Energy monitoring plug has just arrived - now what?

Mstty

Sea_Shell said:

chris_n said:

Sea_Shell said:

What are people planning on doing with all these energy monitors once you know what draws what, and what you can or can't (won't ) cut down on?   Changed your habits etc?

What longer term benefit will they have?   

Do they double up as smart plugs, controllable from an app?   

The Tapo one is also a smart plug, controllable from an app.
Longer term as many have found out fridges don't last forever and will usually start using more energy long before they actually break.

Thanks.  I see the longer term benefit of having one, and moving it, say, monthly between a fridge and freezer.

But really, is this not just more plastic "stuff" possibly from China*, that will eventually make its way into the "junk drawer" 



*Where are Tapo made?     

It is also a smart switch so won't end up in our draw it will run an internal lamp to deter the burglars, we hope.

Alnat1

I'll be getting the Tapo passed around my family and friends so they can check their appliances too

Ally_E.

Coffeekup said:

Ally_E. said:

It also helped me identify that I'm wasting electricity in way I use my TV and I was able to adjust my habits to reduce energy use.

In what way?

I'd watch netflix or YouTube on TV and then start scrolling instagram or tiktok while it was on pause and just get immersed in that and not turn the TV off. I was thinking I'll get back to watching it again in 5min, so why bother. Plus my TV turns the screen black after 5min of inactivity. I thought this was enough, but turns out it's using a lot of energy in this mode. So now I turn it off whenever I stop watching and don't rely on that screen saving mode anymore. 

dunstonh

Coffeekup said:

Ally_E. said:

It also helped me identify that I'm wasting electricity in way I use my TV and I was able to adjust my habits to reduce energy use.

In what way?

In my case, I found several settings on the TV that increased power draw when in standby.   I have to leave all our TVs on standby as they are OLEDs.   Changing those settings, which we didn't even use, knocked 7w of their use to under 1w.

What are people planning on doing with all these energy monitors once you know what draws what, and what you can or can't (won't  ) cut down on?   Changed your habits etc?
What longer term benefit will they have?   

Do they double up as smart plugs, controllable from an app?   

Most of them have gone onto sockets that are hard to reach (behind desks or units) or onto the routers (they draw 6w+ each and we have 6 of them to create a mesh network - now the additional units are turned off via smart plug when not used.  Tapos use under 1w when relay is off.  So, it's a 5w saving per router. ie. a 25w reduction in background use by using these are smart plugs).    I will probably pass 2 of them to my parents to aid them.   

Whilst my wife has, surprisingly, bought into the energy reduction project, my daughter is the unknown quantity, and I may use them on her plugs.  Both to encourage her to use them and me to see that she is turning things off or not until such time her memory muscle is doing it automatically.

HumberFlyer

I normally have my computer on 24/7. My Gizmo (P110) arrived today. Interested in what it used on standby (sleep mode).... 0.7w. So, from noting that I have decided it can stay on 24/7. The microwave 0w plugged in and waiting. More things to test

Chrysalis

Didnt know there was a version of these plugs that have an app, far less hassle than bending over in a hard to see corner to look at the device directly in the socket lol.

Jyana

Chrysalis said:

Didnt know there was a version of these plugs that have an app, far less hassle than bending over in a hard to see corner to look at the device directly in the socket lol.

The app is so handy, I can control the plugs when I'm not home without having to set them through Alexa, though I believe they are compatible if you want to go down that route too. I use Tenda SP9s and the app is very similar to Bright so it's dead simple to compare the two side by side if I want to go back and check any of my figures.

jvjack

Someware in here i mentioned that the Tapo moniter showed my dishwasher was 1.2kw a wash.
Thinking  i could save by squeesing more pots and plates over the week before wash.
But the sause pans have mouldy spores on them after 4 days. Just thinking. Dont know.
Sure its ok.

Spoonie_Turtle

jvjack said:

Someware in here i mentioned that the Tapo moniter showed my dishwasher was 1.2kw a wash.
Thinking  i could save by squeesing more pots and plates over the week before wash.
But the sause pans have mouldy spores on them after 4 days. Just thinking. Dont know.
Sure its ok.

Do you not rinse them after use?

jvjack

Wll do now. Normally just scrape out then put in dishwasher,
Its just the the sauce pans that got the mould spores.