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« on: December 21, 2013, 07:04:23 AM »
Knowing how we all like gadgets I thought you may be interested in this little device I put together last week. It is essentially a basic (and more robust) version of the commercially available ‘home energy monitor’ but it’s my hobby to always build as much of my own stuff as I can so thought I would share the experience.
Simple and quick to construct using a combined voltage / current meter display (bought via the bay from China at about £7 inc. postage) 13 Amp plug, socket and cable plus a project box enclosure.
Its purpose is just to get an idea of the combined electricity running cost of the laser, air supply, cooler, extractor etc. under average / normal operational conditions for different types of job.
The first picture shows the readings I get with my Koi air pump, cooling system and laser running at low power during an engraving job. My compressor (only used for cutting thick stuff) and ducted fume extraction system were each measured separately.
As Watts = Volts x Amps my machine, during the average engraving job, uses (237 x 1.7) 402.9 Watts which is 0.4029 kW per hour of job time. Adding to this the figures obtained from the fume extraction system and using the price per kW hour from my energy provider I can get a pretty good idea of the machine running cost (at least as far as the electricity usage is concerned).
I don’t intend for the gadget to be permanently left in circuit, although it may be handy to monitor any possible voltage drop on my supply at peak usage times, it is just used to establish the average electricity usage for different types of jobs.
The second picture shows the readings I get when cutting thin acrylic.
Tweakie.
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