How to Measure Joules on a Surge Protector

If you want to measure joules on a surge protector as a way of monitoring your energy consumption, you will have to do a little bit of extra work. However, the process is fairly simple, and once you have used a surge protector to measure joules once, you will be able to repeat the process easily.

Step 1: Measuring Power

Many surge protectors have meters that allow them to measure your energy usage over time. However, this is not a standard feature, so if you want to keep track of your home's electrical consumption, you will have to spend a little bit of extra money on a fancier surge protector than the ordinary power strip model that you are accustomed to.

Unfortunately, these surge protectors will almost always measure power in watts, giving you an extra step to deal with.

Step 2: Converting to Joules

Luckily, converting watts to joules is a relatively simple process. To convert watts to joules, simply multiply by the number of seconds the power is used for.

For example, if you use 100 watts, you are using 100 joules per second. You can use this to convert different amounts of times as well. For example, in this scenario you would be using 6,000 joules in a minute.