Finding out how many watts your house has

[notlist3d]

Is there a meter or way to tell how many watts total you have available to use in your entire house?

[geforcelover]

Is there a meter or way to tell how many watts total you have available to use in your entire house?

Buy a cheap, simple watt-hour meter..Just plug the device into the meter, plug the meter into the wall, and read the display.Just plug it in and see how many watts a device is drawing at any given moment, or how many kWh you've used since you turned it on. This is especially useful for finding the amount of kWh used in a month for devices that don't run constantly, like refrigerators and window unit air conditioners. i suggest you should use Kill-A-watt to detect. amount .

here is the link to the review hope it help http://the-gadgeteer.com/2003/12/23/kill_a_watt_electric_usage_monitor_review/

[wmtomlinso]

12000 watts in your house


This is a joke isnt it?  you just want to see how people will respond?  

Because if you are serious, i'd have to ask what are you doing out here in the technical world?  Please go back where you belong, go back to painting/ sculpting/ hair styling/ arranging flowers.

I am trying to figure out what you might mean by this question-   the question is invalid.   syntax error.


ok i suppose you are asking how much power your "whole house" can output.   My home and (I think) most homes have a 200 amp service from the electric company.  If its not 200, its 100 amp.  it depends on the size and load of the house.  Generally speaking, big house, big electric service and so forth.  Since you ask a question like this, i am going to assume you live in a small house with a 100 amp service.  I you plug in some electrical device and it causes you main service to pull 101 amps the main breaker will blow. (theoretically).

So, V=IR and watts to amps calculation
The current I in amps (A) is equal to the power P in watts (W), divided by the voltage V in volts (V):
I(A) = P(W) / V(V)

the answer is 12000 watts at 120 V with a 100 amp service.

[notlist3d]

Is there a meter or way to tell how many watts total you have available to use in your entire house?

Buy a cheap, simple watt-hour meter..Just plug the device into the meter, plug the meter into the wall, and read the display.Just plug it in and see how many watts a device is drawing at any given moment, or how many kWh you've used since you turned it on. This is especially useful for finding the amount of kWh used in a month for devices that don't run constantly, like refrigerators and window unit air conditioners. i suggest you should use Kill-A-watt to detect. amount .

here is the link to the review hope it help http://the-gadgeteer.com/2003/12/23/kill_a_watt_electric_usage_monitor_review/

Thank you but I was looking for something different.  I was looking for entire house watts.

[geforcelover]

Is there a meter or way to tell how many watts total you have available to use in your entire house?

Buy a cheap, simple watt-hour meter..Just plug the device into the meter, plug the meter into the wall, and read the display.Just plug it in and see how many watts a device is drawing at any given moment, or how many kWh you've used since you turned it on. This is especially useful for finding the amount of kWh used in a month for devices that don't run constantly, like refrigerators and window unit air conditioners. i suggest you should use Kill-A-watt to detect. amount .

here is the link to the review hope it help http://the-gadgeteer.com/2003/12/23/kill_a_watt_electric_usage_monitor_review/

Thank you but I was looking for something different.  I was looking for entire house watts.

Then you wanted to know about one month ? or one hour or ? one second .. please tell us .. also there are many other meters to measure which are used by putting the both wires from your (electric meter)

[notlist3d]

12000 watts in your house


This is a joke isnt it?  you just want to see how people will respond?  

Because if you are serious, i'd have to ask what are you doing out here in the technical world?  Please go back where you belong, go back to painting/ sculpting/ hair styling/ arranging flowers.

I am trying to figure out what you might mean by this question-   the question is invalid.   syntax error.


ok i suppose you are asking how much power your "whole house" can output.   My home and (I think) most homes have a 200 amp service from the electric company.  If its not 200, its 100 amp.  it depends on the size and load of the house.  Generally speaking, big house, big electric service and so forth.  Since you ask a question like this, i am going to assume you live in a small house with a 100 amp service.  I you plug in some electrical device and it causes you main service to pull 101 amps the main breaker will blow. (theoretically).

So, V=IR and watts to amps calculation
The current I in amps (A) is equal to the power P in watts (W), divided by the voltage V in volts (V):
I(A) = P(W) / V(V)

the answer is 12000 watts at 120 V with a 100 amp service.

I guess first I am in no way looking for a response (trolling).

Second I am not a electrician  I understand some of the basics yes, but no I am no expert.  

I have a house that happens to be on a farm (such as crops and cattle). I have two electrical lines running to house and buildings. So I should have a lot, but was not sure exact amount.  Hard part is the electrical has old and new ... and just is not the way I would have picked to have it wired.  

I was hoping there was a device you could hook up to circuit breaker and see max amount of watts.   But it appears nothing is this easy.

[notlist3d]

Is there a meter or way to tell how many watts total you have available to use in your entire house?

Buy a cheap, simple watt-hour meter..Just plug the device into the meter, plug the meter into the wall, and read the display.Just plug it in and see how many watts a device is drawing at any given moment, or how many kWh you've used since you turned it on. This is especially useful for finding the amount of kWh used in a month for devices that don't run constantly, like refrigerators and window unit air conditioners. i suggest you should use Kill-A-watt to detect. amount .

here is the link to the review hope it help http://the-gadgeteer.com/2003/12/23/kill_a_watt_electric_usage_monitor_review/

Thank you but I was looking for something different.  I was looking for entire house watts.

Then you wanted to know about one month ? or one hour or ? one second .. please tell us .. also there are many other meters to measure which are used by putting the both wires from your (electric meter)

What i really want to be able to do is find a device that can tell entire house watt's available to use.  Not what is in use but what is not being used and can be used.

I see lucky people talking about they can tell from circuit breaker, but with it being a old family farm house the breakers do not have a lot of the info I would like.

[notlist3d]

One way is to sum up the amperage on the breakers, but they are usually much lower than it's possible to pull from your local substation. Breakers are kept low, usually at 10A, because that's what typical sockets are made to endure. What will limit you is the thickness of the power cable that goes to your house and the limit of the substation, because you can replace the breakers and have 32A, 230V instead of 10A. Just remember that to draw more than 16A you'll need to change the socket and the wiring or connect directly to the breaker box.

What i really want to be able to do is find a device that can tell entire house watt's available to use.  Not what is in use but what is not being used and can be used.
I see lucky people talking about they can tell from circuit breaker, but with it being a old family farm house the breakers do not have a lot of the info I would like.

I haven't heard of such thing, but if you want to be sure contact your local electric company. They have the whole grid mapped and will tell you what kind of wiring you have and how much you can safely draw.

Even old breakers will have something written on them and if you're planning to push them to the limit sooner or later you will have to replace them, so it's better to visit the box now, while you still have the lights

Thank you very much for helpful info!  I will give it another look to make sure it does not have writing.   I think it has old room names on breakers and that is is.  It was upgraded once in it's life so has modern breakers in it.   

I might end up giving my electricity company a call after hearing they have the info.

[zvs]

actually, I have no clue how many "watts" my house has, either.  well, not offhand, anyway.

one could count the # of circuits and come up with a reasonable conclusion, I guess.  you'd be excluding the circuits for the fridge, hot water heater, dishwasher/drier and what not i assume?

speaking of circuits and wattage, I had a 15ft 16 gauge extension cord running from master bedroom circuit to my old mining bedroom, and it melted out my power supply's power connector.  it was pretty cool.  i mean, the power supply was still getting power, but the plastic was liquified.  vry dangerous situation

BE SAFE GO 12 GAUGE (on power supply and extension cord~)