Watsson Energy Monitor?

cslogg

Anyone have one of these?It seems quite expensive at around £120.I know there is another make called Owl but I am wondering if these devices are really worth the money in the battle to reduce our electricity consumption,and save money and of course ,the planet.

cslogg

Magentasue

I've got a Currentcost, similar to the Owl. I chose mine because, at the time, it was the cheapest model to store historical data. I found mine invaluable because there are six of us spread out in the house and I can monitor what's going on from the sitting room. I could tell instantly when lights etc had been left on and it made my carbon fiends much more aware of how much energy they were wasting.

I got mine in the summer and it has pretty much succeeded in training the family, where my nagging and reasoning had had only limited and intermittent success. Pretty much had its day - I do check out daily and weekly total to make sure we're still on track but we don't need to keep checking it. For that reason, I wouldn't pay much more than £30 for one - it's saved up that much but I don't think a 'better' model could offer us any more.

Cardew

No!

IMO they are not worth the money.

What matters is the reading on your electricity meter - and you can check that every 5 minutes if you wish

If you need to check what any appliance is using e.g. freezer get a £6.99 power measuring monitor and leave it connected for 24 hours.

The instantaneous reading of a Wattson or Owl is meaningless as a guide to your consumption.

1carminestocky

You tend to find the 'know alls' who have never used one generally 'poo poo' these products. The people who have actually used them and realised their effectiveness know differently, of course. IMO the owl and other versions like the effergy (approx £35) are as much as you need to spend, though.

Cardew

1carminestocky wrote: »

You tend to find the 'know alls' who have never used one generally 'poo poo' these products. The people who have actually used them and realised their effectiveness know differently, of course. IMO the owl and other versions like the effergy (approx £35) are as much as you need to spend, though.

Still reading sensible posts then carmine?

save-a-lot

Dragging an old thread up.. just searched on Wattson as I am considering buying one, wanted to get some feedback from owners of this particular device. I want the visual element - the colour changes to make my children appreciate energy usage in the house. I could go cheaper with other brands, but I do like gadgets and this has an element of fun with it. Also like the data storage aswell. All advice, experience with a Wattson welcomed

Swipe

save-a-lot wrote: »

Dragging an old thread up.. just searched on Wattson as I am considering buying one, wanted to get some feedback from owners of this particular device. I want the visual element - the colour changes to make my children appreciate energy usage in the house. I could go cheaper with other brands, but I do like gadgets and this has an element of fun with it. Also like the data storage aswell. All advice, experience with a Wattson welcomed

A colleague at work has one and he's always ranting on about how great it is. He especially loves the spreadsheets you can make with it. I got an Owl in the end as I couldn't justify the cost of the Wattson.

Mynewt

Owls, and other similar types of energy monitor do what can be done manually an awful lot quicker and accurately. It is possible to do the job yourself and save 30 or 40 quid. That said imho it's still 30 or 40 quid well spent.

It'd get rather tedious running around appliance to appliance and doing the math, when you can have an almost instantaeous result that will be more than accurate enough for most people's requirements.

As can be seen here its a bit like marmite: you either love them or you hate them, but in either case the other side shouldn't be berrated for their opinion.