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: Good product... needs a few more features.
Summary: 4 Stars
Good Product and helpful in finding "power expensive" appliances.
I wish it had two more features.
1. A battery that actually allowed you to view the data when it is not plugged in. Currently you have to plug in the product to see the values which can be inconvenient trying to read the data on a wall. For instance, you plug in your refrigerator and the data shows but you can't see the data because it is behind the appliance. But you can unplug it and it saves the data but you can't read the data unless you plug it in somewhere. Well most plugs are not in a very convenient place to read the screen. I use an extension cored so I can sit and read it in comfort :).
2. It needs to have two more values on the watts. One that shows the peak wattage and the lowest wattage during the time it was collecting data. This is good to know what that appliance used during its peak time so you can find out if your generator is powerful enough to run it.
Other than that it does what it says. I am happy with it.
Customer Review: Good but could be great...
Summary: 4 Stars
I like the information this device provides me. It will definitely help me to evaluate some of my older electrical items to determine if it's worthwhile upgrading to more energy efficient models (and get nice new features as a bonus).
Pros: It provides all the data as advertised. Yeah, you could calculate your own daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly numbers, but it's quite nice that this model does that for you.
Cons: It needs to allow you to review the results even when it's not plugged into an outlet so you can use it in tight spaces then unplug it and just look at the results. Needs a backlight on the display.
Overall: It does what it says it will do and it's relatively easy to use.
Note: The first unit I received would not display the decimal point on the "cost" displays so it was impossible to interpret the results. Amazon replaced it quickly, without hassle, and without shipping charges. P3 also said they would replace it if Amazon did not. The new unit works perfectly.
Customer Review: Kill a Watt EZ is a handy tool to have
Summary: 4 Stars
I live in Connecticut where electricity is a full 18cents a killawatt. Coming from Virginia where the rates were half as expensive was a real eye opener and led me to look for a device like the Kill a Watt EZ. The product works just as it is described and really did help us to see that certain items were hogging more electricity than we assumed and some where actually using less. I truly wish there were a version of this device that would work for 220 volt items in the house. For example we have electric hot water and it is a big portion of our water bill (we think). As other testers have mentioned it would be nice if the device still displayed its statistics while unplugged. it would also be nice if the display was angled up so it was visible without getting down on the floor (many wall outlets are about 15" of the ground) and also some backlighting on the display. Outside of those nitpicky items which would likely drive up the cost, its a great tool. For the sake of cost and the environment I do wish it was a tool you could rent.Customer Review: I've discovered very few energy hogs
Summary: 4 Stars
The best thing about trying to use this product is to go in every room and the basement to see what you have plugged-in (clocks, stereos, PCs, charging stations, digital photo frames, phone charging cradles, printers, cable boxes/DVD/CD players, game stations, etc.). Very few devices are energy hogs (except microwaves when in use.) You'll unplug most of them and eventually plug back in the ones that are useful. The P3 will tell you that your saving are only a few dollars a year on most items. Running a Microwave is huge ($90/mo if used 24/7), but real use is 7-10 minutes per day. Normal sized (extra) Refrigerator (bought in 80's) is about $35/mo. HDTV+Cablebox+SurroundSound = $15/mo if "on" 6 hrs a day. Too bad you can't use for furnace blower and central AC unit. Probably saved the cost of this device in about 6 months.
Agree with earlier reviewer about "cons": no backlight, can only read when plugged in. Can only view direct-on, and not from angles when plugged in behind electronic unit.
Customer Review: Does what it says it will, a good educational device
Summary: 4 Stars
The device is simple to operate and does exactly what the manufacturer says it will do. I found the device useful for answering two basic questions:
1. How much power is my space heater consuming right now? The device can show you the current voltage, watts and amps currently used.
2. How much has it cost me to run my space heater over the last couple of days? By presetting your local electricity rate (in cents per kilowatt/hour) the device will tell you how much the electricity has cost you.
The only feature I would like to see is a battery-backed memory, so that you do not have to re-enter your current electricity rates each time you plug it in. It would also allow you to traverse the menus and enter values while holding the device in your hand - it can be awkward to configure the values while it is plugged into a hard-to-reach electrical outlet.
I now know that my space heater costs me about $0.25/day to operate at my preferred temperature. Not bad.