Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

I bought a Kill A Watt because I was thinking of doing an small solar panel project for a few rooms in my house. Basically what it does is measure the voltage, amps, wattage, frequency and kWh an appliance uses. From there you can figure out approximately how much power the object uses and then figure out how much it will cost you.

I guarantee if you install this device on your appliances at home and figure out how much power you actually use, you will save money. If you are into reducing your energy consumption for global issues, you can use that for your motivation, but for most, it's about saving money. This will save you money. I installed it on a freezer I have in the basement that I don't really use. Had the Kill A Watt on for about 2.5 hours. Went down stairs, ran some numbers in Excel, it costs me about $262.80 a year to run that device. That's a lot of money. I will be unplugging it in the next couple of days.

I got mine off eBay for a little over $20. It was worth every penny. I strongly suggest people who want to save money purchase one as you will make your money back plus some in a year or less.

YouTube Video for those who can't read: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l_mo1jwh8Y

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

is this "DEVICE" a plug in dildo?

are you going to convert your whole house to dc voltage?

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

No. I'm going to buy an inexpensive inverter as I don't believe I will need a true sine wave inverter. I'll put certain devices I want on that and probably also have the lights on it as well but the lights will be on a switch where it can run off the solar or off regular electrical. I'll also probably buy a couple of DC things like a desk lamp and maybe a radio so I don't have to tax the inverter so much. We'll see. The solar system is still very much in the "design" phase.

Like I said, I'm only looking to apply this solar system to a few rooms. Most likely one or two bedrooms and my bathroom upstairs. The bathroom doesn't get used that often (maybe an hour to an hour and a half of lights and vent usage). The rooms are a big unknown as I really don't know how much a few things in the rooms draw on a daily basis.

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

That's just like watching the gas gauge. It all depends on how you drive. How is a meter gonna tell you saved energy, just turn the light out when you visit the porn section.

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

Um, some people don't realize that leaving 2 60W bulbs on 24/7 is quite costly. Or the difference between leaving your computer on 24/7 or shutting it off each night. Or how much energy their cell phone charger uses by just sitting plugged in. Or if you are going out of town, you should unplug devices as they drain power for no reason. For example, why leave your cable modem on if you aren't going to be home? Plug it in when you walk in the door and wait 60 seconds for it to grab the connection. That could save you $20 a year. The Kill A Watt itself is just a device that makes you become aware of what you are doing if you choose to become aware. It quantifies expectations and estimations. Honestly, I'd go as far to say it has the possibility of being a life changing device.

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

I've been working as an electricians helper for the past summer and winter break and I looked at some BP solar pamphlets. A 175W/200W panel is something like 3'x5'. The worst part of solar is the initial cost, but if you can get enough panels to power your ----, the remaining power can be used to power the power grid, and electric companies will credit you for powering the grid. Plus there's government and electric company incentives for getting into alternative power means. I'd personally like to do as much of my roof as possible with panels and perhaps even put a few windmills up. 30' up there is usually at least 2mph constant wind, enough to turn a windmill. I don't know, it's all a pipe dream for now, but when I establish myself and start on my career path I have a few ideas on being more self sufficient.

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

I was really expecting something like a $20 blowjob :1

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

If you really wanted to save power you could move to a magic forrest with a bunch of hippies and pretend you are camping year round. Mmmm....marshmellows.

I was leaning towrds that too. :(

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

you want to talk about the future? photovoltaic is NOT the answer. you'll never be able to afford enough panels to power everything in your house.

look into geoexchange/geothermal heating systems. using the earth's constant temperature to heat/cool/provide hot water. i heat/cool to whatever temp i want and provide all the hot water i can use for about 20 bucks a month.

then again, i design and install geothermal systems for a living, i may be biased.

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

Explain more. I'm all about self dependence.

The typical break even point on a good solar system in the right area of America is about 15-20 years. It's a long term investment for sure. For me, I can install a 160W system with batteries, inverter, and controller for right around $1000 with rebate. Without the rebate, we are talking about $1700-2000. If you are in the wrong environment and you have no rebates, don't expect to break even.

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

i'm really pissed there is no dirty hooker action in this thread your a faggot go kill yourself

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

Shut the ---- up. HMT is about doing cool DIY turbo projects and saving money while doing it but it has also always been about doing cool DIY home projects as well and introducing cool gadgets into people's lives. Don't make me sign into my unbanned almost OG user name and e-slap you around n00b. You are a worthless addition to this site. Stick to getting punched in the face for $150 a fight and leave the technical babble to those equipped with the knowledge of the difference between your and you're.

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

Well Im gonna save $20 and not buy this thing. ;)

Common sense is always the best solution.
Turn ---- off when your not using it.

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=93519

Harbor freight sells these too so unless I can get one from there for $1.99 I don't forsee owning one.

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

max amps is 15, a fluke will do 20.

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

What could you possible want to stick this on that draws 1875 watts? I think if I added every light bulb in my house I'd have a hard time getting 1875 watts.

G2, that's your call. I bet you'd save at least $20 a year if you used this thing so the device pays for itself in a year. That's a TERRIBLE investment.

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

how about u spend $20 on a common sense class hahahahahah

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

ive used a clamp on ammeter around the house, just clip it around cords etc, some devices in "sleep mode" draw a significant amount of power. Standard light bulbs are a big waste also, ive been using CFL's around the house and i think its a big savings vs regular bulbs. In one room alone i went from 4x60w bulbs=240w to 4x13w bulbs=52w, thats less than 1 of the original bulbs with the same light output after a min or so, the cfl's tend to look dimmer until they are running for a few min. they cost a couple bucks each but i feel the power savings and life expectancy of the bulb are much better than using standard bulbs.

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

CFL's are great. Not only do they use more energy, but they last a lot longer. CFL's cost about 5x the price of regular bulbs but last about 10x as long and use about 1/3 the power. Break even point is in the near future for sure.

People don't realize how much power they use. You guys think it's common sense, but there is nothing common about sense. I bet I could walk into your house with my limited knowledge and a couple of these Kill A Watt devices and come up with a number of ways to cut your electric bills down significantly without an inconvenience, limited investment, and short time return on your investment. If you aren't interested in saving money on your electric bill, I'm glad you have so much extra money to throw around. In my world, save $50 a month on my electric bill and it pays for my car insurance. Stuff like that matters to me and if I have to spend $200 to save $600, that's fine with me.

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

ive been using a programmable thermostat and that saves gas and electric. i got a pack of 5 or 6 cfls for less than $10 last time i went to lowes, the 13w energy star ones = 60w standard bulb, well, maybe slightly less but nothing to worry about, they are pretty cheap, save you some cash, even if its a few bucks a month. Some i saw were like $20 each :o I think the most viscious power using things at my house is most def the pool filter pump (thing is older than old, getting replaced next year) and the AC, but since i rarely use it its not that bad. Other than that the cheap ass washer i have takes quite a bit of juice, as does the fridge.

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

lol $150 thats funny that is what your mom pays me to rub my ---- all over her tits wile i sing "my milk shake brngs all the boys to the yard"

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

Are you talking about gov't rebate?

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

Ya that is the way to roll.I will def setup geothermal if I build a home as a retrofit is costly.

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

enlighten me on how much it cost to leave 2 60w bulbs on 24/7. Electricity cost how much per kw/h? 9 cents?

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

just turn on a microwave.800 to 3000 watts most times.

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

I pay on average $.15 a kWh and you may pay $.09 so I'll go in the middle at $.12.

120W/1000W * 24 hours * 365 days * $.12 per kWh = $126.14400 a year

I don't think this number is valid. I'll test my microwave tonight. I'll pop some popcorn tonight and see how much energy it draws. My guess is something like 500 watts but over the 3.5 minutes it would be 1.75 kW

Yes, NJ offers state government rebates of $5.00 or more per watt or they will pay up to 60% of the bill. Whatever is less. It makes solar VERY affordable.

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

+1

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

Anything that takes the gov't to 'assist' to make it possible is a falure. You can't get away from the fact solar cells take a huge amount of energy to make and only trickle it back in small amounts over time, if they ever even produce more than they took to make.

Sounds awsome that you 'break even' after many years and other taxpayers paying for half your ----.

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

True. Story. Were doing mostly new construction these days. Homeowners are rolling the cost of the system into their mortgage and the monthly payment is lower than it would be with conventional energy. My next house will be geothermal.

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

You making a lot of statements with little facts to back up what you are saying. Do you have any evidence on how much energy they take to make? Or a ratio to how much energy they take to make to how much potential energy they will give off?

Also, think of it from a state's perspective. NJ's power plants are already close to capacity. To lower the demand on the power plants they are willing to give an incentive to their tax payers. To build a new power plant the payoff would be years and years later and would require a lot more work and effort. You can install a full solar system, grid tied, blah blah blah, in a couple of weeks. A lot easier than building another power plant. Also I can break even without the NJ rebate, it just makes it a lot easier. If we started spending money on solar panels, companies could invest more in their product, and we would get the product cheaper and likely to be more efficient.

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

so far solar panels can only be 20% MAX efficient(they are reaching 40% in the lab). 3 dollars a watt is expensive. as of now the only way to make them was with silicon crystals. you think this is an easy process to do?

right now they are making printable solar cells that cost 30 cents a watt, and cost far less to make because they don't use any silicone.

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

Just bought one of these from NewEgg.com. Hopefully, I can save a few $$$. I know I need to~ ;D Not a bad idea. $20.98 shipped to my door

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

You're numbers are not valid. Printable ones are still near $5 a watt. Regular old panels are slightly more. Still only matters how much power it takes to make vs how much energy it has the potential to produce.

Example: An 80W panel will produce on average about 160W a day or 58.4kW a year and they last about 25-30 years. So unless it takes over 1460KW to produce an 80W panel, I'm not too concerned. They recoup their production cost via selling the panels. Again, you guys are grasping at straws with little to no factual backing. Are solar panels super efficient? No. Are they a viable resource now and in the future? Absolutely.

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

Grasping at straws ::)

Go ahead and spend your money on products that you see as a viable future, I personally don't agree and don't need to prove myself to you and didn't ask you to prove it makes more power than it takes to build. Just don't make your neighbor pay for it.

You know if I earned less money, the gov't would pay for my food and shelter? Just think of how much money I'll save money just by being lazier

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

Inquisition, it's a good idea. Any responsible person sees that less $ spent on bills= more to save, blow, whatever you choose to do. So, even for you cunts who don't care where your $$$ goes, you can still save $, and then go buy some more heroine or blow it all on booze. It's only human to accept other people's opinions. If you don't care about your $$$ and the things you could buy by not paying so much on bills, read another thread! :y

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

Well you were the one that stated it takes a ton of power to make these panels and then we will get a slow trickle back from them. Personally if someone offered me $1000 now or $1 a day for 10 years, I'd be pretty stupid not to take the $1 a day. Same with solar panels.

As for government funding. This is a state funded and choice project. There are plenty of state projects I fund that are no use to me and I don't agree with, yet I still pay for it. Why can't I ask for state funding when I can use it? So I should just pay taxes and expect nothing from my government in return? The money has already been budgeted so it either can sit there, someone else can have it, or I can have it. I think I'd rather have it.

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

I'm not sure about other places, but out here you get about $10k in rebates for installing the system in your home. That doesn't cover the cost of the system, but after around ~15 years you make all your money back and get free electricity......well that's the plan anyways. :l

I'm a ------- freak about what's using electricity in my house. For the longest time I was against using the dishwasher because of the energy it used, but the wife was using it behind my back so I just said ---- it. :7

My most recent electric bill was $100, but that includes cooking a xmas dinner for 12. :S Every light bulb in my house is a CFL except the one in the fridge and the one on the hood because for some reason they don't work in those. ???

My main ---- is the A/C, dryer, water heater, fridge, washer, computer, dishwasher and my TV draws like 400w. :-X I have the heater set at 69* most of the winter and around 76* in the summer, 78* if I'm not home. I freak out if I come home and there are lights left on all day. :7

My old roommate is my complete opposite. That fucker would leave every god damn light in the house on all day and night long, turn the A/C down to 60* at night and the heater up to 90* in the morning. Sometimes he would forget to turn the heat back off and I would come home to an oven with the heater cranking all day. :7 He would come and go like 20 times a day and use the garage door opener each time, but he didn't park in the garage. He was just too lazy to use a key in the front door. :3 I don't know how I made it through that. :S
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Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

i know what you mean. I have some rooms rented out at my house (keeps it fun, plus it practically pays my mortgage for me :) ) anyway, there is this one guy that seriously turns on every light in the house and either leaves, or goes to bed. Sometimes he will crank up the heat to 74 degrees! Thats kinda where i draw the line, im like uhh, why do you keep turning it up from 68 (come on thats not that cold, really. I wanted to keep it at 65) put on a goddamn sweater. Turn stuff off if your not using it. At least he helps keep the place clean or id be really bitching

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

im assuming that you live in New Jersey, so that means New Jersey only receives about four and a half hours of direct sunlight per day.

also, those numbers should be lower. according to "Solar Module Price Highlights - January 2008"

Re: Best $20 I've ever spent.
 

If it applies to you are you factoring in seasonal, and peak / medium / off-peak useage rates?

Here that would cost $55.71 to light 365.
At our R/C flying field we use an inverter to get power from a bank of lead acid car batteries. they are charged by three solar panals and two hand made wind mills. (alternators). It's just bearly enough power to light afew florecent lights, near dusk and field charge any battery packs afew times a month tops.

im with common since. don't waste the $20, turn it off if you're not using it. and make sure you don't unplug a deep freeze that's doing a valueable job, like saving film or negatives. it's just a multi-meter for god's sake...
I'd take my $1000, put it in google stock and laugh at your ass in five years lol