Electric use Audit?

[michael]

Have any of you done an electric use audit on your salamander equipment? It's my understanding that a device is available for about 50.00 that can be hooked up to an electrical outlet or strip to monitor how much electricity a system is drawing. I'm thinking of doing an audit to get a more accurate figure of my electricity usage for my hobby/business. I would purchase 1 unit and keep moving it from outlet to outlet until I had records for everything. This would also give me indications of areas where I could possibility change equipment to save energy and money.

What do you think?

 

[SludgeMunkey]

This is a viable product. I have one I use for both my pets and my computer equipment. You would be shocked at what my electric bill looks like. These power consumption meters can quickly pay for themselves with the money you can save by tweaking a timer here, or updating a pump there.

There are a few versions of these. I use the Kill-A-Watt brand. They have a nice 20 dollar model that has served me very well.

 

[Jennewt]

Great idea, Michael. I'm like the proverbial ostrich with its head in the sand - I'm not sure I want to know! I do quite a lot to minimize appliances, but I suspect I'd still be unhappy with the result once I added it all up.

 

[michael]

I ordered a kill A Watt EZ monitor on line today. It's the deluxe model so I shouldn't have to do to many calculations. I think I still need a real short extension cord because the way the meters are made they sometimes block the other outlet on a double outlet.

My biggest interests are to see which filters and air pumps are more efficient.

 

[michael]

I started in the living room and worked my way down to the basement. So far their were no big surprises. Those 4 foot long fluorescent shop lights use a lot of electric and might have to be replaced by something smaller. I guess the harder things to figure usage on will be things like the air conditioners.

When I'm finished with the electric usage I'll tackle the water usage. I do lots of fairly large water changes when all of my aquatic systems are set up. I won't be doing any calculations for heating the rooms the salamanders are in. Basically I heat for my comfort and not for the salamanders. When nobody is home the heat is kicked way back.

I'm glad I got the EZ unit. It calculates cost per hour, day, week, month, and year. I could calculate that out myself but less errors should be made by pushing the buttons on the monitor.