This little device isn’t going to make good decisions for you, remind you to defrost your freezer when it needs it, or unplug your energy sucking xbox from the WALL every time you turn it off. But it will help you become more aware of where your all important (and expensive) power dollar is being sucked away to.
This has multiple display settings, letting you read Volts, Amps, Watts, Hz, VA, KWH and Power Factor. For me, the only important ones here are KWH and Watts, unless I’m taking a reading on something like a fridge, freezer or air-conditioner that “kicks on” and has a power draw that varies over time.
You can use that information to find the hourly/daily/monthly/yearly cash money effect that appliance has on your household. I’m using a grimy old, terribly inefficient coffee maker as an example, and my current local energy charge is $0.111 per kWh.
Yearly:
Watts x Hours per Day x Days per Year ÷ Convert to kWh x kWh Rate = Cost per Year
So using this, I find that my coffee maker uses:
872 x 2 x 365 ÷ 1000 x 0.111 = $70.66 per year
Monthly:
Watts x Hours per Day x Days per Month ÷ Convert to kWh x kWh Rate = Cost per Month
Same coffee maker:
872 x 2 x 30 ÷ 1000 x 0.111 = 5.81 per month
Daily:
Watts x Hours per Day ÷ Convert to kWh x kWh Rate = Cost per Day
Dang you, coffee maker:
872 x 2 ÷ 1000 x 0.111 = 0.19 cents per day
Hourly:
Watts ÷ Convert to kWh x kWh Rate = Cost per Hour
Making coffee makers everywhere look bad.
872 ÷ 1000 x 0.111 = 0.096 cents per hour
It is infectious. Once I know exactly what it is costing me to run that coffee maker, I have less urge to use it for extended periods of time, and am more then happy to wash an extra dish to move the coffee into a thermos to keep it hot, rather then leaving the hot plate on. Then, I start plugging it in elsewhere to find other ways to save on my energy bill. Fan-tas-tic!
Check them out at
ThinkGeek
