P3 International P4400 Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor
by P3 INTERNATIONAL
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List Price: Our Price: $14.99 You Save: $15.00 (50%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Tools See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of P3 International P4400 Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor
Customer Review: You may be surprised to learn what uses electricity: I was.
Summary: 5 Stars
I plugged my Kill-a-Watt into my stereo and TV system. With the TV on and all the components (receiver, cable box, TiVo and a couple other gadgets) I was amazed to see that it drew almost 300W! I started turning things off and while the TV was a lot the one that amazed me was the cable box, which runs 24 hours a day and drew over 100W!
The freezer in the basement was also a surprise. Flat screen monitors are vastly better than CRTs. Some things we heard were bad aren't really significant (some of those "vampire" transformers have tiny usage compared to a simple thing like replacing an incandescent light bulb in a lamp with a compact florescent bulb.
My only gripe with this device is that it covers both plugs in regular duplex receptacle, and because it's bulky doesn't fit in all places and you have to get into tight places sometimes to read the measurements. They should just add a three foot extension cord which would solve these problems. So once I did this, the problem was solved.
Through awareness, I have been able to understand how turning off the TV completely, and a few other minimal changes can make a significant difference.
Customer Review: Good start to going green.
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this item because I wanted to see how I could lower my electric bill or at least decrease my usage. Electric rates are going sky high in my state.
The product does what it is suppose to. It tells you how much energy you use in terms of watts, amps and KwH's. You can leave the product pluged in for hours and see how much you use, e.g. plug in the computer and see the KWH usage in 24 hours.
Was amazed that newer tv's suck up a lot of energy 220 watts vs a 10 year old one 35 watts. neither had any phantom energy. the computer is bad, at least put it into sleep mode. my 3 in 1 HP printer is horrible. UNPLUG IT!! it uses the same amount idling and not printing as it does in the off mode. the digital cable box...on and off (clock is on) uses the same amount.
Downside to this item is that it is big. You have to unplug everything from an outlet in order to use it. you can't plug it into one outlet with something else in the other, won't fit. it isn't as quick and easy as you would think to do your own auditing... but that isn't by design. but for $20 it is worth the buy, especially since it is more expensive in stores.
Customer Review: Takes the mystery out of the electricy hogs
Summary: 4 Stars
I used to really stress about the budget and wondered what items were using a lot of electricity. The copier in the home den/office was a real hog. I was hoping that the manufacturer will fix this flaw. Perhaps put the monitor on the end of a short cord that has both socket and plug at the other end, so it could be plugged in to either the top or bottom socket without even unplugging a device plugged into the other socket. was looking for a device that will tell me how much energy some of the gadgets in my home consume over time. This device does that, and very well. It provides easy-to-read values for total watts consumed. It also provides some other useful functions, like really fast voltage measurement and current draw. The only negative is that it uses both sockets in a standard two-high wall outlet. You can't see the back from the picture, but the plug type part is in the middle of the back of the device, not down at the bottom, where the "socket" part is. So if you have a device you want to measure, and another device, both plugged in to the wall, well, you're going to have to move the unmonitored device to another outlet while your monitoring.
Customer Review: With rising energy prices power is knowledge.
Summary: 5 Stars
Knowledge, often, is power. Other times knowledge will get you another slice of pie in Trivial Pursuit. But the Kill-A-Watt is a tool of true knowledge.
With Kill-A-Watt you'll be able to monitor how much wattage any appliance (computer, television, home stereo, floor lamps, etc) with a standard electrical plug is consuming per kWh.
This is probably one of the most overlooked gems on the entire internet. For those of us who like to micro-manage costs it's an invaluable tool.
This not only tells you kilowatt hours but also the following:
* Volt
* Amp
* Watt/VA (Vrms Arms)
* Hz/PF (Power Factor)
Though not an electrician by any stretch of the means I know the first two will tell you if your socket is up to par or not.
If you truly want to be nerdy break out an Excel spreadsheet and calculate your cost to run the appliance per day, week, month or year. Granted you're probably not going to do without when it comes to the home theatre but it is at least nice to know how much your entertainment is costing so you can justify to your wife how much money you're saving by staying home.
Customer Review: Essential Device if you want to monitor electricity use
Summary: 5 Stars
I love this device. I first saw a friend of mine using this about a year or two ago and found it really handy. At the current price point of about $20 it should not take it too long to pay for itself. I have used it to calculate power draw of various devices and evaluate them for possible use in an RV. (On battery power the lower the power draw the better) I also have a room that gets pretty warm in summer so being able to measure the power draw of different devices is a pretty good way to tell which items are likely to be putting out the most heat. Surprisingly there can be HUGE differences between the power draw of similar items. For example one electric fan can have almost twice the power draw of a similar model. Be careful not to leave device laying around. The power prongs are directly soldered to an internal circuit board and a friend of mine had to epoxy part of the board together in his kill-a-watt to get it working again after somebody stepped on it. I often look for info on actual power draw for various devices when shopping now. In Southern California we have some of the highest costs for electricity in the nation so it helps to be informed.