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Plug-In Mains Power & Energy Monitor

Following on from the Energy Bills topic, I thought I would share some of my findings after buying an Energy Monitor yesterday. This is what it is, you plug the appliance into it and it tells you exactly how much energy it uses.



I bought it mostly to help me overclocking my PC and out of interest to see how much energy it used. After some surprising results I set about checking all the electrical appliances in my flat (I had nothing better to do this weekend!). I shall be typing those results up later and will post a .pdf file you can look at, if you are interested? If you are serious about energy saving, it may be worth a read as I reckon most of us will have a similar list?. In the meantime the shocking thing was my current use and how much I am wasting by having appliances on standby. Before I did anything I used to have this lot plugged in and on Standby - so without using a single thing I was consuming 84 watts of power 24/7. This is how it broke down.

All items on standby only:

Mobile Phone charger = 1
Clock Radio = 2
DAB Radios (I have 3  :-[) = 7, 9 & 2
TV = 5
DVD Recorder & Sky Box = 18
X-Can Headphone Amplifier = 13
Microwave = 6
Cordless Phone = 5
Wireless Broadband Router = 7
Laser Printer = 9

[b]Total = 84 Watts[/b]

Working on 24 hours a day and a 30 day month for 12 months that lot costs me £77.29 a year! That's before I switch anything on. Food for thought?

GG

PS. If you are thinking of buying one for yourself, don't go to Maplins - they are £29.99 and you can find them on-line for under £15.00. Mine's going back next week.

So what make and model is that one then?

Is it just me who thought "shocked" and "current" were apt words to use in the above post?

Our combined Gas and Electricity bills are just a little short of £1,000 a year. Saving £77 isn't really a major consideration for me. Although we never leave our TV on standby, its either in use or off. Plus of course we do our bit by using low power long life light bulbs.

we've just bought some of those this morning Steve. The new lamps put out 40w but only use 7 which is quite amazing. We've also taken out some of the 10 lamps that the landlady saw fit to put in our hall and have found we can easily survive with just keeping 2! Unfortunately we're unable to do anything about the million or so in the kitchen and bathroom as they are fitted so we can't actually get to them.

Indeed £77.00 is not significant, but it's wasted power and money and 2 tickets and some beers for Aussiefloyd! What it has made me do is think more responsibly about my power useage. I have had a play around with things and my savings will I reckon be quite considerable hereon in.  Just using my laptop for general web surfing etc, will see a big power saving on my computer bill. My laptop uses around 35 - 40w, but my desktop machine with the monitor and speakers uses nearly 240w at idle, under load a lot more - that's just an example. Theres a lot more I can do, switching lights off and not leaving the TV running when I'm not really watching it.

The standby calculation was just an illustration really?



Larry, it's a Maplin branded Prodigit Monitor, Model Number 2000MU. But I have found this on-line, which is a better unit, it keeps a record of power used and also max peaks, so I will be buying this one and taking the Maplin back.

www.doctorenergy.co.uk/acatalog/Energy_M...zx5JMCFQoUQgodVkq5zA

How much power does the Energy Monitor use?  ;D