HankScorpio

Bought one of these a few weeks ago and what a device - absolutely brilliant.

Now, let's get one thing clear - IDGAF about eco "issues", climate change, greenhouse gases, blah blah blah stab me now, but I do care about money and what an eye opener this magic box was.

We've been "discussing" our usage with the electricity company and they fitted a new meter as the previous one turned out to be defective. So an ideal time to monitor it to see how it was doing and if we agreed with it.

Got us one of these:
Owl Cm119 Wireless Electricity Monitor: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

Dead easy install and set it to display the current usage (not cost/gh gas/total although you can do that) and it's reading 14kwh - no effin' way is that says me.

A bit of investigation later and it turns out the heating and hot water are rated at 6kwh EACH, not combined as was the initial thought. So a bit of fine tuning on the timings and we still have plenty enough hot water but it's actually on for a lot less time. Obviously not drawing 6kw each that whole time but the potential to do so when they're both on.

So with the monitor prominent in the kitchen, you become focussed on these bloody numbers!! It's also led to a few changes in habits - when the washing machine with it's single cold feed starts heating to 60 and you see it shoot up, you start washing at 40. I used to fill the kettle - not any more, I also used to reboil it if I missed the absolute top of the boil, not any more.
Also just keeping an eye on what I'd call baseline figures has reduced the overnight rate to about a half of what it was. Sky+ box goes off, PS3 goes off, PC goes off if not working.

Keeping an eye on the figure, this box (combined with warmer weather) has helped drop our consumption by just over 40% in a month and has already paid for itself.
The eco warriors are probably celebrating right now but I've been driven by cash and by making us more aware of the usage, we're in a position to do something about it!

This little box gets two thumbs up from me and is recommended if you want to save money (or the planet )

Coffin Dodger

Tea should be made with water that has just come off the boil though, it's not the same if made with cooler water

Sounds like a nifty gadget though, may have to invest

Boro

iTrader: (1)

We have one of these, plugged it in like you cos we suspected the meter to be out (which it was). These things are very accurate and its definately a BIG eye opener when you see how much stuff costs to leave on standby. We went round the entire house turning off everything that didnt need to be on and watched the numbers come down.

I lol'd at the kettle thing. We went one step further. Bought a whistling kettle for the AGA, now we dont use any electricity for a cuppa

I'm with you on the saving money thing!

HankScorpio

Oooh, maybe there should be an "electricity miser" sub section

When I was looking at which unit to buy, I actually spoke to the folks at Efergy and they have a new model coming out that you can download the data to PC to do some proper analysis but I didn't really want to wait for it. Now, having become almost fascinated by it, I might have to get it when it comes out.

efergy.com | efergy2

urban

iTrader: (1)

What about installation.

I presume an electrician is required?

I'm currently in dispute with my supplier - Northern Ireland Electricity and am awaiting a meter change.

Shaun

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Great to see actual science being used in the great eco debate for a change

I'm not convinced it can be that accurate, though. If it's basically an inductive clamp on round one of the meter cables, then it can't be taking power factor into account (unless it can also pick up the electric field as well as the magnetic one - probably a bit sophisticated for a £30 product).

That means that, although it can be quite accurate for resistive loads like ovens and showers, it won't be nearly so accurate for electronic items like PCs and televisions. For these you're better off getting a plug-in monitor with power factor measurement.

I bought a plug-in meter last year and went round the house checking the consumption of everything... with all the talk of the 'evil' standby mode I was actually surprised at how little most devices do consume when not being used.

A few items did stand out, but it was no great surprise - they're the ones that get noticeably warm.

Coffin Dodger

No, I think it has a thing that you clamp round on of the meter tails and it measures the current by monitoring the electric field in the cable. Sorry my electro-physics isn't what it used to be Anyway no physical connection needed.

urban

iTrader: (1)

Why not share this valuable information?

alpha charlie

We've been using a "wattson" for about 8 months now and I agree it certainly makes you look at what you are using. Hot water/Heating along with Fridge and Freezers have all been tweaked for best usage vs consumption.
AC

HankScorpio

Just a cable that clips round one of the wires going into the meter.

Andy_C, I've seen mine update when disks start spinning in the pc or the laptop powersaving kicks in so it will pick up minute changes and I'm not too fussed about the absolute accuracy if I'm honest but as a relative indication of what's being used, it certainly does the job. The espresso machine uses considerably less than the kettle so even tho the coffee is more expensive, I justify that cost with the lower electric cost

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Because it's down to specific makes & models of device, not really general information that will necessarily apply to other people.

In my case it was my DVD player that was the big surprise - 25W just sitting there doing nothing. But I'd hate to be misquoted / misinterpreted as having said "DVD players are power hungry", because that's exactly the sort of gross oversimplification that does more harm than good.

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

You'll see changes OK - just be aware that, with inexpensive electronic devices in particular, I've seen a 2 to 1 difference in real power used vs "apparent power" due to the power factor being <1.

Fortunately the really big loads, like kettles, do have a power factor of 1, so measurements of those will be accurate - but if you're looking at measuring or saving standby power, a plug-in meter will give more useful results.

Interesting result on the coffee machine... I worked out that mine works out very similar cost per cup to using the kettle. It draws less power but has to be switched on for longer to warm it up first, so the two effects pretty much cancel out.

That's what you'd intuitively expect, after all. You end up with the same amount of heat in the coffee, obviously, and the residual heat in the coffee maker is about the same as the heat in the gritty bits at the bottom of the kettle

DemonDave

iTrader: (13)

Similar thing but british - **Eco-Eye** Real Time Electricty Monitors


lead to us buying this - Kenwood - Kettle Kenwood JK455

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

I bought one and I am very hot on turning stuff off, pity no other ****** in the house does ! the missus is fond of boiling enough water for a bath when making a brew, the kids leave the Xbox, Tv, pc and everything else on just in case they might come back to it.

I changed all the bulbs for the energy savers and got moaned at as they arent quite as bright and dont give full output straight away, I just said get used to it as you wont be able to buy the old type soon.

Mainly though its p1ssing into the wind for me, turning lights off and whatever as its the shower, cooker, dishwasher, dryer etc that use it and its difficult to avoid using those, though I do think going back to a whasing line would be a good move during decent weather.

Its funny as the ones that dont pay the bill are the ones that dont care, no matter how much I explain it to them they just either in the case of the wife tell me to shut up and not be tight or nod sagely and ignore it (the kids), its the same with bloody ketchup, big kilo bottle and they cane it, waste it and then moan when there is none left, it would be good to do that with electricity, there you go, 2000 kwh's, when its gone thats it for the month.

HankScorpio

The coffee machine only heats a small amount at a time and most of the water is cold in the reservoir so it's on a pretty short time, 4 espresso shots take much less time and energy than boiling a half kettle for two mugs of instant. (And tastes way better so a shame I feel the need to justify on cost!!)

DJ Dunk

iTrader: (5)

I have the same Owl monitor, it's great. I went around the house turning stuff on and off to see what difrerence it made and it's quite an eye opener. I had it sat in the living room and could tell if the other half had left a light on somewhere

HankScorpio

The first week with ours was filled with shouts across the flat - "Oi! What have you just switched on?!?!"

IanK Spec C

There are some useful measurements already taken on here:

Energy Miser Guide (Energy Miser Guide)

Regards,

Ian

pwhittle

we borrowed one from the library. You do get obsessed by them!
W elearnt that the aging fridge costs us over £100 pa more than an a* one, and the halogen spots in the kitchen (each bank of 4) use as much juice as the tv and pc combined.
They do a plug is one which is good for things like fridges, as you can measure it over 24 hours. The remote ones are good for lights and multiple appliances like PCs.
Definately worth getting hold of one.

Simon K

Mmm tempted to get one now. How do these things work if you've got two meters, one that registers off peak / on peak electricity ?

Ive got an indoor pool that has a pump running 5 hours a day, during the off peak electricity. Be interested to see what I can save as my gas / electric bills are as high as Pete Docherty

SBK

SunnySideUp

You all may want to note that Wilkinsons are currently doing these types of items for £2! Yes, £2! ... these are the devices which you plug the item into and it tells you how much it is costing to run that item.

StickyMicky

i was given an old fridge and an old freezer when i finally moved out of my parents house a few years back, they had them from new, but "upgraded" to one of them huge american style ones and the old ones were put in the garage.

i used them for a few years, until i started crunching numbers, and worked out what they were costing to run

it worked out cheaper for me to buy a brand new combined 50/50 fridge freezer, then to power the two old ones for a year(the fridge door seal was shot so it was constantly running)

bills dropped by quite a bit to be honest!

HankScorpio

Two meters or two tariffs?

You can program tariff info into the one I've got so it's always showing the current or correct total cost.
If you're just measuring usage, tariff doesn't matter.
If you've got two meters, you could just do a week on one and then move it over?

Butty

iTrader: (2)

I also have an Owl and it helped ID some issues - mainly my son leaving things on, but most use was to be expected. I can't get below a draw of 97 watts at night due to things that HAVE to be on standby so I'll have to live with that.
After about a month of use, it became pretty redundant, so my Dad is using it to find out why he uses more power than us in a smaller house with 2 OAPs.

The only thing I couldn't explain was why the 800 watt microwave draw 1500 watts when on - anyone have a reason?

nick

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Sure - the magnetron isn't 100% efficient. The rest is turned into heat, which is why the microwave needs a fan to keep it cool.

Butty

iTrader: (2)

Ah, so the quoted wattage is the "cooking" power, not the total draw for the whole unit.
Cheers

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

That's right. There should be a rating label on the back somewhere which gives the total power draw from the mains supply.

Simon K

Ive got two tariffs, which use two meters, hence why I have to give two meter readings.

Definately one get one, will get home first and buy one online. Is the Owl one the best ?

SBK