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: Empowering you to control your power usage
Summary: 4 Stars
This little gadget is so cool! I am no longer blind of exactly how much electricity my electronics and appliances are consuming.
Armed with my Kill-a-Watt, I now know that my old fridge is costing me over $200 a year to operate, and with a simple online calculator I can figure that a new one will pay for itself in a few years.
The Kill-a-Watt is also useful for determining which items in your house are consuming "ghost voltages" -- electricity wasted even while your electronics are switched off. With this knowledge you can decide if you should switch these items off with a power strip.
So why not 5 stars? The P4400 model (the one you are looking at now) does not calculate the cost of electricity by itself. You have to make those calculations separately. Although this is not difficult, I wish the manual told you how, so you don't have to figure it out yourself. Also, my unit fluctuates between 0-1 watt when nothing is plugged in to it -- slightly annoying, but far from catastrophic.
Keep in mind, the Kill-a-Watt won't save you any electricity by itself. It is the decisions you make armed with the knowledge the Kill-a-Watt provides that can save energy.
My conclusion: the Kill-a-Watt is the perfect tool for anyone interested in saving money and/or the environment. I like.
Customer Review: 6 month payback
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased this item because I was curious as to just how much of a power savings I get by switching my computer to "sleep" mode. Result: Sleep mode: 26 watts; normal operating mode: 113 watts. At my cost of $0.14 per kwh, the 87 watt savings would amount to $0.29 per day if I did not use the computer at all. Since I normally shut down my computer for the night, based on 8 hours per day off, 4 hours in use, leaving 12 hours in "sleep" mode, the real payback time is just under 6 months. Definitly a worthwhile investment.
I think this model is perfectly adequate to demonstrate the power savings. The fancier model that does the above calculation directly maybe worthwhile for people that don't have a calculator, but still want to understand the true cost of operation in monetary terms.
I agree with some previous reviewer's comments that the display is awkward to read, since you have to squat down to floor level to read it, and impossible to read if a piece of furniture is blocking the view. A 3 wire, 4 foot long extension cord rated for 15 amps, (i.e. 6 outlet "Power Strip") available at most hardware and electronic stores, solves that problem. It also solves the problem of blocking the second outlet in a duplex receptacle mentioned by another reviewer.
Now you have no reason not to buy this right away.
Customer Review: Easy to use, inexpensive energy saving device.
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a great little device and it's very easy to use. Just plug it into the wall and plug the device you want to monitor into the Kill a Watt. Of course, the Kill a Watt won't save you any energy on it's own but it will give you actionable insights into how you can reduce your energy consumption.
I started with my refrigerator and now I know that I need to replace it. Thanks to the Kill a Watt, I now have a pretty good idea of how much energy I will be saving per month and how long it will take the new refrigerator to pay for itself in energy savings. In my case, less than a year.
The Kill a Watt only has one outlet but you can plug all your computer or home entertainment equipment into a power strip (which you should do anyway) and plug the power strip into the Kill a Watt. I've been able to optimize my computer's sleep and energy options to cut my energy usage in half for my office.
I also purchased a kit to add a wireless transmitter to my Kill a Watt to send usage information to my computer. I'm a nerd and think this will be fun!
I've only had the Kill a Watt for a couple weeks and it's already paid for itself. If you want to try one out before buying, check with your local library. All the libraries in New Hampshire have Kill a Watts that you can check out for free.
Customer Review: This slick gadget will pay for itself several time over!
Summary: 5 Stars
Ahhhh geee, another gadget for the junk drawer. Yaaaahhhhhnnn. WRONG!
This slick gadget is one of the best investments anyone can make when trying to conserve energy! So often, the real culprits in our homes are items we don't see, or don't think about as being power guzzlers. Here are some examples I found...
That 10 watt 12 volt outdoor lamp I illuminate the US flag at night actually draws 50 watts due to the transformer. I'd be ahead with a low wattage 120 volt lamp.
My house has a crawl space, where I run a 20" box fan 24/7 at the garage entrance during the summer months to reduce moisture. The beefy Lasko one I was using consumed 100 watts on LOW - I replaced it with a $12 WalMart/Lasko that only draws 50 watts on low (and only 100 watts on high), yet still has ample airflow.
Here were just 2 examples were I discovered I could cut energy use in half that weren't obvious and would have been overlooked without the Kill A Watt. A third example was as informative. I was concerned that my garage freezer was drawing a lot of power, and possibly failing. Nope - the Kill A Watt indicates that all is well. Whew! I was about to buy a new freezer, but the Kill A Watt saved me hundreds of dollars right there already.
Just buy one - you won't regret it!
Customer Review: Perfect - and here is a helpful tip
Summary: 5 Stars
Works as advertised and at a great price. But here is a little tip I picked up that you can get the energy cost in seconds - and no need to wait for 1 hour for the Kilowatt per hour calculation.
Plug in any device then press to select the Watt readout. Take that number and go to [...]
Just plug in the wattage readout, enter how many hours it is on (just enter 1 to show how much per hour to operate) and the cost per Khw. This is normally right at the top of your monthly utility bill where the calculate your bill. Example, I am in Iowa and a KHw is .08034
It will amaze you when you see how much power your devices turned OFF are costing you. Examples from our house - a flat screen in our bedroom costs $10 per year turned off. Laptops, plugged in - but fully charged and completely turned off - 7 cents per day or $36 per year. New computer with screen / printer all in standby mode - $80 per year. And the biggest - I put a small dorm fridge in my office = $51 per year. For that price I can walk upstairs and grab a soda.
What is shocking (pun intended) - with just 5 things we checked in 15 minutes we have cut our electric usage by 12%!!
As the saying goes "You can not manage what you do not measure!".. Now there is no excuse!