Kill–A–Watt™ — Fun with electricity

Not since Ben Franklin flew his kite has there been anything like it.

From the website:

• Identify the real energy abusers in your house

• Take it with you when shopping for appliances to test for energy efficiency

• Test all the outlets in your new home before escrow closes

• See how much it costs you to keep your computer running all day

The cost of electricity can really hit you where it hurts.

Now with Kill–A–Watt™ you can reduce your energy costs by identifying the real energy abusers.

Simply plug your appliance into Kill–A–Watt™ and assess how efficient it really is.

The jumbo LCD display measures consumption by the kilowatt-hour, just like your local utility company, so you can quickly calculate costs.

It's perfect for seeing how much juice that freezer in the garage is sucking up, or to see how much it costs to keep your computer on throughout the day.

But measuring appliance consumption is just the tip of the iceberg.

By plugging this in, you can also test if an outlet is working, or evaluate the quality of the electrical power provided by your utility company.

It does this by monitoring voltage (Volt) and line frequency (Hz).

It's perfect for detecting voltage drops around the house, to predict brownout conditions or to make sure a new home's outlets are in working condition before escrow closes.

Imagine being able to forecast your electric bill before you get it.

With the Kill–A–Watt™, you can calculate electrical expenses by the hour, day, week, month, even year.

With an accuracy within 0.2%, you can safely know what to expect your expenses to be.

I love the idea of going through the outlets, one by one, of a house you're interested in buying to check that they're all working properly.

Bet your realtor's never seen that before.

But I digress.

I've always, ever since I moved into my home, had a secret, until now never–before–revealed desire to "evaluate the quality of the electrical power provided" by my utility company.

Until now I'd thought it was pretty good, what with the occasional jolt when I try to put in a lightswitch and all.

Shows how little I know.

$39.99 here (Appliances not included).

[via Stephen Bove]