Redwing Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 I remember when I first joined the forum that many people bought energy monitors for their homes I am interested in buying one but firstly am more interested in knowing whether people are still using them one year down the line If you are not using yours anymore may I ask if thats because it was a phase that passed or if you now have the 'education' to know what your energy consumption is when switching things on? Any reflections/experiences would be very interesting Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abwsco Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 Haven't been using ours as the batteries had run out and it needs setting up again. Would I buy another one if this one broke? Yes, as it got everyone else in the house, including DD's friends into the habit of looking at it and seeing what they'd left on. Saved me nagging quite so much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purple hen Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 ours is still in the box must try harder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carrie Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 I am still a little obsessed about ours, had it about 4-5 months. Before we got it my husband blamed our high electricity bills on our 3 children. However husband works away part of the week and our electricity consumption doubles when he is at home It doesn't take a genious to work out who is the culprit. Would I buy one again- YES Very useful to find out what consumes the most electricity, we have one light which uses 4 times as much electricity as the rest, so we changed the bulb quickly. It has made us all more aware of the cost of leaving things switched on. Our consumption has reduced so the bills have dropped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 Mine stopped working while I was away in August, and I still haven't got it set up again - I replaced the batteries in one part but couldn't get it to 'read' the signal, and I've been too busy. I do miss it though, one of the best things was that before I left the house in the morning I'd glance at it, and be confident that I hadn't left anything switched on that shouldn't be. It also made me very aware of switching off things like lights - halogen spot bulbs for example, sent it racing up. I'm pretty frugal anyway and there's just me in the house, so it probably didn't change my habits that much. I do miss it, it also (Owl Monitor) had a temperature gauge and a humidity reading, and they were very useful too! I must get it out this weekend and sort it out. I would recommend it particularly if you have teenagers (or an OH) who is a bit careless with leaving things turned on. It would be good to have one that also keeps a record of your use, but they were more than I wanted to pay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluffyknickers Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 these sound interesting - could you post some links to some. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abwsco Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 these sound interesting - could you post some links to some.thanks Mazzy, I have this one Owl energy monitor My dad also has one but it's still in the box as he decided not to use it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluffyknickers Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 Ooh all looks a bit technical! Does it involve a l;ot of fiddlig around with the elec box thingy under the stairs and knowing what our electric tarrif is etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 I love my OWL. Current reading 18.03 - hang on the Aga is off why on earth is it soo high. I'm off to investigate and I'll report back..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 hmmm. I went and found a light in Mums house and her computer switched on which really made very little difference. Then I put James to bed and now it's down to 7.124. It must have been the hot tub - thermostatically controlled and comes on a little here and there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redhotchick Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 I have an OWL monitor. I got it about a year ago. It has brought my electric bill down. It isn't difficult to set up (honestly!) and my usage has come down by a third. My batteries ran out and my usage started creeping up. I've recently got it working again. You can enter the amount you pay for electricity per kWh, mine is 16.8p including VAT. The reading can be set to kW usage, greenhouse gases or cost per hour. my current cost is 3.6pence. It was 4.4 but I just turned some lights off Oo! 3.2 pence! 2.8 no back to 3.2 When the fridge or freezer rev up it registers a slight increase, and the pump for the gas central heating has a noticeable effect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willow Posted September 27, 2009 Share Posted September 27, 2009 We were already quite sensible so it didn't make that much difference. I found our computers on standby was very small amount of power I stopped using it because it started to sound an alarm as it is designed to if power consumption goes over set amount except power consumption was low it was annoying me so turned it off but this morning we realised we'd gone to bed leaving kitchen lights on which I'd have noticed if the monitor was still on so planning to try again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 We have an Owl too and I find it quite interesting to see how much it fluctuates. We haven't had a bill since we got it, we had just had one so we will be interested to see how acurate it is. the man came to read the meter the other day so watch this space. I wish that I we had one when I started making my own bread with the Kenwood and the oven instead of the breadmaker. Our first bill was nearly £500 because I was using the conventional setting on the oven rather than the fan setting. Since switching back to the fan setting the bills went back down to about £200-250 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 Oh yes when I got my OWL I realised that the timer on my AGA wasn't set properly and it was on all the time and EATING electricity. I sorted that out and our usage dropped dramatically. Oh and it was also the time of year when we stopped using the electric storage heaters. Our next leccie bill was WAAAY higher than it should have been and oddly it was estimated even though a meter reader had been... so I did a reading and submitted it online reducing the amount due by some £800!! THEN I got a letter from the leccie people (you know how they arrive a week or two after your online bill) stating that as the meter had obviously been read INCORRECTLY - so basically he read it right but they thought it was wrong as our consumption had dropped by so much. We still owe them a HUGE amount as our winter bill was so high but you should be owing them at the end of winter and then catching up over summer - by my calculations we will be just about straight at the next bill then slip back into arrears over the winter. Right now my OWL is reading 18.75 again - this is definately the hot tub sucking up electric, it seems to do it about twice a day, thermostatically controlled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 I have been looking into one of these for OH for Christmas as he loves his gadgets. He will often stare at the oil monitor in the kitchen Shame the link above was out of stock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 I have been looking into one of these for OH for Christmas as he loves his gadgets. He will often stare at the oil monitor in the kitchen Our oil monitor shows the amount left at least once a month - we look at it every time we pass in the hope it will give us a clue. It did yesterday - less than a week after the tank was topped up and said 4 which means I was about right that it was running low. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Update! Found one in Asda for £25 today!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chook n Boo Mum Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Update! Found one in Asda for £25 today!! Oooo is it a standard Asda item & what name does it go by...sometimes they change the name for different suppliers don't they, or is that me overtired & doolally ? Will give them a ring tomorrow & find out as I have DH's birthday coming up soon as well as Christmas !! Actually I may get one of these for my parents for Christmas...give them an idea of how much electricity my sis & her family use & waste ow they all live in the same house !!!! Sha x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluffyknickers Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 HEEEEEEEEELP Just got the owl monitor today and dont actually know what to do. It says put the sensor on a RED cable in the elec cupbaord - I dont have a red one! All our leads are grey. Any ideas? I may take some photos and put on here as you are all so clever at stuff and can help (hint). Michelle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Update! Found one in Asda for £25 today!! Oooo is it a standard Asda item & what name does it go by... It is made by OWL. In a black box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 Michelle, do you have a fairly new digital meter? I've just had one fitted, the guy from the electricity company put it on the cable marked 'L'. However my Owl won't link up with the sensor (nothing to do with the above, it was still working after that was done) so I can't get any readings, don't know why. I think I'll need to email them as I've tried everything in the guide. I'm really missing it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willow Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 Hi Michelle, If you don't have one marked with something like an L why not try it on each cable in turn and see what gives you a readout ? Tricia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluffyknickers Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 yes its quite new (maybe a year or two ago). I will give it a go and see what happens! Thanks Michelle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abwsco Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 My cables are all grey but luckily for us they put red and black tape on them when they'd changed the meter to a digital one. A pain but Tricia's suggestion sounds like the only option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chook n Boo Mum Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 I ordered an Owl yesterday...yes I know it takes a while for me to get round to things ....from Amazon & also ordered another part of DH's birthday/Christmas present...and a few other bits & bobs managed to fall into the basket We'll see how ours goes & might order one for Mum & Dad as there's still time before Christmas Sha x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
