Power strip monitors your usage, makes you feel bad

Energy conservation and gadgetphilia are tough to combine, but this Power Cost Controller power strip might be just the ticket for those looking to monitor -- and potentially cut back on -- their power usage. The strip's display counts kilowatt-hour power usage and tracks by hour, week, month, and year. It also monitors line quality with voltage, line frequency, and power factor readings. We're just not sure if we really want to know how much power we're using, but if you're ready for the bad news, the strip is $99 and available now.

[JJ Forde @ Apr 30th 2008 4:06AM]

Given the display wouldn't that increase the power consumption (although in all fairness probably insignificant).

[stefan @ Apr 30th 2008 5:41AM]

i wouldn't be surprised if that thing ate up 10 or more watts...

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ May 1st 2008 4:32AM]

Actually, similar devices from other manufactures spec pages say power meters only draws a milliamp or two. Low enough where it "could be" battery powered to run for weeks on a few AA cells. In reality it's just a modified mulitmeter and those draw almost no power either.

A device like the one in the one mentioned in the post, could be made for around $30 with a Kill-A-Watt and a basic power strip plugged into it. You get the same end result but have $69 left in your pocket.

Extech makes a Watt meter:
http://www.extech.com/
Seasonic:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=powerangel
P3 International:
http://www.p3international.com/products/special/P4400/P4400-CE.html

[Dew @ Apr 30th 2008 4:08AM]

A device that plugs into the wall socket needs a battery why?

[Jamie Marsden @ Apr 30th 2008 4:19AM]

Because otherwise it would lose all your settings every time you unplugged it.

[404 @ Apr 30th 2008 4:21AM]

So it doesn't loose all it's data if you have a power cut.

$99 is a shade steep though....

[TravisO @ Apr 30th 2008 11:07AM]

Well if it's too pricey, you can always get a single plug guage via Google Shopping for around $20-$30, then just plug your standard cheap $10 powerstrip into it, and you get the same effect (minus the daily/weekly stats, but imho that's not very useful, I'd rather see what I'm using right this minute)

http://www.google.com/products?q=Power+Cost+Controller&sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1B3GGGL_enUS265US265&um=1

[Dylan @ Apr 30th 2008 4:12AM]

Big Brother is watching.

[Malfoy Roark @ Apr 30th 2008 4:15AM]

I approve.

[Simon @ Apr 30th 2008 4:49AM]

It's a good idea! Kind've like that 'Energy jar' thing a while back.

Wonder how much power it itself requires, a negligible amount surely.

[Bad Beaver @ Apr 30th 2008 5:12AM]

Hmmm, sockets turned 90 degrees ... smaaart. Seriously, most Schuko-strips I see here are turned 45 degrees, which is very limiting when it comes to AC-adaptors.

[Lloytron @ Apr 30th 2008 6:00AM]

Does it tell you the additional power consumption required to work out your power consumption?

[OX4 @ Apr 30th 2008 6:02AM]

$99...ha! You can pick up a Kill A Watt with a lot more functions for $30.

[EdgeOne @ Apr 30th 2008 6:39AM]

This was on the cover of the Cyberguys catalog I got a couple months ago. Cool place to shop http://www.cyberguys.com/

[Jacob @ Apr 30th 2008 7:00AM]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882715001

Kill-a-watt does the same thing and is a lot cheaper.. I have one and it's great for discovering that your fridge is running too often or TV is sucking up power even when off...

[CraigW @ Apr 30th 2008 8:21AM]

The price difference may have something to do with the fact that the Kill-A-Watt loses your settings when you unplug it or the power goes off.

[hugoliva @ Apr 30th 2008 8:54AM]

@Craig
No it doesn't if you use the 4460

[HighTeckRedNeck @ Apr 30th 2008 11:00AM]

These things are great for LAN parties, too, so you know when to start plugging machines into a different circuit: "whaddya mean we're drawing 12,000 watts through one power strip?"

[Mark @ Apr 30th 2008 1:09PM]

This is made by the same company (P3) that makes the Kill A Watt, in fact it's named the Kill A Watt PS.

[Saturn @ Apr 30th 2008 11:29AM]

"We're just not sure if we really want to know how much power we're using"

Sure, because blind and ignorance is bliss.

[kbiel @ Apr 30th 2008 11:34AM]

Here's an idea. Instead of spending $99 on another power consuming gadget just to tell you how much power you are consuming, how about you just look at your electric bill. I know it's shocking, but the power company actually puts the amount of kWh used during the previous month. Even more shocking, every electronic gadget I've see that plugs into the wall actually has a sticker or stamp that tells you the maximum volts and amps that it will use. Multiply those two values together to get, tada, watts. Crazy, I know.

[Dragonpark @ Apr 30th 2008 12:55PM]

Maybe because the power companies can not break down you power consumption on a per appliance/socket basis? Maybe so we can find a device that is using much more energy than it should, even when it is powered off? I can think of a million reasons to have something like this. Too bad the price for this power strip is way too steep.

[Steve A. @ Apr 30th 2008 12:56PM]

While that is a good idea, you'd be surprised at what seemingly minor adjustments to your equipment can do to massively change their 'phantom load.' Your monthly electrical bill or product manual or power sticker would not have told me for example, that when I changed my receiver's HDMI settings to receive commands from other devices, that the standby power consumption jumped from 5 watts to 70 watts.

Having a $30 kill-a-watt handy just for that one finding has already saved me the cost of buying the unit. It's fun seeing how much of a draw older products have when on standby. An old laserjet will easily consume 50 watts constantly when 'off.'

[donald @ Apr 30th 2008 1:04PM]

anything to get consumers to see what really costs on electric usage, costs of power , also have impact on enviroment , would show people the different in light bulb vs CFL, could see old frezer unit in garage really sucks the juice being a older model, how much electricity does the kids Mario on Wii really use with wireless steering wheels?. YES 99 dollars is really cheap considering the impact this coud have on consumers

[Dragonpark @ Apr 30th 2008 1:19PM]

Considering there are other single outlet products (that you can just plug a power strip into) can do the same exact think for 1/3rd the price... I would consider 99 bucks to be a tad bit high.

[Bill N. @ Apr 30th 2008 3:59PM]

I would buy one of these just to prove how much I don't give a shit. Global warming is a scam being perpetrated on society by people like Al Gore. Just go ask Al how much he has invested in "green" and "carbon credit" companies. Wake up people you're being had in a bad way.

[fanthem @ Apr 30th 2008 6:36PM]

Captain, I've given her everything we've got.
No, Scotty, no you haven't.

[TIMMAH! @ Apr 30th 2008 7:48PM]

I think they need a remote display. I'm not crawling under the desk to look at this thing.

[THOMAS @ May 1st 2008 3:52AM]

Id rather use the 99$ to pay my bills

[Eldiablo @ May 1st 2008 8:15AM]

This is great, but when will someone come up with a device that will monitor my electrical usage and wirelessly beam it to a computer, for example, my Server running Cacti. I already monitor my load on the UPS, why not for the whole house? (I'm now waiting for someone to point me in the right direction). :)

[silicon @ May 1st 2008 6:24PM]

I think they can monitor the whole house's electrical usage in Britain already.

[James @ May 2nd 2008 5:16AM]

Yep. In the UK you can get one of these:

http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.phtml/10249/11273/Owl-wireless-energy-monitor-gadget.phtml
Connects to your power line and gives you a readout on a wireless doodamahid in real time.

[James @ May 2nd 2008 3:06PM]

http://www.theenergydetective.com/index.html

Whole house power metering.