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Energy Monitors
A new development in the world of the conscientious home energy user is the 'Wireless Energy Monitor'. Available free from some forward-thinking energy providers, lent out by increasing numbers of local boroughs, and of course available for purchase online, these monitors allow you to keep tight tabs on your electrical useage.
Comprising of a sensor clip with wireless sender, and a receiving digital display which you can place on your mantelpiece, these monitors are very simple to install. Once you place the clip around your mains electricity cable (not as dangerous as it may sound) and turn on the sender, all you need to do then is plug in the receiving display.
Although each make and model are subtly different, the majority give you a realtime readout of energy usage in watts, historical usage figures/graphs and even costings if you can find and enter in how much you per per electrical unit (should be somewhere on your electricity bill). PC connection is also available on some, allowing you to export the figures into a spreadsheet or similar.
Some typical energy use figures were obtained and are displayed below:
| Appliance | Typical Usage (Watts) | |
|---|---|---|
| Fridge | 12W Standby -250W | |
| Kitchen Extractor Fan | 20W | |
| PC | 20W Standby - 250W | |
| TV | 10W Standby - 300W | |
| Sky+ | 39W Standby | |
| LCD Computer Monitor | 55W | |
| 4 Halogen kitchen lights | 133W | |
| Cooker hood light | 25W | |
In summation, although these monitors are fantastic as a freebie or loaned out from your local library, they are still a little expensive to purchase for private use unless you need it to keep track of high bills and want to watch and calculate your own bills effectively.