Interesting Power Usage Statistics

FrizzleFried

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OK, I picked up a Kill-A-Watt device from ebay and it was just delivered today. For those not in the know, a Kill-A-Watt unit plugs in to a wall socket...it has a digital read out and you plug things in to it. It has the ability to report voltage, watt consumption, amperage consumption, and a few other things. I went out to the game room and used the device to determine the power consumption of my different arcade cabinets. The following numbers represent the MAXIMUM value that came up on the read out...our cabinets don't consume electricity at exactly the same rate like a light bulb...theres usually a 2 to 5 or 6 watt fluctuation. To determine the accuracy of the device I first plugged a 15w florescent lamp in to it. It read 15w. I next plugged a 60w lamp in to it. It read 60w but would flash to 61w every once in a while. It seems to be pretty accurate.

Here are my results:

Asteroids Deluxe - 145 watts
Asteroids - 149 watts
Star Wars - 238 watts
Tempest - 239 watts
Marvel vs Street Fighter (25" monitor) - 125 watts
Nintendo VS Unisystem - 92 watts
Space Invaders - 127 watts
Multipede (60-in-1 Board) - 95 watts
Double Donkey Kong (Arcadeshop Multigame) - 89 watts
Horizontal MAME (25" monitor) - 210 watts
Vertical MAME (19" monitor) - 205 watts
Cocktail MAME/Juke (15" PC monitor + stereo amp) - 235 watts

Now, as for amperage, can someone explain why sometimes I got a readings like:

Space Invaders 127 watts & 1.27 amps
Marvel vs Street Fighter 125 watts & 1.55 amps

I guess I am not up on electricity enough...because I thought if the wattage increase the amperage increase as long as your plugged in the same 120v outlet?
 
Yes, our games are like computers in the sense that they don't use every component all the time. Therefore, the load fluctuates - which clearly illustrates the need for good regulation.

A simple definition: watts = volts x amps. Logic would suggest that if voltage remained the same, but watt usage increased, then a current increase would also be required. Yes, that does seem a bit odd. That may be within the margin of error?
 
Yes, our games are like computers in the sense that they don't use every component all the time. Therefore, the load fluctuates - which clearly illustrates the need for good regulation.

A simple definition: watts = volts x amps. Logic would suggest that if voltage remained the same, but watt usage increased, then a current increase would also be required. Yes, that does seem a bit odd. That may be within the margin of error?

I imagine if the monitor ran at 100v it would make a difference? Does the SI monitor run at 100v? I know the 25" JAMMA cab has a WG in it at 120v.

Wait...the SI 127 watts and 1.27 amp... that says 100v to me? No?
 
Those color vectors suck the power compared to raster games. Star Wars and Tempest suck over 85% more electricity than Space Invader or even the 25" JAMMA cabinet I have here.

B&W Vectors also suck up a bit more power coming in about 20-25 watts higher than the 25" JAMMA cab.

The new multi game boards suck the least amount of power. I was AMAZED to see only 89 watts of power being used by my Double Donkey Kong cabinet. 89 watts powers the marquee, monitor, and runs the board. Same can be said for the 60-in-1 which came in at 95 watts...

Now, everyone should keep in mind that these devices have the potential to DOUBLE in power consumption for an instant at power up. The games I had access to the power switch of were Multipede and the JAMMA cabinet. Multipede ran at 1.02 amps. When I powered down and back up again it bumped to 1.44 amps for second then went back down. The JAMMA cabinet runs at 1.55 amps and when I turned it off, waited a few seconds, then powered up, it jumped to 2.89 amps for a second then went back down.

What that says to me is that it's probably a good idea to power up each cabinet individually if possible as opposed to all at the same time (that is, of course, only if you are close to the limit of the circuit).
 
Great thread! Thanks for posting your results. Here are some interesting comparisons (pulled from the net):
PS3 - 199 Watts (max ratings for all)
Xbox 360 - 187 Watts
Wii - 18 Watts
PS2 - 45 Watts
PlayStation - 6 Watts

These are just the consoles, doesn't include the TV they are being played on.
 
what i'd like to see is this - the same game- one of the classics preferably - or from that era, running on its original power supply, then tested with a switcher. I suspect that may have some effect on the wattage, as you lose the losses from the transformers. Another interesting test would be a monitor that requires an iso transformer, versus one that doesn't, same size, powering the same picture.
 
Here's something interesting. I have a radiator heater rated at 600/900/1500 (low/med/hi)... actual consumption: 710/950/1550.
 
Alright already! I'll buy one of those damn meters!! Shheeeeeit, are you a salesman or something!?
grin.gif
Thats very cool being able to read actual consumption... I couldn't help but measure everything in my house!!
confused.gif
 
Thanks for the info! I have to stager my power up because I am on a 15am breaker. Now I know that the SW and Tempest are the power hogs.
smile.gif
 
Great thread! Thanks for posting your results. Here are some interesting comparisons (pulled from the net):
PS3 - 199 Watts (max ratings for all)
Xbox 360 - 187 Watts
Wii - 18 Watts
PS2 - 45 Watts
PlayStation - 6 Watts

These are just the consoles, doesn't include the TV they are being played on.

The rest seem right, but the number for the 360 is just for the most recent revisions of hardware after the 65nm switchover, which dropped power consumption. The earlier ones go somewhere between 203 and 230 watts.

And yeah Frizzle, you're right on, that would be 100 volts with W = VA
 
Excellent thread! I'd seen the device before, but never thought about using it on the arcade!
 
Alright already! I'll buy one of those damn meters!! Shheeeeeit, are you a salesman or something!?
grin.gif
Thats very cool being able to read actual consumption... I couldn't help but measure everything in my house!!
confused.gif

...the refrigerator is next.

Search for "Kill-a-watt" on ebay. I got mine for $14.95 + $6 to ship... there is a higher end unit that will break down monthly costs and stuff, but it was double the price.

If anyone DOES go out and buy one of these, post your results here! If we get enough replies to this thread I will consolidate the information and PDF it for future reference for all.
 
They have these at Harbor Freight if you have one local. I don't think I've seen them for $15 though, usually they are more like $25-30.

I've been wanting to get one for a while, but haven't sprung because after all, it's not going to change any habits and it's pretty well known what the games take. I view it mostly as a toy to satisfy my curiousity.

Wade
 
I've had mine for about 18 months -- you can frequently get them new and delivered for $20 from a variety of sources. I see them on sale for this price a couple of times per month.

If you want to avoid ebay, right now here's one for $22:

http://www.meritline.com/kilwateldet.html

Supermediastore frequently sells it for $19.95 shipped.

Good product.
 
OK, I'm getting one also now.

Someone should keep a master list of all of the games
and powerage we come up with here. I'm sure almost everyone
would be interested in a list like this.

Steve
 
Here's something interesting. I have a radiator heater rated at 600/900/1500 (low/med/hi)... actual consumption: 710/950/1550.
Your "ratings" are based on a nominal voltage. Your house voltage is probably different from what the manufacturer bases there wattage on. Usually a nominal 110/120 volts and 220/240 volts. The actual voltage at every house is different.
 
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