Reliable Watt meter

[nookiegirl]

Hi guys,

I am looking for an affordable and reliable watt meter, so I can measure how much Watts my rig is drawing off the wall.
Any recommendations on that? Which one are you using?

[DrG]

Most people use a Kill-a-watt
http://www.p3international.com/products/special/p4400/p4400-ce.html

[nookiegirl]

0.2% Accuracy, thats cool.
Is there a limit on how many rigs I can connect it to?
For example If I use up to 3kW, will it still handle it?

[mccminer]

The particular model that was linked to is good up to 1875W.  Most residential 120V circuits that I've seen are protected with 20A circuit breakers, so the most you will get off of one of them is give or take 2400W, per circuit.  So, in your case, if you've got a single mining rig pulling 3kW, you'll need a special dedicated circuit to your breaker panel for that with a larger breaker.  if it's two separate rigs, you should be okay as long as they are powered by two different circuits.

[nookiegirl]

The particular model that was linked to is good up to 1875W

So just a very basic questions on that. VA equals Watt?
Sorry on that, I am too noobish about electricity

[mccminer]

VA doesn't necessarily always equal wattage.  Easiest way to figure this out is to use basic electronics:  Power (Watts) = Voltage (Volts) * Current (Amps).  If you look in the description of the Kill-a-watt unit, it says the max voltage is 125V & the max current is 15A.  Multiply those together and you get 1875 Watts.

[FlappySocks]

Uk version http://www.amazon.co.uk/Plug-In-Power-and-Energy-Monitor/dp/B000Q7PJGW/ref=pd_vtp_diy_2
Spec sheet http://www.prodigit.com/pdf/2000mu.pdf

3750w

Watch out for accuracy. Some of the other manufactures devices are poor.