P3 Kill A Watt EZ Electricity Usage Monitor (P4460) Review

Review: 5/5
Absolutely Excellent, Quick, & Everything You Need (Almost).

It is an excellent tool that gives you pretty much everything you need quickly so that you can run around the house testing different things. It has nearly every calculation that you might be interested in. It is very easy to discover surprises for vampires that you didn't realize, as well as figure out the actual cost of things you knew drew energy but didn't know in actual costs, such as how much that computer actually draws if you leave it on. It is a nearly perfect tool. There are a few things I might wish for, like a back light, extension cord, or longer tracking than 99:99. But you can work with all that.

USING
You just plug it in, and plug the device into it and it starts working. It is a little hard to use directly without combining it with a separate power strip or extension cable. For example, it is awkward to read and might not fit if you plug directly into the existing socket in a power strip or wall outlet. It is much easier if you buy a separate power strip, plug this on top of it, just swap in by the power trip extension and device into this. Then you can easily fit anywhere, can tilt and read more easily, etc. In poor lit areas, you will need to carry a flashlight to help read the screen. I just run around with a paper, pencil, and flashlight and write down findings while testing a number of devices in a row. Just swap out an existing plug, hold reset for 5 seconds to start fresh, and you're off and just monitoring the results. Measuring is actually very quick if you are just testing current operating state of things. It only takes a minute or so to swap out, check current wattage and cost, and move onto the next plug. I test items individually plugged into a power strip under a desk in less than 10 minutes -- swap each, power on, reset, cycle through measurements, write down finding, move on.

RESULTS
It immediately tells you current voltage, watts in use, amps, Hz, and a few more, and then projects the costs per hour, day, week, month, and year based on what it has seen so far. You can enter your own utility rate in case you run at a high bracket. It keeps a running total in KWh, total cost so far, so to isolate a new device you hold reset for 5 seconds. If you want the total cost while operating in a certain mode such as to isolate when running at full power you just hit the reset and it assumes costs from that point on and assumes if it keeps running at that it will project out. So you can easily calculate after resetting the cost per hour. For example, how much your computer uses while on and doing intensive work, versus sleep mode, versus turned off. It is nice to know how much per hour something costs so you might think twice how long you run it in that mode. Then you can leave it on for a day or two to discover the realistic cost such as how much it affects your monthly energy bill overall. For example, my water distiller cycles and while cost per hour is one thing, I want to know how much I am really consuming per day and per month.

EXAMPLES
For example, I learned my space heater uses 1100W at at my utility rate of 0.34/KWh I know it costs me 0.35/hr to use, so now there is a concrete cost that I know. My desktop computer consumes 100W while idle, but my laptop consumes only 30W while idle. My older computer speakers use 5W whether on or off it makes no difference with the power adapter plugged in. My external hard drive draws about 5W while off too. My coffee maker surprisingly uses 6W while off, 6.8W while on, which adds up to $17.80/yr just to sit on my counter while off. Now I will put it on a power strip. Under a longer test for something that cycles, my water distiller, it realistically costs $25/month, which makes me rethink how much I draw from it. I learned my new wireless printers each draw 3 to 4W while in standby mode, but 0W while off. I use them infrequently, so I might as well just turn them off while not using them.

DRAWBACKS
There are a few things that could be slightly better, but are all workable.
1. I had to build my own dongle by attaching this to a power strip for easier swapping & reading. (cheap & easy)
2. Need a flashlight to read in low lit areas due to no back light (no big deal really).
3. Long running tests sometimes reset, or automatically at 99:99 rather than remembering only the most recent 99:99. So if you check it shortly after it rolls over or resets, it will not be accurate. (but sometimes works)

For more review details, please see my Amazon Review:
http://www.amazon.com/review/RXPXAMC1WM25D/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm
Product Title: P3 International P4460 Kill A Watt EZ Electricity Usage Monitor
Model: P4460

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