P3 International P4400 Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor
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List Price: Our Price: $14.99 You Save: $15.00 (50%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $14.00 (click here) Category: Tools See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of P3 International P4400 Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor
Customer Review: ..plan to run around testing all of your electronics...
Summary: 5 Stars
Figuring out how much electricity your gadgets ACTUALLY consume is a little addictive. Plan to spend a couple of hours trying this gadget out when you first get it. And while you're having fun doing that, you'll be figuring out which devices are driving up your electricity bills. Does that LCD really save enough power over the CRT to warrant the upgrade? (answer: probably yes)
The negatives: There is no memory, unplug the device and lose the accumulated usage data. C'mon, a capacitor to keep state for a minute would cost pennies. The design will cover at least two plugs in a standard outlet, so I often had to unplug other unrelated gear. The whole design begs for an upward slanted display or a swivel head. Most electrical outlets are installed within a couple of feet of the ground, so combined with no memory once unplugged, this means reading the display requires crouching or crawling, getting under the desk, etc. Ergonomically there's a lot left to desire. The ergonomics are addressed in the more expensive power-strip version of the KillAWatt (P3 P4320 KILL-A-WATT POWER STRIP WITH SURGE PROTECTION)but it would be nice to have in the basic version.
For the price, this is definitely 5 stars, and these guys deserve kudos for this handy, eco-consciousness inspiring tool. But the somewhat awkward design would lead me to give this a 4 star rating if it were any more expensive.
Customer Review: 24 kw aday!
Summary: 5 Stars
I use around 65 kWh a day and just found out with my 52 inch plasma TV,play station,wii and receiver on OFF it is still using one KW an hour! 24 HOURS A DAY THATS WITH IT OFF! I CAN'T BELIVE IT! SO I AM SHOPPING FOR A POWER BAR SURGE PROTECTOR. AND WHEN EVERY THING IS NOT IN USE I WILL FLIP THE SWITCH TO IT AND USE NO POWER. BUT LEAVE THE PVR/CABLE BOX PLUGED IN AT ALL TIMES SO I WILL NOT MISS RECORDED SHOWS. GUESS HOW MUCH I WILL SAVE? Oh and a box fan set to high uses penny's a day. Coffee pot with instant hot water uses 800 watts an hr. It has to go. Next I will check PC's power usage and Then the microwave to see if it uses power while off. lol I am checking everything. Still can't get over 24 kWh A day while everything was "OFF". Hope this helps. Oh And Buy this or one like it it is fun to use and save you some money too.Customer Review: 25% price increase over night!
Summary: 1 Stars
When I put this in my cart yesterday, it was $19.99. I came back to finish the purchase today, and now it's $24.98. It appears that Amazon software detects items left in your cart and increase the price when you return. If you've already made the decision to buy, I guess they try to screw you for a few more dollars. I had read of this behavior before, but never been a victim.Customer Review: 4400 works well, could be a bit narrower
Summary: 4 Stars
The Kill-A-Watt 4400 is a very good tool to measure the power consumed by my various electronics.
One improvement needed is to make the device a bit narrower. I have found that the 4400 is wider than the transformer spaced outlets on my power strips and when used in a wall socket it covers both of the outlets.
A pigtail version would solve both of these issues.
Customer Review: 6 month payback
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased this item because I was curious as to just how much of a power savings I get by switching my computer to "sleep" mode. Result: Sleep mode: 26 watts; normal operating mode: 113 watts. At my cost of $0.14 per kwh, the 87 watt savings would amount to $0.29 per day if I did not use the computer at all. Since I normally shut down my computer for the night, based on 8 hours per day off, 4 hours in use, leaving 12 hours in "sleep" mode, the real payback time is just under 6 months. Definitly a worthwhile investment.
I think this model is perfectly adequate to demonstrate the power savings. The fancier model that does the above calculation directly maybe worthwhile for people that don't have a calculator, but still want to understand the true cost of operation in monetary terms.
I agree with some previous reviewer's comments that the display is awkward to read, since you have to squat down to floor level to read it, and impossible to read if a piece of furniture is blocking the view. A 3 wire, 4 foot long extension cord rated for 15 amps, (i.e. 6 outlet "Power Strip") available at most hardware and electronic stores, solves that problem. It also solves the problem of blocking the second outlet in a duplex receptacle mentioned by another reviewer.
Now you have no reason not to buy this right away.