Okay, so I’ve been meaning to figure out how much juice different things around the house actually use. You know, you get the electricity bill and just kinda accept it, but I got curious. Which things are the real power hogs? I thought, maybe I can rig something up myself to see.
Figuring Out What I Needed
First off, I needed a way to actually measure the electricity going through the power cord. Did some digging around online, not looking for anything too fancy. Found these little sensor things that are supposed to do the trick. Seemed simple enough. Then, obviously, I needed a way to see the reading. Found a small screen, nothing big, just something to show numbers. And I guess I needed a little brain to connect the sensor to the screen. Grabbed one of those small hobby computer boards folks use for projects.
So, the basic bits were:
- The power measuring sensor thing.
- A small screen.
- The little computer board.
- Some wires to connect everything.
- An old power strip I didn’t mind messing with.
Putting It All Together
This part took a bit of fiddling. First, I had to carefully open up the power strip. Safety first, obviously! Made sure it was unplugged like, ten times. Then I had to figure out how to get that sensor thing connected to the main power wire inside. Took a bit of careful cutting and connecting. Didn’t want to mess that up.
Then came connecting the sensor and the screen to the little computer board. Just followed some simple diagrams I found. Plug this wire here, that wire there. It looked like a bit of a mess of wires for a while, not gonna lie. Got the board powered up separately using a USB cable.
Had to load some simple instructions onto the little computer board too, so it knew how to read the sensor and talk to the screen. That part involved plugging it into my main computer and running some software. Took a few tries to get it right.
Does It Actually Work?
Alright, moment of truth. Plugged the modified power strip into the wall. Plugged the little computer board’s power in. The screen lit up! Showed zero, which seemed like a good start. Then, I grabbed a simple desk lamp and plugged it into my new meter strip. Boom! Numbers popped up on the screen. Not huge numbers, but it was definitely reading something. Felt pretty good about that.
Then I tried something bigger. The electric kettle. Plugged it in, switched it on. Wow, okay, those numbers jumped way higher! Exactly what I expected, but cool to see it happen live on my little screen. Let it run for a bit, watched the numbers. Switched it off, numbers dropped back down. Success!
It was working, but it looked pretty rough, just wires and boards sitting there. Found an old plastic project box. Carefully drilled some holes for the power cord to go in and out, and a hole for the screen. Managed to stuff all the bits inside. Looks a bit tidier now, less like a science experiment gone wrong.
What I Learned
So yeah, that’s how I put together my own power usage meter. It’s not super accurate probably, not like a professional one, but it does the job. It tells me roughly how much power something is pulling right now. Been plugging different things in just to see – the TV, the computer, the phone charger. It’s quite interesting to see the differences.
Was a fun little project. Didn’t cost much, mostly used bits I had or could get cheap. And I learned a bit about how these things work by actually doing it myself, which is always the best way, I reckon. Pretty happy with how it turned out.