AC current measurement device

Or indeed an accurate readout of power consumption, for which you need to account for power factor. IIRC even the cheap plug-in in-line power monitor I got from Maplins will give PF as one of its readings.

A simple lead with a plug and socket with three single leads < and a clip on ammeter from Ebay that are available from £9.00 upwards will enable you to test any piece of kit that you need info on good luck

Bee.M

Edited By Brian Morehen on 18/01/2023 14:45:56

Just reviving this thread to mention that I picked-up one of these today:

**LINK**

https://efergy.com/elite-classic/?v=06fa567b72d7

No idea if it works, but it was only £2 in the Charity Shop

… might have a play with it tomorrow.

MichaelG.

Fine until you try a motor. The starting surge will be fun - unless your using an overscale meter. Noel.

.

Did you look at the datasheet, Noel ?

**LINK**

https://efergy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Elite-Wireless-Energy-Display.pdf?v=06fa567b72d7

MichaelG.

I've had 2 Efergy devices, they both packed up after a while with what appeared to be a fatal software bug. Profoundly unimpressed.

.

Thanks for the encouragement, John

It doesn’t matter … it was a £2 donation to the hospice really

MichaelG.

We recently asked to have smart meters fitted by our energy provider for gas and electricity. They come with a little monitor unit that sits in the house and reads both meters by Bluetooth or similar. This monitor is programmed to display your consumption now, or today, or this week or this month etc.

As well as a readout of kW/h of electricity or cubic meters of gas, it can show how much you are spending and includes the daily standing charge.

You can also set a daily budget and it shows if you are close to this or have exceeded it. Quite useful actually.

If I wanted to know the consumption of a specific device though. I would buy a current clamp and make a break-out lead. The current clamp would be a useful addition to my electronic test gear and would have many other uses.

Edited By John Doe 2 on 14/03/2023 09:29:33

Good morning Michael, Sorry ! I answered in the context of the question/post.ie current measurement. I have looked at the spec and 90A current. I found that the inductive pick up was not very sensertive at small loads on the one I had. For reasonably accurate readings of current of 5A or less then an AC panel meter or a good multimeter was better. One I use for motors is set up so as the meter is out of circuit on start up - switch in once running, to avoid the surge and the damage it can do to an analogue meter. Noel.

Sorry! When the first one went wrong I phoned the company for support and ended up speaking to the development manager. He was remarkably honest about the problem, some sort of data leak. So I returned the unit and got a free replacement but that failed in the same way after a similar period, I guess they hadn't found the bug.