efergy Energy Monitor

I previously wrote about how in March 2008, all households will be entitled to gain an energy montior from their electricity firm to monitor real time how much energy they are using, as they use it. These devices have their critics and plaudites, with various international studies recording reductions in energy use by 1 - 11%.

Having come across the efergy energy monitor, many months ago, I decided to buy it last week on impulse after seeing it in an email newsletter. The device is available for about £35 - £45. I got mine from ecohamster, ordering at lunchtime and having it the next day. After a two minute installation, I was able to watch my electricity consumption real time, and with the wireless display able to run around the house turning everything off to see the noticeable change.

The device also records the amount of electricity used each day, and you can view daily, weekly and monthly consumption rates.

To alert you to impending emissions nightmare, you can set an alarm when your consumption goes above a set level, which if you are me is triggered by everything from the kettle to the washing machine.

Since installation on Thursday, in four full days we have seen our usage reduced by about 33% (from the daily average from our last electricity bill), through better management of how we use electrical devices and becoming more aware of when to switch things off, especially the high powered devices and things we have forgotten about. At night before bed or leaving the house it also serves as a method for acceptablity, if the reading is high, then we go around the house to ensure all appliances are switched off that need to be off.

These are great devices, and serve a truely important purpose, if used and monitored on a regular basis. If not it is likely that you will not see savings on your electricity bill. Should we keep up our energy monitoring at current rates, we should save about £200 annually, not to mention reduce our CO2 emissions too, even though we are on a green electricity, someone else can use those green units instead.