Product Reviews

Watt Meters

Energyconsumption.org already contains, in it's fundamental Q&A, most of the information I have gleaned from testing and comparing the five watt meters mentioned on the site. However, there are a few caveats.

Shower Heads 

KILL A WATT good

The KILL A WATT does not seem to be readily confused by non-1.0 power factors. I haven't analyzed the data yet to see whether it gets confused by fluctuating voltage levels, but overall, it compared very well to the other meters tested.

Watts Up? "2.0" (10th of a watt) good; original Watts Up? (whole watts only) bad

The most important thing I discovered in my testing is that the Watts Up? 1.0 is truly misleading when the power factor (which it can't measure, hmm) is very far from 1.0 (PF = .50 is not uncommon in both motors and vampire power supplies). I, Soren, have personally undertaken several projects due to what I believe now to be incorrect readings taken with the Watts Up? 1.0. Not that they weren't good projects, but my concern and calculations were off and I want people in the market for a meter to make sure they get a KILL A WATT or a Watts Up? "2.0" and not the original Watts Up?

How to tell you have a Watts Up? "2.0"

If it displays 10ths of a watt, then you've got the newer Watts Up? There are a few models (including "Pro", etc). We should find the original model numbers to avoid.