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From: jeff@rtech.ARPA (Jeff Lichtman)
Newsgroups: net.consumers,net.analog
Subject: Re: power meters
Message-ID: <264@rtech.ARPA>
Date: Mon, 25-Mar-85 17:58:57 EST
Article-I.D.: rtech.264
Posted: Mon Mar 25 17:58:57 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 28-Mar-85 01:33:08 EST
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Organization: Relational Technology, Berkeley CA
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Xref: watmath net.consumers:2053 net.analog:229

> > I'm looking for a gadget to plug into the wall that will tell me how much
> > power an appliance, lamp, etc. is consuming. My electric bill has recently
> > increased and I would like to find out where the power is going.
> > -- 
> > ----------------
> >   Marty Sasaki				net:   sasaki@harvard.{arpa,uucp}
> >   Havard University Science Center	phone: 617-495-1270
> >   One Oxford Street
> >   Cambridge, MA 02138
> 
> I simply can't believe that someone from the scientific section of
> one of the U.S.A's supposedly leading universities doesn't know the
> answer to this.  Someone midway through high school physics should
> be able to answer this.  On the other hand perhaps education in the
> U.S. really as bad as Raygun says it is if we have science
> undergraduates or possibly graduates who don't that AMMETERS exist.
> 
> Paul Wilcox-Baker.

Before you insult somebody because of his "ignorance", you should be sure that
you are not ignorant yourself.  An ammeter won't work to measure AC power, even
with constant voltage.  This is because AC power equals RMS voltage times
RMS current times the cosine of the phase angle between them.

Power meters do exist.  I'm not sure where to get them, though.
-- 
Jeff Lichtman at rtech (Relational Technology, Inc.)
aka Swazoo Koolak