Power Measuring Meter on sale

narced

I got one of these a while back:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Owl-Electrisave-Mk2-Wireless-Electricity/dp/B000LQ79Q6

it has a sender clips onto your power wire going into the electricity meter and a wireless receiver which displays the current consumtion in kWh or pence/hour. Because its wireless you can walk round the house switching things on and off and see what is using what.

I found the biggest constant drain is the freezer which is on more often than its off. The other thing that makes a lot of difference is lighting - if you have those 50W halogen spotlights they make a difference, I have 8 in the kitchen and 4 in the bathroom for example. Replacing every other one with a 1W LED spotlight halved the current without a significant difference in light.

S0litaire

The best type to but (if you can affordt it ) are the meters that measure the amount you use direct from the Fuse box.

Something like this:
http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_1734.html

it measures and record the daily fluctuations in power usage and you can use the graphs to adjust your habits.

http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/Article_Wattson.html

Cardew

u109230 wrote: »

It turned up today - great service from Maplins.

Cardew, the enclosed instruction details are not what I call complete - would you know the maximum time the counter goes up to? (it appears to be counting up in minutes & seconds).

Thanks.

Mine changes to hours and minutes after the hours/seconds display is full!

Cardew

S0litaire wrote: »

The best type to but (if you can affordt it ) are the meters that measure the amount you use direct from the Fuse box.

]

I very strongly disagree! The Maplin type is far more useful.

This has been covered loads of times.

Nearly all the devices/appliances in your house are on a thermostat or variable consumption.

For instance your device cannot tell you how much electricity your, fridge, freezer, microwave, washing machine, dishwasher, dryer, heaters, kettle, PC & equipment etc etc uses.

Take for instance your freezer. Let us say it has a 200Watt compressor. 'your machine'(called the Owl, Electrisave, Watson etc) will indicate it is using 200 Watts if the compressor is running, however most of the time the compressor is not running - so how much does it cost to run? Your machine has no idea.

Plug the freezer into the Maplin device and it will tell you exactly the cumlative consumption over a day, a week, or for however long you leave it plugged in.

Ditto a washing machine. If the heater is on it takes 3kW, mine has a 90 min cycle - what consumption will your machine think a cycle uses?(4.5kWh) - again it hasn't a clue.

The Maplin device tells me it is 0.6kWh, 0.9kWh or 1.9kWh depending on the program.

[Deleted User]

I have been using a very similar meter for the past few weeks and have been able to physically see exactly how much I was spending on various cooking methods. This has enabled me to change tack somewhat, without any lowering of standards ie I still do a lot of baking and full meals from scratch but I no longer use my electric oven. For this alone, the meter is invaluable

I do not think it is useful for a fridge or freezer because they should operate within safe temperature limitations eg between 2 and 6 degrees for a fridge. I used a fridge/freezer thermometer yesterday and have been able to fine tune my fridge to an internal 6 degree thermostat setting, which in actual fact gave me a temperature ranging between 6.3 and 7.6 but mostly at the lower end. It had previously been set at thermostat 4 so I am saving a little energy here

IMO the best meters are the ones like the one in the op as one appliance at a time can be tuned/removed/adjusted etc. Whole house energy costing just muddies the picture

Cardew

Phlik wrote: »

on standby 24 hours a day, 365 days a year would be approx 1.7kW, so yes 44p sounds about right

)

Agree with the 1.7kWh but that prices electricity at 26p for a kWh.:eek:

I think a more realistic figure for that TV left on standby 24/7 for the whole year would be 17p!

So you could save up and buy a chocolate bar every 3 years with the savings.

Garetha

Plushchris wrote: »

While I can understand the uses of these things I wont be getting one as I think these lead people into spending money to save money.

Say you find out how much your fridge uses, what are you going to do about it? Buy a new fridge? Hardly cost efficient if you ask me, same goes for most white goods.

The cost of electricity consumed by an old fridge or freezer compared to the modern ones can sometimes make it worth while buying a new item.

In our case the freezer was using nearly £2 electricity a week - the replacement one saved £70 a year. After year two it was paid for!

The new equipment in the shops have a label giving you typical running costs. Compare this to the results from one of these meters and you can do your own sums.

1carminestocky

Cardew wrote: »

Agree with the 1.7kWh but that prices electricity at 26p for a kWh.:eek:

I think a more realistic figure for that TV left on standby 24/7 for the whole year would be 17p!

So you could save up and buy a chocolate bar every 3 years with the savings.

I've just measured one of my Sky+ boxes and in standby it uses a ridiculous 19w, only 4 watts less than when it's operating! Shame on Sky.

1carminestocky

kittie wrote: »

I have been using a very similar meter for the past few weeks and have been able to physically see exactly how much I was spending on various cooking methods. This has enabled me to change tack somewhat, without any lowering of standards ie I still do a lot of baking and full meals from scratch but I no longer use my electric oven. For this alone, the meter is invaluable

I do not think it is useful for a fridge or freezer because they should operate within safe temperature limitations eg between 2 and 6 degrees for a fridge. I used a fridge/freezer thermometer yesterday and have been able to fine tune my fridge to an internal 6 degree thermostat setting, which in actual fact gave me a temperature ranging between 6.3 and 7.6 but mostly at the lower end. It had previously been set at thermostat 4 so I am saving a little energy here

IMO the best meters are the ones like the one in the op as one appliance at a time can be tuned/removed/adjusted etc. Whole house energy costing just muddies the picture

What alternative cooking method are you using, please? We have decided one of the leccy cost cutting measures is definitely cutting down on using our leccy oven. TIA!

Cardew

1carminestocky wrote: »

I've just measured one of my Sky+ boxes and in standby it uses a ridiculous 19w, only 4 watts less than when it's operating! Shame on Sky.

Totally agree!

My Sky+ is 14W and I use it on Sky Multi room. Costs me more than the total standby for the rest of the house - about £9 a year.