Nifty little gadget to measure your power consumption

[ht_addict]

Ever wonder what that 5x200w amp actually draws. Picked up one off these for $25CDN at my local Canadian Tire. Measures the electrical draw for what ever you have plugged into it. Also a good tool to measure all those gadgets you have plugged in around the house and see which ones are draining your pocket book.

[Lex]

Good idea I think, but then the other thing you can do is just turn things off you don't need and figure if you need it, do you really want to know what it costs?

[Chris D]

Interesting. Haven't seen that here in the states, but I'm sure it's somewhere.

Offtopic: it still cracks me up that you guys can buy all sorts of cool stuff at "Canadian Tire" having absolutely nothing to do with cars, much less tires.

[wildfire99]

By the time my fridge, dryer, stove, and water heater get their kilowatts, the bill for everything else is only a fraction of those heavy hitters. I don't generally worry about it.

A similar meter with more buttons can be found in the states under the popular name 'Kill a Watt' for about $30.

That said, I still do try to turn off amps and such when I don't need them, just because it makes me feel better.

[EDS]

I for one am interested in what your system consumes during an average movie.

Movie rental $5 + electricity $? = $? movie night

[Lex]

Yeah, Canadian Tire must be a big a$$ store(s)!

[EDS]

We have two in the city where I live. One east and one west. This is the bigger of the two. It's not that big.

[ht_addict]

We have two in the city where I live. One east and one west. This is the bigger of the two. It's not that big.

Here's the biggest one in Ontario

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&z=18&ll=43.350776,-79.79059&spn=0.001989,0.003648&t=k&om=1

[gross30]

It's a great store, they are just building a new one in town, replacing the older store. The new ones are laid out nice.

[Lex]

well, still seem fairly good size, compared to Firestone or Goodyear tire stores here in US. :-)

[BigBlue1974]

Canadian Tire is a great source for all things you may need around the house, out in the garage or out in the yard. I look forward to their weekly flyer because they are really well known for having deep discounts on things. I try never to buy anything from there at regular price because I know it'll be discounted at some point, sometimes up to 70%.

[aud19]

Offtopic: it still cracks me up that you guys can buy all sorts of cool stuff at "Canadian Tire" having absolutely nothing to do with cars, much less tires.

The next time you're up here Chris, you really must go in one....it's a wonderland of household/yard/car trinkets :rofl:

[chrispy35]

That's the exact same one I have.

Here's something interesting I measured recently:

My old incandescent bulb x-mas light strings (7 m) used ~150 W each.
The new LED strings (also 7 m) use ~5 W each.

That said, the LED strings just aren't the same.

Chris P.

PS - More Canadian Tire info for the people outside of Canada: CT has their own money (printed by the same company that makes Canadian bills with serial #'s and all). When you pay cash/debit at CT, you get a % back as CT money to spend later!

[Eric_C]

Holy crap thats cheap!

I might have to make my way over to Crappy Tire

I paid $50 for mine in the US mail order.

Be nice to have a couple of them around the house.

I need to buy one that goes in the fusebox so I can track my well, A/C, and other 220v sources.

[mike c]

when I was in canada last november, my cousins asked me if I wanted to go to canadian tire ... car stuff they said. I said to skip the tour of that place because I was only interested in audio stuff. blast.

[mitch57]

This very same product came up on this forum a couple of years ago. I drove up to Canada and bought one to see what kind of power problems I was having. I wound up putting in two dedicated 20 amp circuits and eventually bought a new amp.

For those that remember, it all started with my buzzing Rotel RMB-1095 amp which I sold and replaced with a Parasound Halo A51. Which buzzed just like the 1095 did. It took a PS Audio Hum Buster to solve the problem.

I still have this little device plugged into an outlet next to my seating area so I can monitor any drastic changes to the electrical load. I searched high and low at the time and couldn't find one like it here in the US.

[Chris D]

Yeah, but Mitch, remember that measures in Canadian amps... aren't those about 1.16 American amps, depending on the day?

[Brandon B]

So you're saying a good, say, Anthem amp is worth 1.16 amps from an American company?

BB

[David Meek]

I searched high and low at the time and couldn't find one like it here in the US.

Here's the one available in the US: Kill-A-Watt

[Eric_C]

On sale, $22.95 free shipping:

http://meritline.stores.yahoo.net/kilwateldet.html