Re:Wattvision: The Smart Energy Sensor
by tedunangst on Tuesday August 14, 2012 @12:24AM
(#4379401)
Maybe get a killawatt instead? Tons of fun running around your house plugging stuff into it, but of course you can only measure the stuff you can plug into it. Also, as a renter, it's something I can actually use. Surprised nobody's mentioned it yet, they're fairly popular as the low tech version of this.
Savings for us had absolutely zero to do with habits, unless stuff like incandescent bulbs are a habit.
So you didn't know you had incandescent bulbs until you used the wattvision, or whatever, or you didn't realise they used more power, or you didn't realise leaving them on used more power???
There were a couple of things plugged in in my house that were chewing up huge amounts of electricity. Very large incandescent bulbs in our bathrooms were one of them.
Re:Wattvision: The Smart Energy Sensor
by icebraining on Tuesday August 14, 2012 @02:09PM
(#4382268)
Wouldn't it have took you less time to check the wattage of each bulb on the house than having to buy, receive, install and run this meter?
No? The whole point of the meter is that it won't occur to you what things to look at. The entire value proposition is spotting those things for you.
If you're the kind of person who memorizes the wattage of everything you plug into your house, then yes, this might not be money well spent. It was for me.
I'm writing as someone who could afford the $250 device (and would probably benefit from it, given the quantity of electronics in my home), but I'm just not convinced enough to take the plunge. What it would take for me is seeing one in action and laying hands on the device or talking in detail to a friend about their outcomes with the device. But right now, it all just seems like a pipe dream, and I can spend less than $250 on a pipe dream.