Smart electrical meters

[cwsmith]

KevinSA,

Thanks, I'll look into that.

If it's not too expensive it may be worth getting.

Our electrical demand is very low, as we keep a minimum of lights on and then only in the living space that we're currently occupying. Incandescents at this point consists off only two 60-watt bulbs in use during the four hour evening. Everything else are CFL's and they are generally off except when we move into that room. Even my kithen is "banked" so only the fixture is used at the end where we may be preparing or eating.

We don't use AC and the furnace is on a smart thermostat. Still, I'm considering adding some solar for things like the outside lamp, my radio equipment and computer system. Those are fairly "lightweight" consumers, but I think a good place to start. My thoughts (and financial limitations) and general experience has been to start small and expand based on those successes.

Thanks again,

CWS

[parnelli]

That device exists. It's called a TED, or The Energy Detective. Not the cheapest things but many people that have solar panels install them so they can tract the energy they use and the energy they generate.

there are others too. I had bookmarked one several months back (or so I thought) but I cannot find it now

[thrytis]

There is a load center that tracks every circuit, and i think also lets you remotely control each breaker too. I forget where i found it (other than searching online), but if i recall correctly, it isn't cheap.

You can find a review of several meters at Energy Circle.

[tommyt654]

I just see no need for these. We leave our thermostat set on 66 winter 74 summer and have everything else set-up on power strips so we do not have a lot of unecessary use. These just look like another gimmick to me to use more electricity. Our bill last summer never ran over $120 and this winter hasn't hit $100 yet. Of course we are somewhat energy concious and have all the right bulbs,insulation,energy rated appliances and heat pump etc, only thing that stays on long is this thing I'm on now

[thrytis]

Electrical monitors definitely aren't for everyone, but it is easy to find others who have saved plenty from identifying vampiric devices, inefficient appliances. and malfunctioning equipment. Simply turning stuff off at a power strip isn't always possible for everyone, such as computers that need to turn themselves on to do stuff even when no one is home. A lot of people can't afford to replace stuff blindly with more energy efficient versions, so by being able to monitor power used they can get the biggest return on their limited investment. I've easily have saved more energy on an ongoing basis over what the monitoring devices use.