# Am I using my watt meter correctly? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Tags:** tools-electric-diy\ **Created:** [February 16, 2024, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-using-my-watt-meter-correctly/997671 "2024-02-16T16:38:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 19
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2024, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-using-my-watt-meter-correctly/997671/19 "2024-02-17T01:12:40Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > multiply by the cosine of the I-V phase angle Though that only works for loads that are somewhere on the spectrum of pure inductive and pure resistive, which isn’t always the case (like with many dimmer switches). I’ve been running the Emporia system for a couple of years now and it works well: > [@Do you have a whole-house power monitoring system?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-whole-house-power-monitoring-system/955914): > > I recently installed [this device](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08G37ML2R/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) (there are several alternatives out there, but this is a relatively inexpensive one). It installs in your breaker box, and measures full house power, as well as several (8 to 16) channels for individual circuits (you don’t necessarily need a sensor for every single circuit, just the important ones). You monitor it with a phone app (it connects to your Wi-Fi). You can watch real-time graphs and all that. Anyhow, I’ve found it rather useful so far. It helped m… Main downside is that it’s not very open. I wish I could directly access the data, but it’s all app/cloud based. It is cheap, though. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-using-my-watt-meter-correctly/997671)._