[SunRescue] Power concerns.

[rescue at sunhelp.org]

     Ther are a couple of approximations you can do.  
First you could get an AC ammeter and AC voltmeter, 
measure the current and voltage, multiply and get an 
approximation of the watts. (Yes, I know, AC is a sine 
wave not DC and you really should be calculating 
volt-amperes not watts...)  A better way is 
buy/borrow/obtain the same type of power meter that is 
used on a house and put it in line between a computer and 
the wall and measure the usage in kw-hrs.  You might have 
to buy a meter, box, wire and plugs and whip it up 
yourself but this would give a better measure of the 
energy a single computer draws during a typical day.  
Hope this was of some help. 
> 
> Recently, we received a few bills in the mail from ConEd, which didn't
> seem right.  Our first bill, with 8 machines running, came in around
> $130.  The next two consecutive months came in near $190.  Now, we
> didn't turn anything else on, and, in fact, turned one of the machines
> off.  
> 
> What's the best way to find out exactly what amount of power a machine
> is drawing, and calculate ourselves exactly how much we should be paying
> (give or take some with the lights and television, etc)?
> 
> We CANNOT be using more power, with less computers running, and turning
> off lights constantly.  Something's fishy.  I want to find out if
> someone else is drawing power from our feed (we're in a house with three
> apartments).
> 
> Any info would be appreciated.
> 
> -- 
> 
> 
> Tim Harrison
> Network Engineer
> harrison at timharrison.com
> http://www.networklevel.com/
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> Rescue maillist  -  Rescue at sunhelp.org
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