Need a kwh meter

[paulmars]

Hi all,i need a kwh meter to record power used on a 26a 240vac kiln. It does cycle off and on & has different heat settings. so i cant just use 26a x hrs.

I see so many electronic meters for sale and none really have a lot of reviews. Priced from 10 to 25$ and more. Are they any good? Which ones?

So I decided to just buy one of those used mechanical house mtrs and box,but that will cost me 75 to 100$. Which is probably overkill.

Any thoughts? I prefer one i can reset to zero every month, but might settle for one that i cant .

I don't need one w\ an app. It will just hang on the wall and record kwh used. Simple.

p

 

[Lightium]

I was curious, so I took a look. I guess for your needs (@12KW at 240) you can expect to pay more then $50.

 

[Externet]

----> https://www.ebay.com/itm/2044038890...MI5NXGi628gAMVOSGzAB17jg7fEAQYByABEgJ7aPD_BwE

 

[Lightium]

Looks ugly, but nice find Externet.

 

[Diver300]

If the only control is to cycle on and off, you should be able to just use an hours run meter, as long as it is connected to the heating element, and not the supply to the kiln.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

You simply need a normal electric meter, and wire it to just feed the kiln - they are freely available at pretty low cost, and modern ones of course are LCD.

Here you are, £39+VAT in the UK.

Single Phase Electric Meter 100 amp.

For domestic use to measure electric usage. When in doubt this is the meter you need. Small with a digital display Size:125x80x36 (mm)

metersuk.co.uk

I'm sure similar meters are available all round the world?.

I don't see why you'd want to spend a lot more on an old mechanical meter?, but obviously the end result is the same. You won't get one you can reset (as far as I know), but if you're billing for it's use, then you want an on-going record anyway - simply keep a record of the reading each time you read it.

 

[Diver300]

So I decided to just buy one of those used mechanical house mtrs and box,but that will cost me 75 to 100$. Which is probably overkill.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Unitec-40740-Alternating-Current-Electricity/dp/B002ZHAF60/ref=asc_df_B002ZHAF60

A mechanical meter is far less than that and is cheaper than an electronic one.

 

[Diver300]

I assume that you are in the USA, and the power is split phase, so 120 V phase - neutral and 240 V phase to phase.

Does the kiln have connection to neutral, or is it just connected between phase to phase? If the kiln runs reduced power by running some elements on one phase at 120 V then you need to measure both phase wires as they could be taking very different currents at times. One way to do that is with two separate 120 V kWh meters that are rated 26 A or more.

If you don't have a neutral connection, or you only have some low power electronics connected to neutral, you can use a 240 V kWh meter and connect both phases through that.