Build your own energy-monitoring EnerJar
By Nilay Patel 
posted Feb 25th 2008 11:40PM
posted Feb 25th 2008 11:40PM
*Rejected ideas: EnerBox, EnerQuarium, EnerJug, EnerHD DVD player
[Via Inhabitat]
posted Feb 25th 2008 11:40PM
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is that safe? I don't wanna burn my parents' basement down...
You can buy one of these on Amazon. They aren't expensive.
But it would be a ton of fun to do it yourself. Just be careful.
Too late I already burnt mine down.
The Kill A Watt is only 20 bucks and is much more capable. It can measure volts, amps, volt-amps, power factor, watts, and keep track of cumulative kilowatt-hours. Yeah it's fun to build your own stuff, but unless you have the parts laying around and want the educational experience, it makes more sense to buy the commercial product.
You get to waste more energy by keeping track of how much energy you're wasting. Interesting.
right on!
LOL that's what I was thinking
it's engadget's way of doing penance for pimping bizarre, energy-wasting inventions the other 99.999% of the time. really, who needs a USB Mood Light Pen Holder?
but how do you measure how much energy you've wasted by measuring it?
OK you waste a certain amount of energy running the device, but if it helps you be energy conscious then you can come out in black in the end.
Ill make something to measure how much energy that is wasting then one for that one and that one then for the next one then....ugh did the light just get dimmer?
If I make one from an old TV, will I be famous on teh EnerTubes?
I lol'd at EnerHD DVD player.
Yea - that pretty much made my morning.
You could use little OLEDs instead of the bar LCD and call it the EnerMus Maximus
Well it wouldn't really be one until you delayed it for a few years until no one cared anymore.
I have that black fan! it works well. That is all.
I have that orange extension cord! Oh wait, so does everyone else.
Says you. I only use the limited edition silver ones. You know they let more electrons in.
Uhhh, the device is supposed help you determine the amount of electricity a device is using, it's not meant to be permanently plugged in. I consider myself incredibly green, not owning a car and not wanting to unless it's electric, and I see nothing wrong with this device. If you are honestly concerned about global warming more than I am, then hook a $10 solar panel to it, but it doesn't even use that much power, so take that idiots who know nothing about what they're talking about.
All right, I saw HD DVD, time to rant. First off, from a fanboy perspective, I'm pissed that HD DVD lost, especially after the $98 players. From a reasonable perspective, HD DVD wouldn't require a new player every time an update came out. If an update came out two years later, and you could pick up a new player for $50, I don't think people would mind as much.
You could always just buy one
http://www.p3international.com/products/special/P4400/P4400-CE.html
I guess that would defeat the nerd factor though.
USB/bluetooth device that passes float numbers to machine on .25s intervals-- from built in outlet multipliers. Must have linux, XP, OSX, Vista, OpenSolaris, and *BSD drivers and 3 outlets.
(or just a linux driver and open specs)
That is what I want. I want to monitor power for various devices so it can be changed. This is why I monitor my CPU and network traffic in my panel.
[quote]cool[/quote]
Come on! I wonder how much energy is put in making this stuff!! Bet you it's far more than anything you'll ever save watching those boring numbers. What do they mean anyway? Does anyone know how to count their energy? Joules? Watts? Apples?
Dumb thing if you ask me.
1st look at it..i thought its a bomb....:P