Energy Monitors with #EnergySavingChallenge

Last week I was sent a package from Moneysupermarket.com containing some fancy pants tech kit designed to monitor your energy use at home in a bid to help you save not on the planet but your purse. This is part of their #EnergySavingChallenge where I’m challenged to see how much energy I use and how I make changes across a month. With energy prices creeping up and up this is something I’m always keen to take positive action toward.

Energy Monitors

So what was in the package and what does it do?
I received two efergy Energy Monitoring Sockets* and an efergy Elite Classic*.

Let’s start with the latter, the efergy Elite Classic allows you to attach a monitor to your electricity fuse box which in turn allows you to see how much electricity you’re using in your home. The monitor updates wirelessly every six seconds so you can get a real time idea of the cost of individual appliances as you flick them on and off or how much you save if you switch that pesky hallway light off.
The information can be displayed via kilowatt-hours or you can even input the figure your energy provider charges you for each kilowatt-hour (information which should be readily available from your bill or direct from your provider) so you can get a realistic idea of what you’re using. The device stores information about the amount of energy you have used that day, that week and also across the previous month allowing you to monitor your patterns and take positive actions for change.
Which? has ranked this device as the best energy monitor in the country, so I’m keen to give it a whirl and let you know how we get on with it here at Thrifty Towers.

(You’ll have to excuse our horrifying home decor, we’re in the middle of a huge home renovation and we have wall full of scary Disney paintings which unfortunately come lower down the list than major building works – you can see that particular hallway of horrors here.)

The efergy Energy Mointoring Socket is what I’m most excited about. These little babies plug directly into an electricity socket and allow you to plug electrical device into the front. Above the socket is a display unit which tells you how much energy you’re using. Again you’re able to input your kilowatt-hour price and watch in real time (with precision accuracy of within 2%) as the socket adds up the cost of the device you’re using. How much does that lamp cost? Is boiling that kettle really expensive?

I’m really interested to use these plugs when using my kettle, TV hairdryer or charging my phone. These are daily occurrences in my home but I know I could use my phone in a more efficient manner to need fewer charges and my hair could probably stand to be air dried more frequently. I can’t wait to report back the costings.

You can find information on these energy monitors here and I’ll be back soon to keep you updated.

P.S. Items marked with an asterisks (*) are kindly sent free of charge for consideration, I am under no pressure to review these items, positive or otherwise.

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