Plug-in Electricity Monitor £7.99 Instore @ Maplin

mdolan

Woby_Tide wrote: »

Fair points, I think you must be wrong though, these monitors are useless.....;)

Ok, thats your opinion.

However *factually* by measuring the power draw (and allowing for certain inaccuracies of readings) from certain appliances I have managed to reduce my overall power consumption from 18 units a day to 11 units a day. This fact is also backed up by the Electric companies own readings and also reflected in my bills.

And the DAB radio was drawing 20w in standby (also confirmed by the manufacturer) - so in what way was my statement wrong?

Are the devices 100% accurate? No. But what do you expect for £7.99?
Are they a useful tool for helping to identify devices that drain power? Yes.
Will reducing power consumption lead to lower bills? Yes (although that will usually be offset by higher prices... )
Will the devices on their own lead to lower bills? No - but they might help people (like me) become more energy aware and therefore help change our habits.

If you choose to view these devices as useless, you are welcome. However the use and information provided by these devices have directly helped me achieve a 30% saving on my electric bills.

Cheers,
Mike

D_Dickenson

I think Woby-tide was joking when he said they are useless - on the previous page he was very much on the side of using monitors.

I have both the OWL and a plug in monitor and find them very useful. The things that don't use much energy in standby I now leave on all the time and the things that do I switch off using remote control power switches (4 for £10 from Aldi when they do them).

I do have doubts about the accuracy of the OWL though so use it as an approximate guide - but it has been useful several times when things have been left on that would have been on all night - including the electric oven hob at full power which could have been a potential fire hazard too.

mdolan

Yeah, the OWL/Electrisave does not measure voltage (assumes 240v) and works on increments of ~0.1 amps which gives a resolution of approx 20w.

Nice for getting an overall feel of "how much is the whole house" using though.

I hooked up a receiver to my server so I can now graph my power consumption over time (sad, I know). And the plugin monitors are great for finding the individual power drainers. The plugin monitors are more accurate as they do measure voltage as well. I think they have a resolution of approx 3w.

Cheers,
Mike

Woby_Tide

mdolan wrote: »

Ok, thats your opinion.

no it wasn't thats why I added a smiley:rolleyes:

D_Dickenson

mdolan wrote: »

I hooked up a receiver to my server so I can now graph my power consumption over time (sad, I know). And the plugin monitors are great for finding the individual power drainers. The plugin monitors are more accurate as they do measure voltage as well. I think they have a resolution of approx 3w.

I was just talking with a friend yesterday how it would be great to be able to connect it to a computer. Please could you explain how you have done this - I can't see any connection outputs on my OWL receiver so I assumed it is not possible.

angelatgraceland

Yes thats interesting-hooking it up to a computer-please do tell us how to(Im sad too).
Got my Owl today and its the "in your face" element that I like.
We discovered today that the ceiling fan(light-fitting) uses as much power as my pc,monitor,printer,speakers and headphones compared to a desk fan upstairs which uses one fifth of this. Its this sort of info that I want to educate my family with-it is after all, designed as an educational aid and should be used as such.
My OH believed our DS was using about £10 per week in his bedroom-well I always said it was about £2. Today I was proven correct after doing some calculations-it is indeed £2 per week so a lot of arguments will be sorted in future.
I think its great but Im sure its also a bit of a fad at the mo.
I got mine from ethicalsuperstore. I paid less than £35 for it.

Cordy

Thanks for all the info peeps - on both sides of the debate!

I've read my meters every day for a week now, and am not sure why I use 9 units one day, and then 16 another. Washing machine doesn't seem to make much difference, so am curious about the oven and breadmaker now. Oven is of course directly wired in, so I suppose I'd have to work that out by a process of elimination?

quidsinquentin

My quarterly electricity bill was £11.00.

I'm wondering...do I need one of these?????

1carminestocky

quidsinquentin wrote: »

My quarterly electricity bill was £11.00.

I'm wondering...do I need one of these?????

No, I would buy yourself a house first and leave Mr Bin Laden's cave before the Yanks decide to find him.

1carminestocky

Cordy wrote: »

Thanks for all the info peeps - on both sides of the debate!

I've read my meters every day for a week now, and am not sure why I use 9 units one day, and then 16 another. Washing machine doesn't seem to make much difference, so am curious about the oven and breadmaker now. Oven is of course directly wired in, so I suppose I'd have to work that out by a process of elimination?

One poster advised me to put a plug on it so that I could use my Maplin plug in monitor but he really is VERY strange so I wouldn't advise it.

:rotfl:

Back on planet earth :rolleyes: , once you accept that the Owl probably isn't accurate to the nth degree it's not difficult to 'measure' and accept the effect using your oven is having on your bills. The breadmaker is nothing to worry about at all - I cook a 1 and a half pound loaf for 4p (based on 10p per kw, which I *know* will shortly be more expensive!)*

* I used the Maplin plug in monitor to get this figure, btw! Like I said before, I like the combination of the 2 working together.