Defective meter?

[greenpjs]

On Wed, 22 Oct 2008 04:06:04 -0500, "Mark D. Zacharias"
<nonsense@nonsense.net> wrote:

"Claude Hopper" <boobooililililil@roadrunner.com> wrote in message
news:K4KdnaQdINVA-mbVnZ2dnUVZ_trinZ2d@giganews.com...
I have been cutting power usage in my home. I have saved about 100 kwh a
month so far. I put power strips on all the vampire stuff like DVR, TV,
Stereo, DVD players, etc.. I shut of light timers and motion detectors.
With the fridge off I still get meter spin, though it is very slow. So I
shut of the power breaker to the smoke detectors. Meter still spins.
Found my electric tooth brush charger on, shut that off, meter still
spins. Drill charger in the garage, shut that off, meter still spins.
I can't think of anything else. I shut off the Mains 100 amp breaker and
guess what? The goddamn meter still spins, though slightly, about 30
seconds a click. So nothing is on and my meter spins, what is it, the
meter itself? I'm paying for the power company's meter power?
Check your meter by shutting of your main breaker and see if the meter
still spins. If I have a defective meter I'd like to know.


According to an instructor I had in tech school in 1980: yes, you pay for
the power the meter consumes. Should be quite minimal, though.

Mark Z.

So, what is a click? I am referring to the OP saying the meter spins

at "30 seconds a click". Is that 1 wh every 30 seconds (120 watts),
0.1 wh every 30 seconds (12 watts) or 0.01 wh every 30 seconds (1.2
watts). I would agree that 1.2 watts is minimal.

(My original attempt at sending a similar response failed. My
apologies if it actually made it to some of you thereby making this
one a duplicate).

 

[CJT]

Puckdropper wrote:

Claude Hopper <boobooililililil@roadrunner.com> wrote in
news:a46dnWwerdL9V2bVnZ2dnUVZ_h-dnZ2d@giganews.com:


I noticed that my DVR harddrive NEVER spins down even in standby. I
can hear it spin down when I hit the power strip off button. That
should be part of standby, powering down the HD. If their junk can't
stand being shut down and breaks they will just have to replace it.
When I want something off I mean off, not half off, not one quarter
off, I MEAN OFF.



Mine doesn't either. I guess the DVR manufacturers are too stupid to make
the hard disk spin down after 30 minutes of drive inactivity. All the more
reason to spend $500 on a computer-based DVR project.

Most computers will also draw power even when off.

Off should mean off, as in no current draw. Plugging in a device should
never mean "turn on" either.

Puckdropper

--
The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to
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[Claude Hopper]

WW wrote:

"Claude Hopper" <boobooililililil@roadrunner.com> wrote in message
news:K4KdnaQdINVA-mbVnZ2dnUVZ_trinZ2d@giganews.com...
I have been cutting power usage in my home. I have saved about 100 kwh a
month so far. I put power strips on all the vampire stuff like DVR, TV,
Stereo, DVD players, etc.. I shut of light timers and motion detectors.
With the fridge off I still get meter spin, though it is very slow. So I
shut of the power breaker to the smoke detectors. Meter still spins.
Found my electric tooth brush charger on, shut that off, meter still
spins. Drill charger in the garage, shut that off, meter still spins.
I can't think of anything else. I shut off the Mains 100 amp breaker and
guess what? The goddamn meter still spins, though slightly, about 30
seconds a click. So nothing is on and my meter spins, what is it, the
meter itself? I'm paying for the power company's meter power?
Check your meter by shutting of your main breaker and see if the meter
still spins. If I have a defective meter I'd like to know.

CH
As a retired electric meterman, Tho only meters I found doing this with no
connected load was after a near by lightning strike. This could have
happened any time in the past. Call utility company to check it out. If no
response from them call the PUC (public utility commission). Colorado has
this. (PUC) WW

So it is possible for lightening to affect an electric meter?