Energy usage monitors

There are a number of energy usage monitors on the market, they are useful to monitor the electricity that you use in the home. The idea being that once you understand what is using electricity in your home you can change your behaviour and reduce consumption. You can also use these monitors to monitor your PV solar system generation.

Before you buy an energy monitor check with your energy supplier, they may provide you with a free or discounted electricity monitor. Some monitors can also monitor gas usage.

This photo shows my selection of electricity monitors.

From left to right: Current Cost EnviR, Current Cost NetSmart, Owl Micro Monitor, Current Cost Classic.

All the monitors have sensors in the garage connected wirelessly to the displays.

Owl Micro Monitor - This is the simplest of the energy monitors I own. I use it to monitor my electricity usage. Its advantage is that it is battery powered so it can easily be moved around the house. It is usually on a shelf in the kitchen near the appliances that consume most of the electricity that we use.

Current Cost Classic - This was my first energy monitor which I purchased from e-on my energy supplier. It needs to be plugged in the electricity supply. It can be connected by cable to my computer which allows me to record the energy usage profiles for my appliances.

Current Cost EnviR - This is a newer generation of the Current Cost Classic. I use it to monitor the generation of our PV solar system. It is connected to the internet via the NetSmart box and my broadband connection. The data eventually ends up on pachube.com servers from where this website retrieves the data and produces the Generation Monitor charts.

All these monitors are slightly inaccurate but they do give a good indication of your energy use or generation. I have calibrated the EnviR against the generation meter so that the Generation Monitor charts are as accurate as possible.

More energy monitor product information can be found on the Current Cost and Owl websites. There are other energy monitors on the market, try searching the internet for "home energy monitor".