electrical
I have an office desk with a computer on it. After sitting in front of my computer for some period, if I get up and touch metal, I always get a spark.
In order to avoid surprises, I habitually touch metal whenever I get up now.
How can I prevent this build up of static electricity?
I'd pick up one of these at the hardware store:
If you're not in North America, I'm sure there's a local equivalent.
Based on the LED's that light up, you can tell if the circuit is wired correctly. The only thing it can't detect is a ground/neutral swap. But it can detect a missing ground.
Somewhere inside the service panel of the furnace, there should be a schematic for the furnace. This may list the electrical specifications of the blower motor. If not, the blower motor itself will have a label on it. It should list the voltage, amperage, horsepower, etc.
An ammeter is used to measure the amount of current flowing through an electrical circuit. You can use a clamp on ammeter to measure the amount of current being used by the blower motor while it's running.
Simply set the meter to measure current (A in the pictured meter), and clamp it on the hot wire feeding the motor.
This method may require working on or near live wires, please use caution and/or consult an expert to take the readings
With the above information and Ohm's law, it's easy to determine how much power the motor will use over a given time period.
Ohm's law says that Power (P) = Voltage (V) x Current (I), so we can determine how much power the motor uses at a single instant in time.
ex.
P = 115V * 5.2A
P = 598 Watts
Next we have to determine how many kilowatt hours the motor will use, which we do by dividing by 1000.
P = 598 W / 1000
P = 0.598 kWh
So for every hour the motor runs, it will use 0.943 kilowatts of power.
Total power/day = 0.598kWh * 24h
Total power/day = 14.352kWh
Total power/month = 14.352Kwh * 30
Total power/month = 430.56kWh
Finally, if you multiply this number by the amount you pay per kilowatt hour. You'll see just about how much it costs to run the motor constantly.
Cost = 430.56kWh * $0.07
Cost = $30.14 per month
Notes:
Results using this process will be an estimate only.
Values used are not actual values, they are example values only.
Calculations may be incorrect, nobody checked my math.
Best Answer
Happens to me all the time. I keep a spray-bottle of diluted fabric softener close by to spray down seats and coats that cause most of my shocks. I have heard that keeping dryer sheets in your pocket can help but I have had limited success with that. An added benefit is that my office space smells better after a couple of sprays from the bottle.