Energy Monitoring Devices

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about Google's efforts to help people understand which of their home devices and appliances suck the most energy. While they are still a ways away from making that goal a reality, I found other products that can do basically the same thing, though they will cost you a few dollars.

Some units, like The Energy Detective, consists of two units: the transmitter (which must be installed in your electical box) and your display (which is where you can read about the energy use of each breaker). Black & Decker's Power Monitor consists of installing a device on your outside meter and then watching the display. If you want an even simpler device and you mainly are curious about finding which of your items is an "electricity vampire," check out the Kill A Watt, which simply allows you to plug in anything to it.

They range in price from around $20 to $150. I haven't personally tried any of them out, but I'd really be curious to find out where my usage is coming from. Maybe I'll add one to birthday list.