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This can actually be life threatening if done without proper tools and working fast fuses. So just use a kill-a-watt or any other such tool for safety! NB they're maybe not 100% exact but good enough to give an estimate.


A clamp meter does not expose you to any live uninsulated wires unless you are doing it very wrong.

(Although they also tend to be not very accurate for low current measurements. So this isn't a use case I would recommend them for.)


Clamp meters are completely safe. The only risk is if you DIY your power cable so you can clamp one lead, but that's not necessary if you just buy an AC line splitter plug. And those often come with the hot looped around so you can get a 10x reading for better fidelity at lower current draw.

But these days I just skip the clamp meter and throw Ikea Inspelning zigbee plugs anywhere I want power measurement.


Doing anything can be life threatening. We don't need to assume that people who decide to do a thing are the same as you.




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