9adb5837   
   From: MyNameForward@ReplaceWithMyVices.Com.invalid   
      
   All you need to get a disk readout is a watch, if you have a disk   
   meter...perhaps a calculator as well, both of which are probably built   
   into your cell phone, even if it's not a "smartphone."   
      
   For a not-huge chunk of change  and one visit of a licensed electrician   
   competent to disconnect your main wire, run it through a current   
   transformer, and reconnect it, you can have a much more convenient   
   method to look at your usage from inside the house. An ammeter is the   
   simplest readout to connect, or you can have an actual power meter if   
   you wish to be fussy (if the voltage varies enough that an ammeter is   
   not a pretty direct reading of your power used, you have fairly poor   
   power supply.) It's also a lot more like instantaneous, which something   
   depending on disk rotation is going to be a far cry from - if there's   
   even a rotating disk - modern meters, even if not "smart" are often just   
   an LCD display. A current transformer updates in real time, while the   
   disk only tells you every few seconds if you are using lots of power, or   
   every few minutes if you are using a small amount of power.   
      
   That's a hardware solution, of course, but beats the heck out of   
   standing around by the meter pointing your phone at it, if you want   
   ongoing monitoring. You can even datalog it with a computer and make   
   fancy charts. Whether that will actually affect your power use patterns   
   kinda depends on you.   
      
   --   
   Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by   
   Please don't feed the trolls. Killfile and ignore them so they will go away.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)