Ever get tired of trying to figure out why your electric bill resembles the national debt? Wonder if that energy-saving air conditioner is really paying off? Someone has to watch the electric company and make sure the peddlers of energy-efficient products deliver on their promises, so it might as well be you.
One way to do that is by using the Kill A Watt power meter from P3 International. Just plug the cell phone-sized monitor into a three-pronged, grounded outlet and then plug an appliance into the monitor. As soon as you plug it in, the timer starts calculating the data. Kilowatts per hour will be displayed, based on the time that has elapsed. It's that simple, and that limiting. One appliance at a time, please. If you forget to check your monitor, it'll simply reach the end of its 9999-limit and start over.
I found the large LCD screen keeps you from squinting, and the color-coded buttons are clearly labeled and easy to manipulate. The results are vividly displayed, and before long you'll uncover the conspiracy -- that the 40-watt bulb in your table lamp is registering only 39 watts! But the real usefulness comes when you test your energy-guzzling appliances like refrigerators, air conditioners and clothes dryers. Do they consume more kilowatts per hour then they say they do?
The Kill A Watt can also monitor other electrical stats like volts, currents, watts, frequency, power factor and Vrms/Arms (VA). To monitor another product, just unplug the one that's already in the monitor and plug in the next product. The data screen will automatically reset itself to start registering the consumption of the new product. To reset the power meter, simply unplug it from the outlet. Overall, it's an interesting little item, but I was left wondering one thing: How much energy is this monitor using to figure out how much energy we're using?
