the display: 2 ... 3680 W;
  5. The minimum value of power consumption: 0.1 kWh;
  6. Power supply: 4.5 V from three AAA batteries.


After turning on the first thing you need to set the day of the week and time. In the instructions, the instrument settings button is labeled as “SET”, however, we will not find such a button on the case, instead the “SET” button.

So, we start setting up the device:

- I tried to adjust the device, briefly running diagonally through the instructions. After all, as you know, the instructions are read only in two cases - when there is nothing more to read and when everything is already broken :). And then an ambush was waiting for me. I expected that pressing the "up" button increases the value of the current tunable parameter, and the "down" button decreases. However, all values ​​are changed only with the “up” button, and the “down” button is intended only for exiting the settings menu (short press) or resetting parameters (pressing for 3 seconds). Of course, most buyers in this place will come a little surprise. Would change the arrow "down" to something else. I figured it out just by looking at the instructions (there was a cant with instructions, more on that below).

- The numbers on the display are normally distinguishable only when viewed from a right angle. Of course, a movable unit with a display would be more convenient and it could be turned, for example, with the display pointing upwards. But, probably, such a decision would affect the price, and the cost of the device is very democratic.


Fig. 3. Display at an angle.

The meter has 3 modes of displaying information on the display:



As you can see, the device allows not only to calculate the cost of energy consumed by any device, but also to see how constant the characteristics of alternating current in the network (sorry for the pun). We all know that the quality of domestic electrical networks, and therefore the compliance of the voltage (and possibly frequencies in exceptional cases) with the standard, leaves much to be desired. So, if the device shows us that the mentioned values ​​are far from ideal, feel free to sound the alarm. Otherwise, a quick breakdown of any home appliance is possible.

I already mentioned the instructions above. She gave me a lot of joy - the modes of displaying information on the display in the instructions and on the device differed (see pictures from the instructions and photos of the device below). Of course, these errors will not mislead the user, since on the device it is clear what is being measured, but still not good.

I asked the guys from Master Keith what it was and ... why. They were surprised and figured out in the evening: there are two options for the device, different display. When the display was changed, the instruction was changed, but the original file was rewritten and somehow it was incorrectly saved, as a result a mixture of instructions was born. Now everything has been fixed, a sensible instruction is on the site, but I’ll still post photos =)


Fig. 4. Item "Display information modes" from the instruction.



Fig. 5. Modes of information display on the display on the power meter.

The maximum value of the measured power is 3680 W and the current is 16 A. When these values ​​are exceeded, to the right of the meter display, the red indicator lights up and the letter “W” on the display in the first mode starts flashing. I think you should not connect to the device a load with a power higher than 3680 W, you can easily organize a fire.

The device allows you to read electricity at two rates, it is very convenient if you have this is valid. To calculate the money spent, you must enter the time of the night tariff and the cost per kilowatt-hour.

Tests

For field testing, I first chose a washing machine and was surprised that in two wash cycles in a fast mode in cold water, only about 0.3 kWh was spent. On occasion, I will check the consumption when washing in hot water, the instructions promise 1.02 kWh per cycle.

Then I got a hairdryer, according to the device, it consumes 1500 W at a declared power of 1600 W; iron - 2000 W (2100 W is written on the body of the iron). The discrepancy is connected either with the error of the meter, or with the error of the manufacturers of household appliances :).

Unfortunately, I do not have any current ticks at hand, so I can’t determine the accuracy of this power meter.

Now closer to IT topics. Still measured consumers: Acer Aspire 1690 laptop - 58 W (this laptop in a mode of viewing of films in 5 hours consumed 0,3 kW); 19-inch monitor Samsung SM 940N - 24 W; 21-inch monitor Samsung SM 214T - 55 W; Intel Core i7 processor based system unit with a simple video card and three hard drives - 100 watts when booting, 73 watts in idle mode, 130 watts when archiving in 8 streams.

Another system unit on the Core i7, but with a single hard drive, consumes 58 watts, for 48 hours of downloading torrents at night and simple office work during the day, it consumes 2.8 kWh. Those. for a year of continuous operation, such a system man will consume about 500 kW. It would be interesting to compare the consumption of some NAS, but unfortunately I do not have this.

A cheap 2000-watt electric kettle actually consumes 1868 watts. 5 boiling cycles of 1.5 liters of water at room temperature increase the meter reading by 0.7 kWh. Those. roughly speaking, at a cost of 1 kWh at 2.30 rubles, get 1 liter of boiling water costs 23 kopecks.

Conclusion

Despite the flaws in the instructions already corrected, the device is very useful and functional. The recommended price of the device in Russian retail is 1,471 rubles. I think it can be considered as a budget equivalent of Current Cost EnviR (the price of this device with delivery to Russia is 112.5 pounds). The device fully performs the functions assigned to it and allows you to evaluate the efficiency of energy use.

So now it’s not so difficult to find out, roughly speaking, how much it will cost to wash a pair of socks, find out the price of downloading a single movie from torrents and explain to mom in money how much TV work costs in the background.
Are you typing a report for your boss at night? See how much it costs. Have you decided to play WOW? Evaluate the actual energy expenditure during the game. Maybe this will not help to save, but such information will not be superfluous.

In addition, the device should be used to assess the reliability of your power supply. So that one day it would not be painfully painful (ay-ay-ay, plasma TV burned, bought six months ago) - it is better to measure all the characteristics in advance, and take care of security measures.

Well, on this I will finish the review, I hope it will bring you, comrades habrovchane, benefit. I wish you health and normal work to you and your electrical network.
Well, and all the other useful devices from Master Kit can be found here .

UPD . Batteries in the device are only needed to save data when the device is turned off or when the power is turned off.

Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/131094/

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