this post was submitted on 22 Mar 2024
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Ingenious ways to measure power draw (mander.xyz)
submitted 8 months ago by acockworkorange@mander.xyz to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world
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So I wanted to get myself a Kill-a-watt. Being who I am, I wanted information regarding its accuracy, especially at low power draws. I found a comparison with a industry grade equipment (Fluke is about the best out there in handheld electrical meters). It’s not encouraging, so I thought about a more proper meter, but it’s not easy to find an actual power meter that is accurate at low loads, isn’t a hassle to install and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.

What do you use? Am I overthinking it?

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[–] tal@lemmy.today 20 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

Am I overthinking it?

Depends. What's the application you're aiming to deal with?

If you want to get an idea of what you're spending on electricity for a computer, I'd imagine that it's fine. How much are you going to spend on this thing relative to how much are you going to save via optimizing any electricity use?

If you're building a prototype for something that you're going to build hundreds of thousands of units of and you need to size a power supply for that product, and care about knowing peak load, it's probably worth getting something fancier.

[–] acockworkorange@mander.xyz 0 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Well, I’m an electrical engineer and I like tinkering. This wouldn’t be used solely to optimize my home server, I would use for other stuff around the house and projects I get into. So yeah, I’m willing to part with double what a killawatt costs if that means a better instrument.

[–] tal@lemmy.today 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Aight, well, then I'd say that you've answered your question as to whether it'd be worthwhile.

[–] acockworkorange@mander.xyz 1 points 7 months ago

Oh, that was clear. Finding a more accurate killawatt is what eludes me.