Generator Transfer Switch: Combining Multiple House Circuits on One Switch Circuit?

[Jim Wilkins]

Per Vaughn:

Luckily (?) we don't have gas for cooking, but the refrigerator
defrost thing is news to me.

Knowing that will probably save me an hour or so beating my head
against the wall wondering where the extra load is coming from.

Thanks.

I haven't found any commercial AC current recorders that don't cost
more than you could ever save.
http://www.microdaq.com/supco/data-loggers/logit/current-voltage-data-logger.php

Mine is an old laptop connected to a Radio Shack 22-805 PC Link meter
with a clamp-on current probe. It won't measure wattage like a
120V-only KAW but it can record the highest current demand.
jsw

 

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per Jim Wilkins:

I haven't found any commercial AC current recorders that don't cost
more than you could ever save.
http://www.microdaq.com/supco/data-loggers/logit/current-voltage-data-logger.php

Mine is an old laptop connected to a Radio Shack 22-805 PC Link meter
with a clamp-on current probe. It won't measure wattage like a
120V-only KAW but it can record the highest current demand.

I never even knew such things existed.

I could live without the clamp-on sensing... but a Kill-A-Watt
with a USB port and some PC software would appeal to my inner
tech-weenie.

 

[Daniel who wants to know]

"danny burstein" wrote in message
But... they also tend to use electrically heated "glow plates"
in the oven to ignite the gas. And these stay on the during the
entire "lit up" cycle..

Add in another 500 watts there...

Yep, we had just such an oven in our gas range when we lived in a trailer
house, HSI wired in series with a thermal gas valve, I hated it because of
how long it took for the thing to heat up or cool down and turn on and off
the burner, and if the HSI burns out the oven is DOA. I much prefer indirect
spark ovens where the spark lights a pilot and the pilot lights the main
burner, they cycle faster and can be lit manually if the power is out or the
sparker fails.

 

[Jim Wilkins]

Per Jim Wilkins:

I could live without the clamp-on sensing... but a Kill-A-Watt
with a USB port and some PC software would appeal to my inner
tech-weenie.

http://www.ladyada.net/make/tweetawatt/

The clamp-on measures current in hardwired 240V appliances such as my
water heater. It's a simple and safe way to record the On and Off
times.

I use a cheap 12-year-old laptop without a battery because such
temporary card-table setups are rickety. A laptop won't tip over as
easily as a monitor, and it waste less power.
jsw

 

[Neon John]

I could live without the clamp-on sensing... but a Kill-A-Watt
with a USB port and some PC software would appeal to my inner
tech-weenie.

Pete,

There's a very nice clamp-on tRMS wattmeter available for about $150.
It's the TES3079K meter. Aimed at the HVAC market. It is quite
accurate as compared to my lab standard (0.25% FS) meter. It works
well on low frequencies (I've tried 25hz) and would probably work at
DC. My only bitch is that it takes about 5 seconds to generate the
first reading on the watts scale.

Internally there are pads that look like they're intended for RS-232.
No idea if they are - something I've been meaning to check - but you'd
need an isolated transceiver in any event, as the board can be "hot".

John
John DeArmond
http://www.neon-john.com
http://www.fluxeon.com
Tellico Plains, Occupied TN
See website for email address