Free £30 energy monitor - if you give us some feedback on it (50 available)

beckyw37

HI i have received my free energy monitor but i can't even get it set up the plug part will not fit into any of my plugpoints least of all the one near the router. I cant find any help or guidance on the loop site. Can you advise?

dd23

Beckyw37 can you see a section Support, FAQ on the Loop website? I'm not able to post the link, might help? Have you repositioned the red part of the plug? and tried to plug it in like a normal 3 pin? Hope that helps.

DaveW007

I would love one of these to try and review. I have emailed you. Fingers crossed. :-)

Tracy7790

Hi,
I received my energy monitor in the post yesterday.
You have to go online for the installation instructions but they are really easy to follow.
Its really handy that the website checks installation at every point in the process so if something isn't connected correctly you know which point in the process you made the error. I was also impressed that there's a free app for my iPhone which means if I'm not at home I can still see how much my energy my kids are using.

Connecting to my meter was technically easy, but because the meter wires are thick and very stiff coming out of the box it was a bit awkward.
It all seems to be working great, and I logged into site and entered my profile etc. but as yet I've not entered my energy tariff as I am unsure what tariff I'm on. I've also set a budget for the amount of money I want to spend per month on energy and also some savings targets and I'm hoping once I collect more data I can see where savings can be made.
I was really shocked when the website showed what electricity I was currently using, then it told me to turn on the kettle and OMG the usage soared...I really think one of my savings could be made there as I drink at least 20 cups of coffee per day, so my kettle is more or less, always on.
My older sons often fall asleep at night while on their Xbox and PS3 so I'm looking to show them how much that is costing me during the nought for the TV and games being left on, again, hopefully I can make savings here and get my current £250 electricity direct debit down to around £120 per month. :-)

NaturalBritain

Right, my turn...

Setup was simple, but unnecessarily overlong and overwrought. Messing around connecting it here, there and everywhere is not a good start - nor is the stupidly over-sized plug! Playing around with the wires coming out of my meter was also something I was less keen on doing. When products exist on the market that simply plug into a socket and have a display this seems massively pointless. Having to use my phone or PC to check my consumption just means I'm increasing my consumption to check it!! Added to that - there's two of us in the house, we both work, so why on earth I would want to check my consumption when I'm not there I have no idea!
To finally add to my points - having to mess around with a complete registration to this forum, just in order to give you feedback, is both annoying and pointless - I won't be back, so why make me jump through hoops just to tell you what I think?!

kas42_2

Mine arrived midweek, only just had time to open it up and do the setup. It took about 10 minutes to install, most of that time was due to the location of my meter and router.

The online wizard was easy to follow on my laptop and each step made sense. Finding a small sharp object for one stage whilst tangled in wires behind my desk was a little inconvenient.

Selecting my tariff online was easy as soon as I had logged on to my British gas account to find the exact name of my tarif. It looks like the loop site is now using the correct pricing information.

Once my email had been validated I got an email with a link for the android app. This installed on my phone quickly (not sure if I am keeping it on, as limited space on phone and not much use when out and about). The figures it gave were not as up to date as the ones one the real website. As I had the microwave on and the app did not show the increased use, but the website did.

The information on the website is currently broadly similar to that you would get from any other monitor or smart meter. It looks like it might be better when used for multiple days and then after a month it unlocks the "best tariff" checker. This could be of use as my current tariff finishes next month. So might give me ideas on if to switch or not.

staceycmdxxx

I received my monitor quickly. I set up straight away as I was very excited to see it in action. The packaging was very clear, simple and precise. It explained exactly what I needed to do so i didn't make a mistake. I started set up at 14:26 and finished at 14:40. It was very quick, the only delays I had were trying to get the clip around my electric cable, this was due to the location of it.

The instructions on the website are very clear and simple as well. They explain and show you images as to what you need to do or what you need to find.

The only issues I had were when it said to expect a flashing red light, it only flashed very briefly, so keep an eye out for this. The only other thing was the clip for the electric cable, it says to expect a "click" but the click was very faint, this could be the fact my cable was quite difficult to get to though.

The little tests it gets you to complete are simple and interesting, I had no idea how much consumption a kettle uses! I find myself putting things on now to see exactly how much they use. I was surprised how little my electric fire cost! I love the online feature you can compare to other days, it can tell you when you use the most electric during the day. I find it fascinating and very useful.

victor2

Will be interesting to see how accurate these monitors are compared to the electricity meter's actual readings.
I've had an Eon monitor for a number of years, from when they were giving them away. As already mentioned they are particularly inaccurate with low usage items.
I actually record my meter readings daily, and a comparison with what the Eon monitor recorded for last September shows that the monitor recorded 13% higher than the meter. With daily variances (difference as a percentage of the meter reading) ranging from -0.4% to +43.8%. I trust my meter - and record my gas meter readings, which these devices can't.

BoingBoing_2

Hi, I've had my Loop monitor up and running for a week now, so here's what I think...

SET UP

Very easy to set it all up, just follow the instructions on the back of the box, and then those online. Again, the plug is a problem, really tall and an awkward shape so I had to move some other plugs around to be able to fit this one in (really needs a rethink!).
The only thing that didn't go as described on the website was placing the transmitter. It shows a meter with 4 cables coming out of the bottom, and if you have 5 you have to click on a link. Ours only has 2, but I played eenie meenie minie mo and picked the one on the right! The receiver needs to be plugged in to the router, but the cable is quite short between router and receiver so you can't tuck it out of the way so luckily it's not too obtrusive.

USE & USEFULNESS

It's been in use for a week now, I downloaded the Android app, and whilst there is also an iPhone app, there isn't an iPad one yet! The app shows all the same main functions of the website.

Once you have set up your profile on the website, you can do a Low Usage test which acts as your baseline reading. This could be useful if you are out and have that sudden "Did I switch such and such off?!" as you can open the app and if your reading is above the baseline then the answer is most likely "NO!"

You can compare your own usage in kWH, Co2 or £ to other users with similar profiles to yourself, and see how you measure up.

There are also some small challenges you can try, lowering your Co2 footprint, using fewer kWH, keeping within a certain £ budget (I have failed miserably as so far as a family we keep using more and more kWH each day since the start but that's due to the ever increasing washing mountain as the weather deteriorates) but these are all useful little tools to help make you aware of how much you are using.

WOULD I PAY £30 + £5 A YEAR FOR THIS?

For me, it's too early to tell if I would pay for this service for another 12 months. Whilst it is a useful tool, you do have to be online to monitor it unlike other energy monitors which have a unit displaying current £ spend. (I will pop back and update this in a few weeks once the "Best Tariff" unlocks.)

Using this monitor for the last week has certainly been an eyeopener, the expression on my face when the kettle, dishwasher, washing machine and tumble dryer were all on at the same time must have been a sight!:eek:

Thanks MSE for letting me test this for free :money:

moo842

My monitor arrived in the post and fitted through the letter box, which for a busy mum is important ( no trip to sorting office )

I have to be honest and say I was going to leave the set up to my Husband, as to be honest these things are normally well beyond me! But my excitement got the better of me and I thought I'd have a go. Well my fears were completely unfounded, it was simple and easy to set up and I was able to use my ipad rather than have to switch on the laptop.

I have found it incredibly simple to use and maybe rather sadly, love the app and checking our energy usage whilst out.
I like he feature which tells me how much I've used since yesterday, but feel it would also be of benefit to have a comparison to this day last week, as for me we use much more when the children are home.

I also found it strange that it let me set up a challenge to save 3% ( you can alter amount) but it immediately told me I had failed. I assume that this is because It had no data for the week before, and then on Monday morning it did exactly the same because again I did not have an usage registered for last Monday. ( the new week starts on a Monday) maybe this feature should be locked like some of the others are until you have completed your first week.

All in all I like this monitor. I like the fact that I don't have another gadget cluttering up my house as this is all done from your phone / pc.

I am however unsure as to whether I would feel happy paying £4.99 per year, as after all this is a device to help save you money! What does the £4.99 actually pay for?