Energy Saving Meter

[IBM]

Does anyone have one of these?

Our electricity bills are astronomical, so wanted to see if anyone had any electricity consumption details for comparisson.

Anyone?

Thanks

[dangel]

I just got one yesterday but i haven't had time to check too much. A (p4) laptop here at work peaked at 152Watts whereas my desktop hit just 147Watts - weird!

[IBM]

Is that a single appliance meter, or one for the whole house?

I got an Efergy meter, which you clip onto the mains and it gives you a reading for everything.

It's telling me I'm running at 12.4p....but I don't know what that's measured against. An hour? A minute? A second!?

[dangel]

Oh sorry - yeah a single appliance meter..

[Vroomparrot]

I don't hae one but I do have a good tip:

If your leccy meter is an economy7 type then set your washing machine and dishwasher to run after 12am

[Fraz]

I have one... it's pretty useful. Certainly brings to realisation how much power devices are using on "standby". Any electronicss that didn't already get switched off at the wall at night time now definitely does.

[Whalefish]

I have one... it's pretty useful. Certainly brings to realisation how much power devices are using on "standby". Any electronicss that didn't already get switched off at the wall at night time now definitely does.

My digibox uses 6.1w when it is running.........................and 6w when on standby

[Funkstar]

Sounds about right. Digiboxes are probably the worst as there is not a great deal in them to shut off at standby in the first place.

[Fraz]

Sounds about right. Digiboxes are probably the worst as there is not a great deal in them to shut off at standby in the first place.

Yeah... prob just the screen on the front!

[JIM_BOB7813]

I don't understand how they work. Can you only attach them to your leccy meter and see total power usage or can you attach them to individual appliances?

[Fraz]

Maybe this image will clear things up for you:



So you plug the meter into the socket, and the thing you want to measure into the meter.

I bought mine from here:

http://www.reuk.co.uk/Kill-a-Watt.htm

It's a good bit of kit.

[5cupa]

i wanted to buy some of these i think aldi or lidl had some going cheap, sadly i dont live near either. but would like to test out different appliances

[JIM_BOB7813]

Maybe this image will clear things up for you:



So you plug the meter into the socket, and the thing you want to measure into the meter.

I bought mine from here:

http://www.reuk.co.uk/Kill-a-Watt.htm

It's a good bit of kit.

I've seen those ones before but the OP said Energy Saving Meter, which is ones of these?
http://www.efergy.com/en/index.php

[IBM]

Jim Bob's got it right, it's a total system meter. Connect it to the live cable on the house meter, then wander around with the wireless reader turning stuff on and off. Still haven't had the time to play with it, but you should see it jump when you turn the kettle on.

[beanbandit]

Using either of these devices will save you money in the long run. The advantage of the unit posted by Fraz is that you can monitor the power usage of any single device. The clamp method probably won't work on individual appliances. I'll be getting the efergy meter so that i can monitor the whole house, but will still use the plug in device to get more accurate local readings.

[chrestomanci]

Maybe this image will clear things up for you:



So you plug the meter into the socket, and the thing you want to measure into the meter.

I have one like that. It cost about £13 from maplin.

One slight disadvantage is that it turns off & resets every time you unplug it, so if you want to measure the power consumption from your fridge, and it's socket is down the back, you can plug it in for 24 hours, and then unplug the meter to read it, you either have to craw into the dusty corner to read it, or use a pair of extension leads to bring the meter out to where you can see it easily.