The Power-Mate accurately measures and calculates to display the following information:

Please refer to the glossary for an explanation of any terms used in this manual.

The Power-Mate does not use batteries. It uses a small amount of power (0.5W) when plugged into an outlet.

Cautions against electric shock and improper use

• Power-Mate is intended only for indoor use
  
• do not use Power-Mate if the case or cord is damaged
• do not use Power-Mate if it gets wet
• avoid using Power-Mate in bathrooms or wet areas
• use Power-Mate with sine-wave power sources only, ie. mains power or inverters labeled as 'pure sine wave'
• do not use the unit with 'quasi sine wave' or square wave inverters, as Power-Mate is likely to be damaged
• do not expose Power-Mate to excessive heat. ie. a vehicle in direct sunlight, to avoid damage to the case
• do not dismantle the Power-Mate there are no user-serviceable parts inside and a shock hazard exists.

The Power-Mate has a maximum capacity of 10 Amps or 2.4 kilo-Watts. If you are unsure of the power required for an appliance, a power or current rating is usually written on the unit’s label or cast into the plastic or metal of the appliance. Alternatively refer to the appliance’s user manual in the specification section, or contact the manufacturer.

Avoid measuring multiple items using multi-output power boards as the combined load must be less than 10Amps (2.4kW). Damaging the Power-Mate through overloading is not covered under warranty. A red overload LED on the front panel will light up if the load current exceeds 10Amps. Switch the power off and unplug the appliance from the Power-Mate and investigate. An appliance does not normally cause an overload condition unless it is faulty.

Using the Power-Mate

Simply unplug the appliance to be measured from the power outlet, plug the Power-Mate into the outlet and now plug the appliance into the rear of the special plug of the Power-Mate.

For accurate cost calculation, the Power-Mate must be set to your local kilo-Watt-hour rate. Check your last power account to obtain the rate. If for example the amount is 18.5c per kWh, this may just be referred to as 18.5c per unit, but means per kilo-Watt-hour unit.

For some appliances, there are two types of power consumption to consider. One is standby power and the other is running power. For example, any appliance that can be turned on with a remote control uses a small amount of power while turned off. Power used when the unit is off is referred to as standby power and will usually be significantly smaller than the power consumed when the unit is turned on.

Setting the rate or greenhouse gas values

Press Mode repeatedly until SEtUP? (setup) is displayed.

Press Enter. The display now shows rAtE (rate), then press Enter again. The rate value is now presented with the first digit flashing. The first digit can be altered with the + and – keys.

When the digit is correct press Enter again and the next digit will flash. Continue setting the digits similarly until the rate value is correct. The last press of Enter returns you to rAtE in the menu.

If Mode is now pressed G-Gas can be entered in the same manner as the rate. When the menu has returned to G-Gas, press Mode to exit back to the main menu.

Power-Mate functions

Each time the Mode key is pressed the Power-Mate advances to the next mode. The modes are Power, Cost, Energy, G-Gas, Volts and Amps (CUrr).

Extra information is available in each mode by pressing one of the other three keys. In Power, Volts or Amps modes you can display the maximum or minimum values since the test was started. Hourly quarterly or yearly values can be displayed in the Energy, Cost or G-Gas modes.

The last two modes are CLEAr? (clear) and SEtUP? (setup). When Clear is selected, pressing the Enter key clears the totals for time, cost, energy and G-Gas. When Setup is selected, pressing the Enter key allows entry of the unit cost for energy (cents/kilo-Watt-hour), and the ratio of energy to G-Gas emission (1.2kg per kWh is a commonly accepted value).

Some appliances like mobile phone chargers consume a very small amount of energy. In the Cost mode it could take many hours before even one cent has registered. When checking low power items, Power-Mate’s display of cents to four digits is very useful and gives confidence that the Power-Mate is measuring.

When measuring low power items (say less than five watts) to calculate quarterly or yearly running cost, you will get greater accuracy by measuring consumption for 24 hours. The Cost function will then of course display the actual cost in dollars to four decimal places.

Multiplying the 24-hour result by either 91 or 364 will yield cost per quarter or cost per year.

Explaining power and energy

How do power utilities charge you for their energy? Some of the terms used when discussing energy are volts, amps and power. Volts are a measure of the potential difference (PD) between two electric wires. This PD gives rise to the ability for current to flow if a load is connected between the two wires. Power is a direct result of the current that flows through the load and the PD that causes the current to flow.

Energy is the amount of power that flows during a given time. Power-Mate displays energy as kilo-Watt-hours, the same units used by electricity utility companies. The PD for Australian households is 230V AC, although it is commonly referred to using the older term of 240V.

When the power utility produces energy, a side effect is the production of greenhouse gases (G-Gas) which is mainly carbon dioxide (CO2). The ratio of energy produced to the amount of CO2 gas created varies between different generator fuel sources, such as coal, diesel or natural gas. If the ratio of energy to G-Gas is entered into Power-Mate it displays the amount of G-Gas that is created by the energy use of an appliance. The accepted value of greenhouse gas liberated per kilo-Watt-hour for a fossil-fuelled electricity generator is 1.2kg per 1kWh.

Other Power-Mate features

Power-Mate displays the maximum and minimum voltages or currents recorded in use in volts or amps (CUrr) mode. Both of these modes are handy aids for service technicians.

The voltage 'max' and 'min' feature can be used to determine the quality of voltage from the power outlet. A load does not need to be connected for this purpose.

Glossary

Menu functions

Specifications

Accuracy for all ranges is better than 1% (typical accuracy is below 0.5%).

Note: A higher resolution model is available which will display an extra decimal point for watts, volts and amps. The higher resolution model can display: one-tenth of a watt, one-tenth of a volt and 100 micro-Amps.