It Did What I Needed It To Do
I didn’t realise it would come with an earth pin attached (yes, stupidly I did not deduce this from the fact that there are three holes in the front). Not the end of the world, though – the hollow earth pin was made of copper so I just cut it off with a hack saw in a couple of minutes. It’s a nice-looking little doover-lacky, and the action of the switch although not exactly crisp is sufficiently robust. No regrets. I’d buy another if I ever needed it.
When the switch is on, you get a dim light reminding you that the switch is on. Turn the switch off and it shuts down the outlet completely. Turning the switch off is essentially the same as pulling the plug out of the socket. You have to decide if the convenience of a switch (vs pulling the plug) is worth the cost of this gadget. Personally, I think the price is kind of high for the limited functionality. Also, the device is kind of big, so it may block 2 outlets (depending on the layout of your socket).
It measures power with 3 significant figures. I tested my laptops, desktops, and other stuff. It shows that desktop computer consume much more energy than laptops. This one give me a reasonable precision power of my stuff. It is good for home use.
Once activated by the start button on top of the timer the, power runs to whatever is plugged in until the set time elapses. Perfect for single uses like a battery charger or portable heater. But, and I’m deducting one star for this, you cannot renew (extend) the timed cycle midway through by pushing the button again. You must wait for the cycle to time out or unplug the timer and restart it. Otherwise, great device for safety and conservation. Doesn’t block the lower plug-in on wall outlets. Made in China, of course.
Plug something into it and it will display how many watts are being sucked out of the wall. Push a button and it will display the dollar cost.
I always wondered how much energy the space heater used. How much energy does the computer use when it is in energy save mode, does the phone charger suck energy when the phone is not plugged in?
I work out of the home and run several computers all of the time. I also have a room full of aquariums. After finding the biggest electricity hogs and changing to using them only when needed I have cut my electric bill down significantly. This unit has fulfilled it’s purpose.
I use it when charging our cell phones so that the battery won’t get ruined by being charged excessively. It elimintes the phantom energy consumption, but I like the idea of having my cell phone battery last longer as well. It is also really handy for a device that didn’t have a switch. Now it does. It would be useful for any heat produciing fire hazard like a curling iron or coffee maker that doesn’t turn itself off.
This thing is well built, can be set for 30 minutes, 3 hours or 6 hours, and can handle any device drawing up to 1800W.