AC Current Voltage Amperage Power Energy Panel Meter LCD Digital Display Ammeter Voltmeter Multimeter with Split Core Current Transformer CT AC 80-260V 100A Multi-Function Power Monitor

The media could not be loaded. The current most helpful review says "Made in USA" when clearly these meters are not, these meters are made in China. Also, they do not HAVE to run off of 120Vac, they will run off 80-260V. With those corrections out of the way, these meters work well.This meter helped me identify a serious problem with a 5-ton Trane heatpump unit. And no, it's not hard to stop a Trane, all you need is a faulty low pressure sensor switch and it will not only stop but also start running backwards in mere milliseconds.Be advised these meters alarm on Power only. I knew what they did when I bought them, I only wish they had a version that could be set to alarm on voltage or current or all three via independent settings. It would be nice if there was an audible alarm of some sort. I also wish they had a mounting box or panel with an appropriate cutout. (product improvement suggestions) Line voltage varies and so therefore current draw will also vary and therefore Power varies (voltage times current).In my scenario I have a 5-ton Trane heatpump unit whose compressor liked to run backwards. If your heatpump sounds louder than normal or hits like a sledge hammer while running, it's running backwards.Contrary to popular belief, running backwards did not harm the motor nor the scroll compressor that the motor drives (this unit is 11 years old). However, it does eat a lot of energy for no gain. This needleslly increases the electric bill considerably. It is also interesting that when running backwards, the compressor (I put the meter in the heatpump on the leads running into the compressor) draws more current and therefore has more power consumption. When running correctly, this compressor draws 16.6 Amps at 234.9V as measured. When running backwards it draws 21.9 Amps at 235.7V as measured. That is a 32.5% increase in current and therefore power for no gain (ie no heating or cooling inside the house = total wasted energy). Once I knew that, then I needed a permanent means with alarm and real time display inside the house. That's where these meters saved the day.It is also interesting to note that the impulse from forward to reverse draws a very short (milliseconds) 100 Amp spike. I was curious, so I recorded this with a data logger that I also got here from Amazon, namely the Supco LCV LOGiT Current and Voltage Data Logger (1s minimum data interval was sufficient to catch it twice out of 4 times), and I saw it instantly on an oscilloscope also bought here on Amazon, namely the Owon SSO8192.These power meters are great to give a real time, portable and inexpensive current, voltage and power reading but are not usefull for capturing fast spikes like the more expensive equipment.What was causing this reversal was a defective low pressure switch on the unit. This switch would let the 24V contactor coil voltage drop intermittantly, and for less than a millisecond. The resulting sound has a BANG loud enough to shake the 4,000 sqft house (through the vent system) followed immediately by a louder running compressor as it starts running backwards (like it was digging deeper). From forward to reverse in milliseconds with a 100A spike. BANG! By shorting the leads running to the low pressure switch, the unit now runs as normal, no idea what this has done to longevity. My theory as to why this Trane 5-ton scroll heatpump compressor draws more amps in reverse, is because the compressor must have an internal anti-backflow valve or device of some kind.With this meter I was able to temporarily monitor directly inside the outdoor unit and I can now permanently monitor the current draw from inside the house by connecting this meter to the breaker box lines running to the heatpump outside. I also have the alarm set to 5.3kW (240V times 22 Amps). The fans draw 4.7 Amps. 16.6+4.7=21.3A running correctly. In reverse that would be 22+4.7=26.7A. This way, I will have an exact alert if the heatpump ever tries to reverse again. No need for hearing accuity of the compressor. Note I wired this inside the breaker box, directly across the breaker feeding the heatpump unit with the current sense transformer on one of the wires.The permanent fix for the heatpump was to replace the low pressure switch (simply put a new one in line and abandoned the old). We also replaced the contactor as the contacts were severly damaged. I had the start capacitor and hard start unit replaced for piece of mind.I will leave this meter in place as I do not know if this same failure or another such as the high pressure switch will fail again in the future. I appreciate the peace of mind this meter with flashing screen alarm provides.Note, you can turn the LCD off by pressing the button and yes, on alarm it will still flash. It holds the LCD backlight setting (on or off) through a power outage AS WELL AS the power alarm setting. 2 minutes tested. It may hold these settings longer, I don't know. But for my purposes, that is more than long enough for the guardian 22kw to kick on and the transfer switch to automatically kick in during a power outage. For my purposes I don't care, but I also noted it did hold the kWh accumulation for two minutes as well.The leads on the CT transformers are relatively short (about 4-6 inches), I soldered on an additional 2 ft of tined multistrand 20 AWG silicone insulated (600V) wire to them. Solder station (Andolar 60W), solder (60/40 rosin core) and wire (Haerkn) were also bought right here on Amazon. I used electrical tape (3M Super 88) bought right here on Amazon to insulate the joints, you can use heat shrink tubing for a more professional look.At $15.30 apiece if you buy two, this is a very inexpensive troublshooting and monitoring tool.I hope this helps someone.

You can program this thing to turn off before peak rates increase your bill like 40%. It’s crazy how much this is saving me by preventing appliances from turning on until after the peak surcharge is passed.Seems like the family doesn’t get “ don’t use the dryer or things that are high energy “ with this. I can put it in as a sub switch after the breaker and prevent High use appliances from running during peak load surcharge windows.This works like a light switch if whatever your energizing will turn on and off when the power is applied or taken away, but if you use it for like a closed dryer, it will not automatically turn the dryer on. You have to start it manually during the non-surcharge times or when you have the switch turned on.If your handy, this is really easy to mount a din rail if not, you might wanna hire your electrician, but it works Wi-Fi through an app on my phone.Super simple to keep track of exactly how much an appliance uses, but also full control via time schedules. It’s nice to know exactly how many kilowatt hours have particular appliances using so you can strategically plan for larger wash loads or dryer loads and save some energy.Great for the solar system if you don’t want overtax your batteries or solar array, etc.

Big storm took out our power for a day. We were one of the lucky streets, many around us are still out now into day 4, 7 days until everyone is back online. Let me clarify, our street was out of power for a day, my house was without power for 15 minutes, until I had my generator up and running. So thankful to be able to power nearly my entire house at one time! While I can power so very much of the house, I’m not certain how close I am to the max running watts, that’s where these meters come in handy. They have a meter that you can plug in to the 30 or 50amp 240 receptacle, and then plug the cord into the meter and into the inlet. That will show you how much total wattage/amperage you are using, but I wanted more. I wanted to see how balanced the 2 hot legs are. The more balanced the better, well actually I think the inverse is more accurate. The more unbalanced they are, the worse it is for your generator. So, individually monitoring each leg, has multiple benefits, and ultimately may mean rearranging some of the circuits moving from one leg to the other, until I can get them fairly evenly spilt. The other thing that having these 2 individual meters is the ability to add additional appliances onto the generator’s load, and find out what I can and cannot run at the same time and look forward to . Once that’s all done, the “need” will be almost gone. However, that’s OK, I like Tech stuff! The build quality is good. The directions are clear. The only thing I’m not crazy about is the length of the wire that is attached to the split core transformer, which encircles one of the 2 hot legs, and then connects to the readout module. It’s about 8.5” long, but can be about 19” long without decreasing accuracy. It would’ve been nice to have it be 18-19” long and let folks cut it shorter if needed, I had to splice 2 wires together to make it long enough, that stinks. It’s such a small gauge wire that it couldn’t effect the cost that much to double the length. Not the end of the world, but would’ve mad for a neater finished product. The display is bright enough, but you do need to provide your own wire for the display, and provide it with 120 volt power supply. I think the 2 pack was a good value, and if you really want to know what you’re using on you electric service.