SeattleBlue wrote:Hello! I too use trickle as main charge. One month now and no issues. Did all the the action described by these experienced Leafers!
Question-I would like to get an effective plug monitor to record accurate kwh draw month to month. Recommendations?
Thanks!
It depends somewhat on whether you rent or own your house. If you rent and charge at 120V ("trickle" charge) you could use a Kill-a-Watt meter. However, Phil ("Ingineer") has reported that some of those meters can't handle constant 120 Volts, 12 Amps without overheating. I guess I got lucky since my Kill-a-Watt meter handles 120 V charging without issues. But I only use it when away from home now since I charge at 240 V at home.
If you own your house, meaning that you can install whatever devices you want, an inexpensive option is to use a refurbished utility meter like the one I showed in my message above
*.
DaveinOlyWA describes how to do it here:
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/blog.php?u=291&b=92" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
This is an easy DIY project if you are comfortable working with electrical wiring and outlets. Otherwise an electrician could install it for you.
Others use monitoring systems like
The Energy Detective (TED) but that figures to be more expensive.
* My meter currently shows 1722 kWh of home charging since it was placed in service 11½ months ago. Adding that to my small amount of charging away from home, which I log, and dividing into my LEAF mileage gives 3.95 miles/kWh average over the almost one year I've had my car. That total includes winter, summer, preheating, and the efficiency losses of charging. At my local electricity rate of 13¢/kWh, that works out to 3.3¢/mile for my LEAF. And that's why it is fun to have a way to keep track!
