Chester, go to amprobe.com and look for a tester called a clamp-on multimeter. Not sure but maybe you can rent one at home depot although they may not rent this type of tool to a novice. You can pick one up on ebay probably very reasonable. Amprobe can supply you with aan adapter that plugs into the wall receptacle to split the wiring, you plug the appliance into the adapter and then use the meter. Very simple. Small multimeters are not rated for appliance current so hooking one up in series will just give you something to fill your trashcan with.
Ron
