arf1410 Posted June 16, 2011 Report Share Posted June 16, 2011 Electrician will be out tomorrow or Friday to install circuit and hook up a new tub. Is there anything within reasonable extra cost ($100-$200 max) I can have him hook up to allow measuring of energy electricity consumption? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hot_water Posted June 16, 2011 Report Share Posted June 16, 2011 Electrician will be out tomorrow or Friday to install circuit and hook up a new tub. Is there anything within reasonable extra cost ($100-$200 max) I can have him hook up to allow measuring of energy electricity consumption? Won't happen in time, but you can get a meter socket and used meter (same kind the utility company installed on your main) on the well-known auction site. Meters are $10 to $100 and sockets are $25-$75. They are easy to install (by the electrician) but massively ugly. Personally, I fail to see the value. Ambient temperature, wind, humidity and how you use the tub have a huge influence on the results. Unless you're willing to control all the conditions, record average atmospheric conditions, usage patterns, and do a significant amount of analysis over the tons of data that would be required, metering isn't really any more useful than just looking at your bill and comparing it to last year or even last month. Metering is discussed on this forum a lot, but it's really just rhetoric that allows folks to dismiss statements that certain tubs are better or worse insulated than others. Without a well designed, controlled experimental setup you can't really learn anything. An accurate measurement of an uncontrolled parameter doesn't add any accuracy... at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arf1410 Posted June 16, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2011 certainly I don't want big and ugly... with a family and all the other variables year over year bill comparison will be of minimal value. if at time of installation there was a cheap easy and unobtrusive way to measure or meter i could do various tests... one filtration cycle for48 hours, then switch. weather inn Seattle metro area so dull we commonly have identical weather every day for a week Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE SPA GUY Posted June 16, 2011 Report Share Posted June 16, 2011 art1410, i would not be to worried about energy consumption in Seattle, I am in Spokane, I do not remember from your other thread the brand you bought but if one of the top tier brands you will be fine with eneergy consumption,, I don't see the reason t to test the filtration and run for 48 hours straight... run on the standard mode,, you will be fine... BUt you did buy the spa for the family enjoyment . right? so even if you say it costs, 40.00 a month in the winter and you use the spa 4-5 times a week, the cost is minimal, going out to eat at a resteraunt ONCE with a family of four will cost more ONE time and not the daily enjoyment... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Posted June 16, 2011 Report Share Posted June 16, 2011 Electrician will be out tomorrow or Friday to install circuit and hook up a new tub. Is there anything within reasonable extra cost ($100-$200 max) I can have him hook up to allow measuring of energy electricity consumption? You will be able to get KWH usage on just the tub for a day, a week, a month or a year with a meter. With out it everything is speculation. Comparing to other bills is useless because your houshold electric usage changes from day to day and week to week. More lights less lights yearly variances in the electrical usage of your house. An appliance that is going bad, a fridge that's left open, more AC, less AC more heat, less heat. All that stuff and to many other things to list effect your overall electric bill. But your meter will tell you what the tub uses all by itself. And you can base the cosumption on your use. If you truly want to know you have to use a meter. These are easy enough, put it in a box. http://cgi.ebay.com/110-220-volt-Meter-kWh-Sub-Panel-Measure-Electric-Use-3_W0QQitemZ170646832216QQcategoryZ67003QQvarZQQcmdZViewItem#vi-content Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arf1410 Posted June 16, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2011 thanks found that while googling. electrician was going to run wire about twenty feet inside the garage from main panel then go thru wall and ten feet to tub. i assume sub panel would go on outside wall of house but could it go inside garage? would this device go between main and sub panel or between sub and spa? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
endorfin Posted June 16, 2011 Report Share Posted June 16, 2011 I have a TED that gives me instantaneous and accrued electrical usage. My version is pretty old, the newer versions are integrated with Google power monitor and other PC software. I think you can attach this to your subpanel feeds to track your spa electric usage only. Not sure though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DK117 Posted June 16, 2011 Report Share Posted June 16, 2011 I have a TED that gives me instantaneous and accrued electrical usage. My version is pretty old, the newer versions are integrated with Google power monitor and other PC software. I think you can attach this to your subpanel feeds to track your spa electric usage only. Not sure though. This looks pretty cool, not sure about the $200, but I'll put it on my list. DK117 Arf, I'm in Vancouver Washington. Weather is mild like Seattle, no problems for me on wild fluctuations or shocking energy bills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Posted June 18, 2011 Report Share Posted June 18, 2011 thanks found that while googling. electrician was going to run wire about twenty feet inside the garage from main panel then go thru wall and ten feet to tub. i assume sub panel would go on outside wall of house but could it go inside garage? would this device go between main and sub panel or between sub and spa? There are codes for that. Most likely on the outside of house within site but no closer than 5 feet of tub (you don't want to be able to reach it from in the tub) But the meter could go on the feed in the garage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arf1410 Posted June 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2011 Where the conduit goes from inside the garage thru the wall to the subpanel on the outside wall, the electrician installed a 6" square box with a few extra coils of wire. He charged an extra $50 to do this, which seemed reasonable. I have easy access there to the wires to install an EKM meter, or timer (though not sure why) or some other electrical gizmo down the road. I had no hesitation spending a little extra for this, even if I never take the next step, because I had originally accepted a bid for $825 for the job, but that electrician was not available the week I needed him, and the next guy I called only wanted $535. I never bothered with additional bids after that $825 bid, because I thought I had read $1000-$1500 was typical... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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