Upgraded Watt Meter, Home Electricity Usage Monitor, Plug-in Socket Power Meter, Power Watt Voltage Amps Meter Tester, Overload Protection

To reduce expenses and to help protect the environment, in early 2021 our household started taking a number of measures to cut our energy consumption. Those measures have proven successful: total 2021 electricity consumption in our single-family, detached home in the US SE was about 8,000 kWh (3,200 of which was for HVAC), compared to about 11,000 kWh annual average in previous years. [UPDATE on 1/1/23: our total electricity consumption in 2022 dropped even further to just 5,500 kWh (1,600 of which was for HVAC) for the year. We have HALVED our electricity consumption. Huge savings. This electricity usage monitor continues to operate beautifully. We lend it to friends and family so that they can do their own diagnostics at their homes and see where they can save.]Looking back, we can say that purchasing the Kuman Electricity Usage Monitor Plug has been one of our wisest and most useful moves, and a very inexpensive one at that.The Usage Monitor Plug helped us to gain really eye-opening – and often surprising – insights into our electricity usage, allowing us to identify specific steps we could take to reduce consumption. Most importantly, we learned that “phantom power,” or the energy consumed by things when they are plugged in but not being used, accounted for a lot of our waste. Here are just a few examples:We discovered that our microwave used 64 kWh annually … in standby mode. We estimate that our actual annual use of the microwave takes less than 60 kWh. We now unplug it when we’re not using it.Another big consumer is our modem/router, coming in at 88 kWh/year. We now unplug it when the last person calls it a night. For people with set schedules, a timer switch would also work.Among the other major users of phantom energy are our TV w/ accessories (138 kWh/year when not being used but left plugged in) and our CD player (60 kWh/year in standby).One final example: Our rather old dishwasher is a real glutton, coming in at nearly 700 kWh/year. Newer, more energy-efficient models use less that 200 kWh/year. The next time our dishwasher breaks down, we will replace it rather than repair it.Finally, here are some other products we purchased at Amazon that we can recommend to those interested in cutting home energy consumption:Klein Tools TI250 Rechargeable Thermal Imager: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B089QW8R9S This tool, along with the Usage Monitor Plug, gave us a very good picture of where we were wasting energy. It was thanks to this tool that we realized, for example, that our then uninsulated recessed lights were really problematic, prompting us to purchase the following.FF130E Recessed Light Cover: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002XVPUAO If you have recessed lights and they’re not well insulated in the attic, energy wastage can be massive. These were easy to put in, sealed with Great Stuff: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KSANBTYAcuRite Wireless Indoor Outdoor Temperature and Humidity Sensor: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00T0K8NXC We got two of these to go with our AcuRite weather station. They allow us to monitor temperature and humidity in four places at once: outside, in our living room, in our crawlspace, and in our unfinished attic. Thanks to these readings, we have established a smarter, more energy-efficient way of ventilating our crawlspace. They also helped us see that our attic needed additional ventilation in the roof, prompting us to purchase the following.4 SEASONS Solar Powered Polycarbonate Vent, Weatherproof Design, Quietly Cools Up to 500 Sq Ft, 400 CFM: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DMSCPJAAootek solar lights 120 LEDs with lights reflector, 270 degree Wide Angle, IP65 Waterproof, Security Lights for Front Door, Yard, Garage, Deck (4 pack): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NQ4L1SB , as well as Solar Lights Outdoor,WWimy 210 LED 2500LM Motion Sensor Lights with Remote Control, 3 Heads Security LED Flood Lights, IP65 Waterproof, 270° Wide Angle Illumination Wall Lights with 3 Modes (2 Packs): www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08T9F2MM1 Purchased in August 2021, these lights continue to work well here in the SE, saving us over 150 kWh/year. We shared some of these lights with relatives in the North; they also report that their lights are going strong after a rough winter.STATINT Window Film Privacy One Way Daytime Mirror Static Non-Adhesive Solar Glass Film Heat Control: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07W3VCZNFRYB HOME Room Darkening Patio Door Curtain, Hanging Room Divider Screen Insulated Drapes Privacy Wall Panel: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D32DJ2V , as well as RYB HOME Blackout Curtains & Drapes - Total Privacy Thermal Efficiency Backdrop Curtains for Bedroom Room Divider Vertical Blind Living Room Patio Sliding Glass Door: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077SZRBNJGrandekor Blackout Window Blinds and Shades Cordless Cellular Shades: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NWBGVL3

Very simple to use, it plugs into the wall socket and you plug the appliance into it. Great way to find out the consumption of appliances that are not on all the time (TV for example.) I used mine to measure the power usage for the heater that I use to heat a small greenhouse.

This device works pretty much as advertised in what it measures, so my only real gripe is that the clock/timer function has been completely useless because it only seems to include time ranges when power is being drawn. So if you need to know how long a device is active, this may be helpful to you, but if you are measuring how much electricity is being consumed per hour or day, the number is useless. And likewise, the "Days" reading depends on the the clock, which keeps cycling on and off, so it's also a useless number. I had my home office equipment plugged into this device for 4 days, but the reading never moved off of "0 days".Another annoyance is that since the data is stored in this meter when you unplug it, if you want to move it to different outlet or devices, you have to press that tiny "reset" button to start back at 0. The reset function should have been more easily accessible, since you need to press it so often.About the instruction booklet...I agree with the other reviews. The English in these instructions is terrible. I realize this is a Chinese-made product, but what I don't understand is there are over 1 billion people in the world who speak fluent English, but none of the Chinese manufacturers can find any of them when it's time to translate their user manuals. They are either just using Google translate or using a non-native speaker to do their translations. So most of the time, these instruction manuals are a disaster. They should just hire a native English speaker to do these instructions instead and be done with it.

This sort of meter is handy to discover how much electricity a single device (or multiple devices connected to a power strip) use under various usage conditions. This info can be handy to help optimize total power usage around the house (for example, to find ways to lower your electric bill).Many years ago, when I first started doing this analysis, about the only device on the market to do this was the classic Kill-A-Watt meter. However, over the years I've lost the Kill-A-Watt meters I've bought, so when I recently wanted to again do this analysis I looked into getting another Kill-A-Watt. But when I looked at prices of new Kill-A-Watt meters on Amazon, I found that the price has actually gone up over the years (vs lowering over time). However, this device appears to do the same function for about 1/3 of the price of a new Kill-A-Watt. So I decided to get it and see if it would do the job, and thankfully this device seems to be a decent "clone" of my old Kill-A-Watt for a fraction of the cost.Now this device isn't an exact duplicate of a Kill-A-Watt, as it does come with a different size, shape, and controls vs the Kill-A-Watt. But functionally this device performs the same function. And since this device is functionally the same, for a fraction of the cost, that's "good enough" for me.If any of you are curious, the main thing I'm currently using this meter with is my new window air conditioner (important, given the high temps that are currently hitting my part of the country). With this meter attached (to the AC cord) I get a constant readout of how much power that AC unit is currently using. This not only tells me how much the AC is adding to my electric bill, but also what state the AC unit is in. For example, if the power usage is around 70 watts, it means that the AC fan is running but the AC compressor isn't currently on. Conversely a usage in the 380-450 watt range means the AC is fully cooling with both fan and compressor active. And, of course, with the AC off the power usage goes to 0 (which is also reflected by this meter).