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.
  • Atemu@lemmy.mlEnglish
    2·
    8 months ago

    Yes. Low power draws add up. 5W here 10W there and you’re already looking at >3€ per month.

      • Atemu@lemmy.mlEnglish
        2·
        8 months ago

        The problem is that it’s not just 15W; I merely used that as an example of how even just two “low power” devices can cause an effect that you can measure in euros rather than cents.