Do the Kill a Watt or Watts Up devices save you money?
Watt meters like the Kill A Watt ($25) and Watts Up ($96) are designed to help you measure how much electricity appliances, electronic equipment, and other devices around your house use during active or standby mode.
This knowledge, the theory goes, will allow you to save money—perhaps you'll replace an old appliance that's a particular energy hog, or maybe you'll unplug or shut down devices that use a lot of electricity in standby mode.
Watch our video (right) to learn more about the Kill A Watt and Watts Up and read our March 2009 story to get the results of our claim check.
Essential information: Learn more about smart meters, the technology of smart grids, and the Obama administration's plans for energy efficiency, including weatherization. Then discover what a negawatt is.
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Posted by: alba | Mar 18, 2009 5:13:55 PM
It's nice to save electricity, but it's not practical to completely unplug items like your TV, computer, and stereo equipment – you'll lose the settings and customizations you programmed in during the initial setup.
Posted by: dennis | Mar 18, 2009 6:41:46 PM
ANDREA!!!
You may be saving watts, but pulling that coffeepot plug from the wire is a surefire way to a sure fire! Please pull from the plug, not the wire.
Posted by: alba | Mar 19, 2009 7:11:35 AM
alba, you are wrong about losing your settings. Computers have had permanent storage forever, and so have most consumer electronics I've ever used.
Posted by: goingjag | Apr 1, 2009 8:25:53 PM
CR seems to highlight what they feel is important. Comparing a refrig and computer - pretty far apart on the scale of habit adjustable devices.
What they should have done is measured the computer with monitor on, monitor off (lcd and crt types), computer idling, and in sleep mode. A computer with the monitor off, idling (no disk activity) uses very little electricity - something that can be measured with one of these devices. In sleep mode, it retains all your settings if you left browsers open or programs active - something turning the power off won't do. If I recall correctly an idle computer only used 700 milliamps - not including the monitor.
Yes newer devices that rely on small computers will retain channel info if unplugged, (e.g. on a power strip), but some only for a brief time, and older ones not at all. Turn the power off on my new microwave, new coffee maker, or stove and all those clocks will be wrong when I turn them back on.
I'm hoping the 35 CFL's I use around the house make up for the 20 power bricks running a bunch of stuff like cell phone chargers.
Of course let's not forget all the stuff that is plugged into UPS' with surge protection (computers/printers/monitors/LCD TV's/high speed modems/routers) Can't turn the power off to the UPS - unless you don't mind hearing beeping all the time!