Tool to measure electrical usage?

[Dakine83]

Hey Folks, hope this is the right spot -

I'm looking to make a smart purchase here, I want to be able to check the usage of pretty much anything plugged into a socket in my home. My electric bill has ballooned to $350 for a small one bedroom with just me in it.

I've looked at the meters you can plug into the wall, then plug your appliances/etc into, however several appliances have special shaped plugs, like the 220v water heater and Dryer. I'm hoping I can buy something universal, i.e. with probes I can stick up to the prongs on the power plug or something... maybe safer than that.

Are there any tools I could use on the fuse box to measure draw at just one location?

Thanks for any advice. I'm not terribly electrically inclined but I'm not afraid to learn or buy the right tool for this job. I'm just not sure what tool that would be.

- Chris

 

[Yoda4561]

Well if you don't need constant monitoring you might be able to rig something up with a clamp on meter. The only real issue is you need the clamp on one hot wire and not around all of them (H/N/G). you can either build an extension cord type thing using separate wires or slit the 220V cord (while maintaining the insulation integrity) and expose the hot wire so you can get a clamp around it (you only need one hot to put the clamp around) . It's not all that complicated but both could end in injury/fatality if you don't do it right, so if you feel at all uncomfortable about messing with it see if you have an electrician buddy or someone with experience working around electricity. You can also use the clamp on meter at the breaker panel but again, that is VERY dangerous to mess around with when it's hot and you don't know where to keep your hands away from.