looking for simple plugin electricity usage meter recommendation.

[Mike Halmarack]

Just so I can find out which appliance cooks my porridge least expensively.

[Spike]

If by some feat you discover that you can save a ha’penny per bowl of porridge, how long will it take to recover the cost of the device? It’ll be six years for a £10 payout, assuming 1 bowl per day.

[N_Cook]

Far more useful than a "smart" meter. I now know what a fridge with ice-box consumes compared to replaced with peltier-effect chiller cabinet without ice-box as not required, at different room temperatures. TV on high brightness compared to half bright etc electric blanket on its different modes washing m/c in different modes actual kettle usage pc in standby and usage at different brightnesses assorted wall warts/ standby devices that seemed rather warm in use etc, consumption readout to 1/100 kwh

[N_Cook]

This one is Taiwan Prodigit 2000MU-UK Main required feature totalising kWh reading to 1/100 . line frequency for idle interest Coronation St ad breaks etc and line volts for that and along with power to see what is left for a hot air gun at the end of 2 extension leads.

[Max Demian]

I think they all assume a 13A plug and socket, which would rule out monitoring most hobs.

[Martin Brown]

Your local library or energy saving trust might have one that you can borrow on payment of a suitable deposit.

Failing that a clip on meter for the entire household will give you a much better idea of how much power you are using. Decreasing the 24/7 base load is a more effective way of saving money than fretting about the peak load caused by boiling water. Most homes can save 10% or so if they haven't previously surveyed their household energy usage properly.

Things like older TVs with silly standby modes may be using 20W all the time even when they are "off". Likewise some PC peripherals. Once you know which ones are the bad offenders you can do something about them!

Boiling just enough water for your intended purpose helps a lot.

[N_Cook]

The simple rule of thumb is for stuff without fans , the warmer something is to the touch in standby/"off" , is the first to look at in consumption terms. If you can unplug it and your settings are retained, clock runs on backup cap/battery long enough etc , then can you put a line-switch in the cable? Anyone know of a work around for wall warts that usually have no switch mains side, other than extending the mains wiring to another switched outlet? Does a product exist that is a simple combined compact plug and socket with an inbuilt switch, on presumably the upper edge .?

[AnthonyL]

How does a clip on meter for the entire household help me determine whether my TV has silly standby modes? etc

Like the OP I'd like to determine the bad offenders.

[Tim+]

You all allowed to use them for things other than porridge making though. I now know what all the different programs on my dishwasher use, how much my fridge freezer in my garage uses etc etc.

It’s a handy gadget for anyone who wants to know some figures for appliance power consumption. True, any payback could be years, but still good to know.

Tim

[Martin Brown]

You watch the reading change when you physically unplug each item in turn (best done during the day when few things are on).

Anything more than 5W is probably worth the effort of switching off if it is not actually in use. Most devices in standby are <0.5W and won't register on either a whole house unit or a standalone plug in one.

There are a few basic sorts of smart switch around.

RF smart switches or IoT ones. Ones that learn the TV "on" remote signal and then power up all its peripherals and ones that have one master socket and a bunch of slaves that are isolated when the main unit is off

- ideal for PCs and complex TV and sound systems. eg

They have gone a bit out of fashion because some modern desktop PCs don't pull enough power on their own unless worked hard to keep the thing happy!

It is honestly much easier to monitor the whole house and hunt down the bad guys starting with the TV, set top box and PC peripherals. A friends exotic dye sub printer was 200W in standby - acted like a room heater!

The display is portable so once you have clipped the measurement sensor and sender onto the supply lead you have a near real time display. (a smart meter will do the same job equally well)

[Tim+]

Where the energy monitor plugs excel is in giving you total consumption by an appliance for a cycle or over 24 hrs say. Measuring instantaneous consumption can be very misleading when monitoring appliances with thermostats say or those that take time to go into full standby.

It’s just another useful tool.

Tim

[Rod Speed]

Not if you already have the devices and are deciding which to use for the porridge.

[Rod Speed]

Some are installed in the CU and so can show you what the hob etc is using if you ensure other stuff is off at the time you do the test.

[SH]

take a look at passive cooking:

I have heard that some people soak the oats the night before in water which reduces cooking time.

I do mine in the microwave oven as that is cheaper than the hob.

[RJH]

Not sure it qualifies as simple, but I find the most convenient a smart plug/socket with phone app control. You can see real time and historical consumption easily, rather than crawling around tyring to read a tiny display at ankle height. You also have the benefit of remote on/off switching

I've got a Teckin (about £8 I think) - works very well and easy to set up. Possibly avoid the square ones - the case fouls the on/off switch on the sockets.

[Chris Green]

So are you going to plug in one of these "plugin electricity usage meter"s for each appliance that makes porridge?

Regardless, I doubt if your porridge making activities consume any significant amount of electricity.

The big consumers are things like fridges and freezers, you'd need to measure the consumption over 24hrs to see what's significant. It's this that makes smart meters so pointless.

[Tim+]

You haven’t thought this through. You buy *one* and transfer it to another device after you’ve monitored one.

I’m sure it isn’t.

Eh, why? Smart plugs provide exactly this feature, cumulative power consumption.

Tim

[Chris Green]

Rubbish! Unless you have a meter measuring each individual power consuming device over a long term you can't tell which device is consuming significant amounts of power.

So, I have several devices (well, I probably have tens, hundreds maybe) for example:-

kettle television fridge freezer lights etc.

So I need to monitor each one of these for a considerable period (several days each) with a plug-in meter to see how much each consumes over the long term. It makes a smart meter completely pointless and, unless I'm very patient and persevering, a plug-in meter isn't going to help much.

Is our porridge maker really going to monitor his porridge making activities over a week or more and then compare it with the consumption of his freezer?

[Spike]

I agree with the other poster that suggested a clamp device on the meter tails, monitoring base loads will pay bigger dividends. My overnight base load is about 140W, which includes the fridge-freezer running about 4 hours in that time, and the security cameras as well as clocks, CH controller, etc.

[Animal]

Wallwarts are mostly pointless to switch off. The cost of a fraction of a watt is not worth getting up for. If one is getting hot, turn off or preferably replace.