P3 International P4460 Kill A Watt EZ Electricity Usage Monitor
by P3 INTERNATIONAL
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List Price: Our Price: $22.41 You Save: $37.54 (63%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $18.00 (click here) Category: Tools See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of P3 International P4460 Kill A Watt EZ Electricity Usage Monitor
Customer Review: Does what it says
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased the P3 International P4460 Kill A Watt EZ Electricity Usage Monitor as a gift for my husband, and he has been using it all over the house. It is very easy to use and program, and with the addition of a short extension cord, the meter can be left anywhere handy to read, even if plugged in behind a refrigerator. If I had to fault the meter on any one thing, it would be that the dial has no light, and the lettering is small (numbers are fine). It took a flashlight to read the dial in many cases. The directions should also explain all the various electrical measurements. They list them all, but give no explanation of what they mean. They also don't mention overload protection, just maximum wattage for the meter. I got the feeling several times the temporary starting load of an appliance might cause the meter to fail. I would highly recommend this product to anyone, the results it gives are in some cases very surprising and revealing.Customer Review: Easy to use and read
Summary: 4 Stars
I found this product to be very easy to use and setup. It has a nice readout where you can clearly see what it is displaying and has a battery backup so that when you change plugs it will still contain the same settings you had before (for me, mainly the electricity cost). The only downside is that it is rather big, and only plugs in in one direction, meaning if I have one slot left on a power strip, it's not going to work. I have to free up two more at least just to get the kill a watt to fit on it. Also, some plugs in my house are fitted with upside down outlets making it hard, to say the least, to read the output.
Overall, however, the usefulness of such a device to tell me which products I'm using are drawing phantom power and help me figure out my biggest energy drawing devices outweighs the minor inconvenience of figuring out how to read it. I found a small extension cord fixes most problems in that aspect.
Customer Review: Find out how much you are spending on electricity.
Summary: 5 Stars
When I bought this I had recently moved into my first house. I never had to pay for electricity so I didn't know how much I would be spending, but I knew that I didn't want to pay a lot. This tool allowed me to identify devices that were not energy efficient so that I can replace them if I wanted to. The only thing you need to do is program in your electric rate. After that, you will get a good amount of data about any device you plug in to the Kill A Watt. Useful data includes exactly how much energy a specific device uses and how much it will cost to run for a day/month/year. It has held up pretty well over the years except for the plastic cover in front of the LCD. That has since come off (after two years). It looks like it was just glued into place so I guess that was to be expected eventually. I would recommend this if you are looking to save money on electricity and want to find those power draining devices.Customer Review: Very Limited
Summary: 1 Stars
I needed to determine the surge power draw of some studio photography flashes. The LCD display on this unit does not display the real-time power draw--but rather a snapshot about every second. So, it is impossible to know exactly what the peak draw is when my flashes fire. Moreover, the unit's memory does not store raw statistics (watts, amps, etc.)--only calculated figures like energy cost over time. While it may fit the needs of some consumers, it certainly does not fit my (quite basic) need. The menu system is also fairly cumbersome. For example, reading the memory requires unplugging the unit, plugging it back in, and then accessing the memory quickly before it is automatically overwritten. I find it hard to believe that this thing cannot tell me something as simple as the peak power draw when an appliance kicks-on. These limitations are not clear on the packaging. I will be returning this purchase promptly.Customer Review: Fun, fun, fun, but a little bit pricey
Summary: 4 Stars
If you are like me and fret over every wasted watt of energy, then this gadget is for you. It is very simple to use and seems fairly accurate. Mostly it is confirming what I suspected about most appliances like, how much power is that TV really using when it is on or off.... The cost display is really nice. After putting in your electric cost in $/KwH, the display will show you your total cost (since reset), cost/hr, cost/day, cost/year.
The only drawback to the design is that the unit will take take up both plug spaces in a normal duplex plug outlet. The body of the unit hangs down too low and interferes with the lower plug. I use the unit with an extension cord to get around the issue. Also, this unit is about twice the price of the non "EZ" model which is almost identical but does not do the cost calculations. I have both models and I think the lower priced unit is a better value.