Innovative for Smart Energy Monitoring
My Gigabyte motherboard and AMD X6 are capable of power conservation and indeed the whole system goes to sleep within an hour of inactivity. With this meter I found that the computer, a 24″ Viewsonic LED monitor and an external hard drive only use 4.1 watts when powered down. It was able to place the display on my computer desk for easy viewing. I set the cost display to $0.10 per kwh so I can see the averaged power usage per month or year. My actual cost per kwh is greater but my utility uses a tiered rate system so a dollar amount may not be valid. My next tests will be on the television and the refrigerator (the socket is rated at 15 amps). One thing that would make this better would be if it could be plugged into a USB port for data acquisition on a computer. But I am still very impressed with the performance of this device.
It is priced similiarly and may have a little better functionality.I like the daily/annual energy cost switch. The fact that it does not have to be viewed at the outlet and has some cord attached to it helps a lot to check the status without moving furniture around. Last but not least it is a pretty pleasant design.
I work on a television program and we demo’d this product for a segment on energy efficient products. I found the Conserve easy to use, easy to understand and a great way to find out how much phantom load you’re appliance is costing you. This was much easier to use than the product we compared it to, the Kill-A-Watt.
It’s ridiculously simple to install and use – flip the switch, plug it in, and plug something into it. It turns off automatically after a set period. It could be really useful for items that don’t turn off automatically – like hair curlers, lights, etc., when you just need a little power.
On the “green” side of things, it’s silly. Supposedly it helps prevent vampire drain from things like cell phone chargers, video game chargers, etc. I’ve got a tester that shows the amount of power things draw – these items don’t draw anything anymore unless something is plugged in. Makes buying this item kind of pointless if you’re doing it to stop vampire power drains.
Overall, it’s a great product, but don’t be duped by the purported green benefits or power savings. They aren’t there.