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How to Use the Kill A Watt Meter
Source: Appropedia.org
Plugging in your Kill A Watt meter
To assess an appliance's energy, the Kill A Watt meter must be plugged
into an outlet. The Kill A Watt meter will display the outlet voltage once
powered on. The meter is now ready to take readings of an appliance. Take
the power cord of the appliance and plug it into the Kill A Watt meter.
The Kill A Watt meter will begin showing values once the appliance is
plugged in. Several of the meter's functions, such as reading voltage and
amperage can now observed.
The cost of running an appliance requires your cost($)/kWh to be
programmed into the Kill A Watt. The following section is a short instruction
on how to program your rate of $/kWh.
Programming your price per kilowatt hour (kWh) into the Kill A Watt
Before using the Kill A Watt to measure any devices, the proper rate
($/kWh) must be input. (This rate can be found on your monthly energy
statement)
1. Hold down the pink 'Set' button until the screen begins to flash the
rate currently programmed into the Kill A Watt.
2. Use the 'Up' and 'Down' keys to set the rate to your price per kWh.
3. Once the proper rate has been input, press the set button to save.
You are now ready to use your Kill A Watt meter. In the next section the
cost of running of a laptop for one year is used as an example of one of
the Kill A Watt meters functions.
Example of How to use the Kill A Watt Meter to measure the cost per year of a laptop computer
1. Plug the Kill A Watt meter into an outlet. The meter
should turn on and display the voltage of the outlet
(actual voltages typically range from 110v to 120v).
2. Now plug the appliance to be tested into the Kill A
Watt's outlet.
3. The meter can now display several types of
information measuring the energy usage and
efficiency of the electrical device. The cost per year to
run this device can be found by pressing the 'Menu'
Key once, followed by the 'Down' key. The displayed
cost will change depending on the amount of time you
leave an electronic device running.
Scrolling with the up and down buttons will display the Voltage (v) and Frequency (Hz) of the outlet and
the Amperage (A), Wattage (W), Volt-Amperes (VA), and Power Factor (P.F.) of the appliance.
Scrolling with the ‘Menu’ button displays total cost (measured in increments from hourly to yearly), rate
($/kWh), kilowatt hours (kWh), and the elapsed time the Kill A Watt meter has been running.