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Energy Savings
Oct. 7th, 2009 07:21 amA few weeks back I was just idly browsing gadget sites such as Think Geek and Firebox and I came across this device which is called a Wattson. It's basically an electricity meter, but a rather fancy one. I had heard of electricity meters before but never really had much interest in them, however this one looked really well designed and also hooked up to your PC for monitoring usage over time. After seeing it on sale for a discounted price at Maplin, I decided to snap one up.
Since installing it, it's helped me identify what is drawing power which may not need to. It's also allowed me to be more conscious of things which could be only on during the off peak period which means I could save money. So now I make sure my boiler is only on after midnight and also try to make sure I only use the washing machine and dishwasher overnight too. It's also shown me what I should have probably known which was that the 3x50w halogen lights which illuminate my living room take up a lot of energy. I've looked into low power LED alternatives but the really bright ones cost a lot of money (£20 per light) so it doesn't really save me any money.
I'm not really what you would call a "green" person as I'm more interested in saving money, and this new device has pretty much turned the whole process into a game. As in I now try to see how I can get the lowest figure possible. The device itself is really well designed, certainly looks like something from the Apple school of design with it's shiny white appearance and glowing coloured light which changes according to how much power I'm using. The best thing tho has to be the amusing way the figure increases or decreases on the box. It doesn't just click to the new value, the numbers count down or up quickly like it's something from a sci-fi movie. There's plenty examples of what I mean on YouTube:
If you're curious (I can't really see how you would be!), you can see my energy usage online at http://community.diykyoto.com/members/wootz :)
Since installing it, it's helped me identify what is drawing power which may not need to. It's also allowed me to be more conscious of things which could be only on during the off peak period which means I could save money. So now I make sure my boiler is only on after midnight and also try to make sure I only use the washing machine and dishwasher overnight too. It's also shown me what I should have probably known which was that the 3x50w halogen lights which illuminate my living room take up a lot of energy. I've looked into low power LED alternatives but the really bright ones cost a lot of money (£20 per light) so it doesn't really save me any money.
I'm not really what you would call a "green" person as I'm more interested in saving money, and this new device has pretty much turned the whole process into a game. As in I now try to see how I can get the lowest figure possible. The device itself is really well designed, certainly looks like something from the Apple school of design with it's shiny white appearance and glowing coloured light which changes according to how much power I'm using. The best thing tho has to be the amusing way the figure increases or decreases on the box. It doesn't just click to the new value, the numbers count down or up quickly like it's something from a sci-fi movie. There's plenty examples of what I mean on YouTube:
If you're curious (I can't really see how you would be!), you can see my energy usage online at http://community.diykyoto.com/members/wootz :)
