Some power readings with a Kill-a-watt meter

[sjm817]

Got a Kill-a-watt meter to play around with. I'm measuring actual power draw of various components in my setup. This is by no means a scientific test, just what my readings are.

I did measure a 60W incandescent bulb and it was 60W, so that is the calibration!

60 watt incandescent bulb: 60W
Eheim 1260 58W
Deltec AP600 (Aquabee 2000) 12W
Tunze 6000 30% 14W
Tunze 6000 100% 20W
MJ1200 21W
MJ900 7W
2 x 54W T5 D&D Aquablue on Triad ballast 123W

The things that stood out for me: The Deltec is incredible @ only 12W! 20W is advertised draw.

The Eheim 1260 also uses a little less power than advertised (58 Vs 65W) Not bad for a pump that also flows more than advertised.

The MJ1200 uses 300% more power than a MJ900 for 30% more flow.

The T5s use 15W more than the 108W bulb rating. Ballast power use I assume.

I also have a Mag7 I want to test out as well as a few other things

[gvibes]

Good to hear about the Eheim.

I had read the same about the Maxijets.

Looking forward to the Mag 7 numbers.

[sjm817]

Whole 90G reef setup, lights, pumps, skimmer, powerheads, etc...

498W.

[BeanAnimal]

before you do back flips..... understand that the unit may not be 100% accurate with all loads. It has to do some pretty funky things to take power factor into consideration, and some devices may "fool it" slightly as compared to the METER that is responsible for billing you. However for most purposes it will be close enough.

Bean

[sjm817]

Yeah, I said this was not a scientific test, just tinkering around. The 60W bulb was the "calibration standard". :p

[Weatherman]

Here's some numbers I got from my Kill-a-Watt:

Iwaki MD55-RLT driving two eductors: 171 watts
Iwaki MD40-RLT driving a Bullet 3 beckett skimmer: 97 watts

250-watt PFO HQI ballast driving 10,000K Ushio bulbs:
Values ranged from 315 to 340 watts across the five different ballasts. As expected, the higher watt draw produces the brightest light (as measured with an Apogee Quantum Meter).


Little Giant 3-MDQX-SC: 88 watts

Two 6100 and one 6000 Tunze Streams on multicontoller in "sequential mode: 24 watts minimum to 108 watts maximum.

96-watt 10,000K Power Compact bulb on CustomSeaLife ballast: 125 watts

[sjm817]

Lights are out and I'm reading 126W

498 - 126 = 372W
372/3 (sets of lights) = 124W which is what I measured on the one set.

I'll measure the Mag7, but it might have to wait till water change day. I want to connect it to the same plumbing to get a like comparison. I dont feel like swapping it out at the moment.