Customer Reviews
..plan to run around testing all of your electronics... 
2008-07-20
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.
Good tool. 
2008-07-16
It is a easy to use monitor. Really knows what equipment are the most that impact your utility bill.
Excellent tool 2008-07-15
This tool is perfect for figuring out just how much energy is being consumed by all those devices you leave plugged in. A surprising amount of energy is wasted in stand by mode and this tool will help you find out just how much energy you are wasting. I highly recommend having one
Easily discover true electricity use 2008-07-15
The Kill A Watt meter is easy to use, just plug it in and then plug in the appliance to be tested for electric use. Findings: My 600 watt coffee maker actually draws 820 watts, a consideration when I have to use a back up generator after a hurricane. Good stuff: my new desktop computer only draws 1 watt on stand-by, compared to my older desktop which draws 20 watts. Really great news: my full size refrigerator only draws 120 watts with the door closed, so I will be easily able to run it on a generator. Also, the unit can be left for 24 hours to measure a day's worth of usage and figure the monthly cost. It shows volts, amps, watts, frequency, and kwh used. This meter will help find energy wasters. I recommend it.
Nice meter 2008-07-13
I've always been curious about the power draw on various items and since I have a Fluke DMM (digital multi-meter), I'd set up some special "extension cords" to be able to use with it for measuring the amps (which is the main thing that you can't easily check). Although that works for me, this unit is much simpler to use with no risks of possible "hot wires" with bare metal parts exposed that someone could get shocked on and this only costs $20 (versus over $100 for a good DMM). This also has the built in timer feature and instantly tells you your KW/hr bill from what's running & how long it's run, otherwise I'd have to time the item myself and multiply the wattage out to get the same numbers. For some items that you turn on & off yourself, doing the math is easy, but other items (like a fridge) that automatically turns on & off make this a lot better (so you don't need to stand over the item 24/7 to see when it turns on & off).
Once you've learned what you can from this, it does become a dust collector. As others have noted, it does block a second outlet if you have it in the wall, so chances are you'll remove it after a short term measurement. I've not found any major surprises in my power use with it, but we'll see as I play with it anywhere I can.
P4400 Kill A Watt Tool 2008-07-12
Connect your appliances into the Kill A Watt, and assess how efficient they are. A large LCD display counts consumption by the Kilowatt-hour just like utility companies. You can figure out your electrical expenses by the hour, day, week, month, even an entire year. Monitor the quality of your power by displaying Voltage, Line Frequency, and Power Factor
monitoring electrical usage 2008-07-08
The Kill-o-watt is a handy little tool for figuring out what appliances are soaking up power and driving up our power bill. Well worth the cost and interesting just to see, for example, how much things like cable boxes and DVD players consume when passive.
works good if u understand it 2008-07-02
our electric company has raised our rate a penny per kilo watt hour. This dose not sound like much but if my TV uses 200 kw an hour then it cost me $2 to watch 2 hours!
This Kill-A-Watt reader is great for showing me where my power hogs are in the house.
The only problem I have with it is that it was a little hard to understand. I wish that the instructions were easier to read and understand what the numbers mean.
This reader showed me that my energy saving light bulbs still rack up a lot of power! and so dose my laptop which I was always told used a LOT less power then a desk top.
Great tool 2008-06-30
Quick delivery. Great tool. Used daily to track energy usage by my Zenn Electric Vehicle. Displays Kilowatts used, current levels, and more. Also used to track usage by portable AC unit. Good to know how much electricity is being used.
handy gadget 2008-06-20
This handy little gadget lets you easily check the power consumption of any device plugged into it. It's easy to use. Buttons on the front select which value is displayed. It can track real time usage as well as cumulative usage. It also properly deals with VA vs Watts (which, if you're sizing a device for a UPS is a necessary distinction).... on some devices they're two different things.
When you first get it, you'll likely be tempted to go around checking every device you can find. (Will only do devices that use a standard wall outlet however, not big things like air conditioners, water heaters, etc that require a specialized outlet). It's actually pretty interesting to see what appliances actually use and how that varies with different appliance functions/settings. Many of them use power even when "off".
The main drawback of the design is that it blocks both plugs of a standard wall outlet, so you can't have another device plugged into the outlet at the same time. Sometimes it's an awkward fit. I'd highly recommend using a power strip or short heavy duty extension cord with it. (plug the cord or strip into the wall, the power monitor into the cord or strip and then the device you want to check into it.) This allows more flexibility and gets it where you can see it. A backlight on the display would be a nice addition as it's hard to read in dark corners.
overall, a worthwhile purchase.
