You ever see that commercial where the guy is on the phone standing in the *open door* of his first own house talking to his dad, saying, "Yeah, I'm heating/cooling the *whole* outdoors!"?
I about fall out of my chair each time it comes on; priceless. It might be for Carrier, or something. Goes to show you how the best commercials don't do a thing for brand recognition...
On the topic, yeah, anything with a few kW will make the meter act like it's gonna take the house into orbit.