Monitoring energy use

I recently treated myself to a home energy monitor. Besides driving my wife crazy with my new toy I have been astonished by what it reveals about our home energy use.

The first evening I learnt that to cook our dinner in the oven consumed nearly 16 units of electricity, costing us about £2.50. The raw ingredients for the casserole cost less than it did to cook it.

I also discovered that power consumption by computers, printers, monitors, TV and audio equipment was surprisingly high even when it was switched to standby.

The beauty of the energy monitor is that it shows exactly how much energy is used in real time and displays the daily and monthly totals so that you can see how much you can save.

Even when I switched everything off I discovered that something was still causing the monitor to register 17 watts, costing us £3 per month.

I concluded that it could only be the light transformers which consume some power even when the lights are off.

I confirmed this by switching off the circuit breaker that supplies the lights and sure enough the energy monitor then registered just a couple of watts.

The makers plan to launch an enhanced model that monitors gas and oil consumption as well so that consumers will have all their energy data at their fingertips.

 With spiralling energy prices, climate change and energy security becoming increasingly important issues, a home energy monitor empowers us to make informed choices about our energy needs and carbon impact on the environment. And it’s a bargain at £40.


Michael Glanfield is owner of ‘Better Energy, info@betterenergy.biz