Re: hot boxes and power consumption
On Wed, Aug 20, 2003 at 11:04:41AM -0500, Bill Morgan wrote:
> A late reply, but I'm just back from vacation:
>
> On 8/11/03 9:45 AM, "tallison@tacocat.net" <tallison@tacocat.net> wrote:
>
> ...
>
> > Even though I have power supplies that add up to >1400 watts I know that
> > isn't really the case because the fuses haven't blown.
> >
> > Does anyone have any information or methods which might determine what a
> > "typical" computers power consumption might be?
>
> I spent $40 on a gadget called a Kill A Watt to answer that question, so I
> could get some idea what to expect from a UPS.
>
> http://www.efi.org/products/power/p3watt.html
>
> It turns out that my 250 W K6/2 500 box draws about 80 W running, 40 W
> idle. The 19" monitor draws about 100 W.
>
> Very informative and entertaining gadget. I recommend it highly.
>
> Bill
>
Also, Radio Shack sells a "current transformer" which is an add-on device
for their digital multimeter. With the multimeter and the current transformer
you can measure current and voltage on the AC supply input to the computer.
Or to any other electric device about which you are curious.
But be warned: Many electric devices draw a lot of extra current while
they are starting up. This is called "in rush current". It needs to be
accounted for when you are deciding how big a UPS you need. But it is
difficult to measure with the current transformer or with the Kill A
Watt device, because it is a rapid transient, and both devices measure
time averages over a second or more. To measure in-rush, I suggest a
current transformer with it output displayed on an oscilloscope.
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