I have a Kill-a-Watt brand power that looks like
Kill A Watt Meter - Electricity Usage Monitor | P3
plug-through meter for 125VAC power, that shows me things like
Current AC voltage and frequency
Current power draw in watts. It seems to work for anywhere from a few hundredths of a watt to 1875 W.
Current Ampere draw in amps (A)
Watt-hours (Wh) or kilowatt (kwh) hours of accumulated power (=energy).
I like it. I know there are other brands, some of which are cheaper, and it is possible professionals use something better (e.g., clamp-style amp-meters that you don’t have to disconnect your wires to use). But this was on sale at Harbor Freight, so I bought it on impulse. It’s proved useful where I currently live. E.g., I can measure instantaneous power drains while things are on and off, and energy over time.
My only complaints are that you have to read the display head-on - at other angles, its unreadable; and that it doesn’t show peak draw.
What reasonably priced equivalent works well for 12VDC?
I want one with bare wires or terminal connectors, though if it comes with 12 power outlet connectors, I could maybe cut the wires and strip the ends, if the wires are long enough.
