Anyone help me find a 220-240v 'kill-a-watt' style meter for US/Canada?

[nereo]

The short version;  I am trying to find an electricity monitor (such as a "kill-a-watt" meter) that will record the energy usage of a single 240v appliance over several months.   Unfortunately, every single meter I've found is either 120v or designed for European or Australian plugs.  It could be a meter that works "at the plug" or anywhere else on that circuit (at the breaker panel?  is that possible?).

The background
My downstairs neighbor had to install an industrial, 220v-style heater (US/Canadian plug) for his renovation project, and it's run through my circuit-breaker (it's the only device on that circuit).  He's agreed to pay all additional electricity costs, but calculating exactly how much is very difficult.  Because it is getting cold outside the heater is running very frequently, and it is an electricity hog (4800 watts).

Seems like it should be so easy, but I can't find what I'm looking for in stores or online...

[deborah]

Any reason you can't use the Australian/European plugged device, and get a cheap travel plug converter or 2? Most of these just change the plug rather than doing any current/voltage conversions.

[nereo]

Any reason you can't use the Australian/European plugged device, and get a cheap travel plug converter or 2? Most of these just change the plug rather than doing any current/voltage conversions.

well, that's what I really don't know - I'm guessing I would need an adaptor that goes from the outlet to the volt meter, and then another one that goes from the outlet to the plug of the heater.  The latter is fairly simple to find but the former a bit trickier.

also, since this would be plugged in for several months recording power consumption, woudl there be any issues about not getting correct readings?  like loss from electrical resistance? 

[deborah]

Any reason you can't use the Australian/European plugged device, and get a cheap travel plug converter or 2? Most of these just change the plug rather than doing any current/voltage conversions.

well, that's what I really don't know - I'm guessing I would need an adaptor that goes from the outlet to the volt meter, and then another one that goes from the outlet to the plug of the heater.  The latter is fairly simple to find but the former a bit trickier.

also, since this would be plugged in for several months recording power consumption, woudl there be any issues about not getting correct readings?  like loss from electrical resistance? 

You should be able to find both on the internet, since you can get things from other countries easily. There probably would be some resistance, but it should be minute. you could turn them the other way around, put a kill-o-watt from the library (or if you have one) and then something that has a uniform reasonable draw, and see what it gives with and without the plugs.

[nereo]

You should be able to find both on the internet, since you can get things from other countries easily. There probably would be some resistance, but it should be minute. you could turn them the other way around, put a kill-o-watt from the library (or if you have one) and then something that has a uniform reasonable draw, and see what it gives with and without the plugs.

What about the differences in frequency (i.e. 50Hz vs 60Hz) - is that going to matter for getting accurate readings?

[daverobev]

UK devices will be 230V, 13A. I don't think you'll want that. It would probably also be against your home insurance - the high voltage plugs are heavy duty.

You might get some other inline metering device.

Google brought me this... http://www.nlcpr.com/EKM_Meter_1.php

[nereo]

UK devices will be 230V, 13A. I don't think you'll want that. It would probably also be against your home insurance - the high voltage plugs are heavy duty.

You might get some other inline metering device.

Google brought me this... http://www.nlcpr.com/EKM_Meter_1.php

yeah - after several hours of searching (hindered by minimal understanding of home electrical terms) I found something similar in this:
http://www.ekmmetering.com/ekm-metering-products/electric-meters-kwh-meters/basic-meters-read-kwh-on-lcd-display/basic-kwh-meter-100a-120-240-volt-3-wire-60hz-ekm-25ids.html
but I was hoping to find a solution for less than $90.  Oh well, it seems no such off-the-shelf "240v kill-a-watt" type product exists. 
There's a lot of posts from people with electrical cars trying to monitor their charging usage - and many seem to go with systems that cost between $500-$2000 (!)

[wizlem]

If its just a simple heater and you know it always pulls 4800w when on then maybe you can just come up with a way to record the amount of time it's on.

[nereo]

If its just a simple heater and you know it always pulls 4800w when on then maybe you can just come up with a way to record the amount of time it's on.

that's basically what I'm trying to do.  Any ideas on how I can figure out the time that it is on?  It has a thermostat and kicks on whenever the temp drops below a certain point.  How often it goes on is a function of how cold it is outside, how many times the door is opened, etc etc.

[Mother Fussbudget]

You're looking for something like this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Energy-Power-Meter-socket-Watt-Voltage-Volt-buster-EU-European-plug-LCD-220V-/231385590332?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35dfa7ea3c

[worms]

I would (and do!) use one of these: http://www.theowl.com/index.php?cID=185 . The sensor simply clips around the cable so you wouldn't have to make any changes to the existing wiring.  Just be careful on pricing, as they are available on ebay at silly prices - should be in the $40-50 range.

[nereo]

You're looking for something like this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Energy-Power-Meter-socket-Watt-Voltage-Volt-buster-EU-European-plug-LCD-220V-/231385590332?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35dfa7ea3c

That's a european plug, which runs (I think) on 50Hz instead of 60Hz.  Not sure how the frequency would affect readings, but I know the plug wouldn't work without double-adapters.

[nereo]

I would (and do!) use one of these: http://www.theowl.com/index.php?cID=185 . The sensor simply clips around the cable so you wouldn't have to make any changes to the existing wiring.  Just be careful on pricing, as they are available on ebay at silly prices - should be in the $40-50 range.

I think this is the most promising device i've found - looking into it.  thanks!

[falcondisruptor]

May not help you, but we recently joined the peak saver plus program and they gave us a whole house monitor.  There's a setting (that I haven't really figured out yet) that's supposed to be able to track an individual appliance on it.  Not sure if the're still doing free signups and it did take a month or so for them to install it, but maybe you can find a whole house monitor cheaper than a high volt monitor?

[falcondisruptor]

Here's the listing on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Line-Innovations-BLI-28000/dp/B0028LS5GA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391176492&sr=8-1&keywords=blueline+innovations

[Spork]

You definitely want an inductive clamp-on style meter.  You'll find that there are far too many plug combinations (and a whole lot of hard wired 240v fixtures) to make a plug in application user friendly.  We've got a different style plug for every amp combination and some will have a ground/some not...

If you really want to hack together something, you could do it with 2 regular kill-a-watts, some wire and some plugs/sockets.  There isn't anything  magical about 240v.  It's really just 2 120v circuits that are tied together at the breaker.  You would just have to run a hot leg through each kill-a-watt... but again: this is a pain to set up and will take a different style plug for almost every appliance.

[worms]

Here's the listing on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Line-Innovations-BLI-28000/dp/B0028LS5GA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391176492&sr=8-1&keywords=blueline+innovations

But why are these things so expensive in North America? I picked up a new Owl monitor for £24 in Uk...and for most things we are way more expensive than US/Canada.

[takeahike]

Perhaps you could use an AC clamp and do a math calculation to convert amps to kWh.

http://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/44444/trying-to-measure-kw-and-kwh

[takeahike]

http://www.amazon.com/Efergy-Elite-Wireless-Electricity-Monitor/dp/B003XOXU02#customerReviews

This looks very useful for your situation, but more expensive.. however seems you can track usage over time right at the circuit.

[nereo]

http://www.amazon.com/Efergy-Elite-Wireless-Electricity-Monitor/dp/B003XOXU02#customerReviews

This looks very useful for your situation, but more expensive.. however seems you can track usage over time right at the circuit.

That's similar to what I ultimately went with, which you can see here:
http://www.ekmmetering.com/basic-kwh-meter-100a-120-240-volt-3-wire-60hz-ekm-25ids.html
It's about 2-3x more than I really wanted to spend, but I was able to install it right before the heater and so far it's worked flawlessly, giving me kWh.  thanks everyone for the input.

[gmarquezp]

I am using a TP Link HS110 that has metering capabilities. It works in 220V. You can see consumption on Kasa App.