Date   : Fri, 10 Mar 2006 20:44:52 +0000
From   : Tim Fardell <tim.fardell@...>
Subject: Re: Them pesky case stickers (was 1MHZ SCSI/ATA board.)

Annihilannic wrote:
> Can you get a widget that goes between an appliance and the wall socket 
> to measure its power consumption?  

Yes, you can. IIRC they have them in CPC - called something catchy 
like "WattWatcher" or something.

> I have a multimeter, but am reluctant 
> to go around measuring 240V AC currents in series by sticking wires into 
> sockets or similar!  And I'm not sure how much a little digital 
> multimeter can handle in series like that?

My digital meter only measures up to 200mA AC current. I've also got a 
clamp meter, which would be much safer to use if you could separate 
the live and neutral wires, but it's not very accurate below about 5A.