Customer Reviews:
 Works as expected; could be smaller/backlit June 29, 2006
Jose Rizal
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
I bought this when I was trying to understand a sudden spike in our power bill. This unit does exactly what it says: measure kilowatt-hours used. It also measures some other power stats, but I didn't have time to experiment with them.
In terms of how it works, you plug it inbetween the wall outlet and the appliance you want to track. As time passes, it measures how much power the appliance consumes and shows it in a nice, big digital display. It resets when you unplug it.
It is a bit unwieldy to use in cases where the appliance is large and placed in a recessed area (e.g. dryers, fridge). The case is a bit large, so you have to maneuver a bit to get it plugged into the wall. Also the display resets when you unplug it, so it would help to have the results persist for a minute or two so you can still read them.
 A must have. June 30, 2006
skids
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
This product is a must-have for any household, and it's great to see them finally priced reasonably.
It could be improved -- for example, if plugged into a wall socket the unit blocks both plugs. However, it's still a 5-star in my book.
I think a lot of folks like me would love to see a delux unit offerred that can be attached to a computer (perhaps wirelessly) for ongoing data collection.
Problems Easily Overcome August 4, 2006
AH (NYC)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
To those who have griped here about such issues as inconvenient positioning and lack of backlighting: there is a simple and obvious solution. Simply connect the Kill-A-Watt to the electrical outlet with a 3-prong extension cord, then use it wherever you want, including in the light. You can even get a 2-prong extension cord with a pigtail to overcome the 2-prong outlet problem.
This is a good gizmo which will do everything most people would want, except calculate the actual dollar cost of your electricity.
great for measuring power usage ON and OFF October 17, 2006
K. Hughes (California)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
This is a very handy gadget for seeing how much power various appliances are burning. But don't make one reviewer's mistake, and assume you can calculate yearly power usage by measuring power use only when a device is on, and then multiplying by number of hours a year you have it on. (His example: TV use 3 hrs a day, so 3 x 365 x watts/hr)
Many devices, especially the newer TVs, can burn power when they are plugged in but turned off. That is why this device is so handy--you probably won't change how many hours a day you watch TV, just because you can see how much electricity it uses. BUT...if you measure how much power it uses when it is off, and find it uses a lot more than you thought, you can start unplugging your TV (or Tivo or computer...) when it is off, or plug it into a power strip and switch the power strip off.
So use this device to measure how much power an appliance sucks down for a whole day, when it is both on and off, and use that to calculate its power use. Even better, measure it for a period when it is off, and see how much it uses when it is just sitting there.
Mind Your Watts December 8, 2006
E. Byers (San Diego, CA)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
This device lets you see a lot of things. I use it to see how much wattage things pull. You can also leave it plugged in to see what you are using over time.
The best part is you can see how much electricity things waste when they are "off". Unplugging some of my stereo equipment, and turning off computer accessories I did not use, saved me $4-5 a month. Now that isn't that big of a deal, but if everyone did this, and over time, it easily pays for itself.
Plus it's really cool.
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