Litegreen Lifestyle, The Electrisave Wireless Electricity Monitor
The Electrisave Wireless Electricity Monitor
Topic: Energy
Reducing your carbon footprint is now seen by many as being a major factor in combating climate change. But how do you check what you do makes a difference? Litegreen's Ceri reviews the award winning Electrisave.
I was wary. It cost £80. So I bought one as a Christmas gift for my husband, knowing that it would be me who had to install it and get to grips with yet another piece of technology. At no other time of the year would I consider being so frivolous and spending that much on a gadget which, if I'm honest, I doubted actually gave any significant benefit. Such a cynic!
The Electrisave is a wireless meter that allows you to see how much electricity your house or work place is using. It works by displaying either, the amount of electricity being consumed, the cost per hour or the amount in tons of CO2.
The kit arrives containing: display, sensor, transmitter, batteries and easy instructions. You need to go to your fuse box and identify the 'live' wire that runs between the meter and the fuse box (If I can figure this out then anyone can, believe me!).
Attach the sensor using very easy to use clip, plug the sensor in to the transmitter, put in the batteries and turn on display.
As a stickler for saving money I set ours to 'cost per hour'. The effect this had was uncanny.
Initially it was difficult to understand why it didn't register zero if I wasn't using any electrical equipment. It proved to me, beyond any doubt, that when I was out of the house the electrical goods that were left on standby were costing us money. TV, Stereo, Microwave, Toaster, Phone charger, MP3 charger, bedside lights, Computer...what a waste!
Now that our Electrisave has been installed for several months I know what the figure should be when everything is turned off. When I go to bed if the reading isn't as it should be I need to hunt down the culprit and turn it off.
Even eco-warriors leave things on by accident. Not any more!
With everything else we are doing to reduce our carbon footprint it's difficult to know how much money we have saved as a result of this gadget, but I know it's more than £70 and it's certainly going to go on saving us money.
Electrisave claim that by changing your habits you could reduce your electricity usage and bills by up to 25 per cent.
In our feature on Ethical Man he saved £2,500 over the course of a year, 150 from just changing his lightbulbs. £79.95 for an electricity monitor doesn't seem that steep now does it?
Buy your Electrisave now: now on special offer at only 69.95
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