Pretty Simple and Effective Product
Given that the GFI sockets in my kitchen are mounted sideways (I’d have to replace them to get them mounted vertically, that’s too expensive) I can’t see the lighted switch too well because it’s facing the top of the counter instead of being out to the side.
It’s an excellent concept of item but I don’t see why they did not add some kind of plastic reflection that would use the same light in the device for the switch to also add some light to the face of the device. That would make it a lot easier for people in my situation, seeing as a lot of homes built only 20 years ago will have similar sockets as I have in my kitchen because that was all that was available.
I had to reduce it by a star because of this. If you have plugs in your kitchen or wherever for that matter that don’t have this issue by all means pick it up, it works pretty good and will help reduce useless power consumption on items that don’t need to be sucking power all the time. I’ve been using a multitude of power strips for this very purpose for years and it does help to cut down drastically on power consumed when you do it all over your house. I had done calculations before on how much power I was saving by this method about a year ago and I found that the bills were about 10-20 dollars different each month I had all the extra items “unplugged” by turning off the power strips to those devices when they weren’t needed, it also depended on how much I was using those devices as well. It also means less wear and tear on items as well. So you end up saving even more by not having to replace things as often. I’ve used a wattage consumption tracker on a few occasions to test how much some of the items that I turn off with this little plug in switch use and it was substantial when added up.
Be smart about your power usage and turn off and unplug items that don’t need to be used 24 hours a day… You’ll spend less and replace less.
It also does not block the other plug in the outlet. The product saves energy by not leaving devices drawing power longer than necessary. I like that because it saves me even more money.
I paid $25 and had 2 day free shipping before christmas, it made two other good Christmas presents. I really wanted a battery backup model, but not sure why (!) This model doesn’t have a battery, but its not needed. I am pleasantly suprised how good this model is. I really like the long cord between the plug and the output lcd screen. It comes preset for 11.6 cents a kilowatt hr, which is pretty close to what we pay here in the panhandle of Florida. I was amazed at how many watts my large barn fan uses on low let alone medium and high, (145 watts). It will tell you watts per month or per year and how much it will cost per month or per year based on that rate per kilowatt hour that you can manually change. If you want a really accurate estimate you have to wait about 45 minutes with the device plugged in while your energy monster chows down. Now here a another good marketing money maker, they need to make a cheap one to measure the costs per room instead of each individual appliance. They are out there but I don’t want to spend $200.