Electricity monitors

I have had a Electrisave energy monitor which I got from Eon a few months ago. They are now called OWL monitors. It has been really useful to raise our awareness of how much energy we use and what really makes a difference. We have reduced our base line energy by about 1p an hour mainly by changing our bulbs to low energy ones. It has also encouraged us to run our washing machine at 30 C. It is interesting to see how high the meter goes when you put the kettle on, and a great way of helping teenagers to realise how they can make a difference. Caroline

NEWS
Sheffield Libraries have started lending OWL monitors recently (around June 09). You can borrow them just like books. I have also tried a meter supplied by Southern Electric as part of their Better Plan tariff.

Both have a unit which goes near the main electricity meter which transmits data to display unit showing various information to the user within the home. The Southern Electric display unit has to be plugged into a mains socket whereas the OWL works off batteries and can therefore be positioned anywhere convenient & more easily moved. (The batteries came with the OWL).

I found the instructions for both reasonably straightforward. I ran the OWL in Energy mode as suggested in the Quick Start Guide provided by Sheffield Libraries.

I found both monitors didn't show things that used a small amount of power but its the big devices that I think are worth focussing on anyway. (For example, switching on an 18W compact low-energy fluorescent - with nothing else running in the house - does not cause either unit to display 18W. But switching on my "40W" strip fluorscent did register.)

Both monitors show the total power being used by the home at any moment and the temperature where the display unit is. Since space heating is often the biggest energy use in homes, I think the temperature is useful. During warm spells I also used it as a prompt to open my kitchen door & windows to replace warm air with cooler so that the fridge-freezer was not having to work so hard. I compared the temperatures shown by both units against an accurate infra-red medical thermometer and found the OWL better than the Southern Electric unit.

The OWL shows cumulative power use (in kWh) whereas the Southern Electric unit shows electricity used over the last day, 7 days & month plus a graphical display of electricity used during daytime, evening & night periods. The periods are defined in the Southern Electric user guide.

On the whole I prefer the OWL and you do not need to sign-up with Southern Electric Better Plan.

MAPLINS SINGLE SOCKET METER
I bought one of these last year and found it useful for discovering how individual much power some appliances actually use over a period. The meter can display cumulative power in kWh.
I used it to find out how much a portable oil-filled electric radiator that was providing night time heating in my bedroom was using. As a result I bought an electric over-blanket and reckon I'll recover the cost of it in less than a year.

Penistone Friends of the Earth have recently given their library a Southern Electric type meter and a Maplins single socket one.
Rick M