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?

Edit: thanks everyone for chiming in! To clarify a few things:

  • I wasn’t (at least initially) looking for a permanent installation on my home server, but rather a good instrument to measure things around the house once I’m done fiddling with the server.
  • the comparison with Fluke was just to illustrate what kind of error we can expect from a Kill-a-watt. It would be nice to have a Fluke power meter, but there’s nothing I do at home would even come close to justify it. The kill-a-watt is such an old design and the company behind it seems to focus on cheap trinkets. I was just hoping to find something a bit better than what P3 offers. Wouldn’t mind paying up to $75 for the same features and better accuracy.
  • I looked for a multimeter that measured power somehow as I need a better one that can measure capacitance too anyway. Didn’t find it.
  • tal@lemmy.todayEnglish
    20·
    3 months ago

    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.

    • acockworkorangeOPEnglish
      1·
      3 months ago

      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.todayEnglish
        1·
        3 months ago

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

        • acockworkorangeOPEnglish
          1·
          3 months ago

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