Kill A Watt electricity usage monitor. $20 – $30 If you’re like me you’re probably interested in saving money on your electric bill. Of course saving energy is better for the environment. But I’m going to be honest and say that saving money is my main motivation. And it’s also nice to know exactly how you’re spending your money. You can now measure each device in your house and see where your money is going. I have many computers around here, some of them are small laptops, some of them are large laptops. I have a gaming laptop that as 180 W Power Supply but I was surprised to learn that the computer is only using about 80 watts of power most of the time. I was also surprised to learn at how every little thing counts and adds up. For example if you plug a memory card reader or hard drive that is USB powered into your laptop, you can see the effects and how much extra power is being drawn on the meter right away. This device has been around for awhile. It’s called the Kill A Watt meter by P3 international. It’s an electricity usage monitor that allows you to measure the amount of electricity that is being used by any particular device thats to plug into it. You can use this to measure the electric current that is being used by items such as stereos, TV’s, air conditioners, fans, toaster ovens, refrigerators, microwaves, computers, heaters, game consoles, washing machines, Entertainment Centers, amplifiers, equipment racks, basically anything that you plug into an electrical outlet. The unit monitors electrical consumption accurate to within 0.2%. It has a large LCD display that displays eight critical units of measurement, volts, amps, watts, frequency hz, and there’s also a kilowatt hour meter or you can leave the unit plug into the all and measure how much how are you using overtime. You press the red button to cycle between time / KWH. The front side of the Kill A Watt meter has eight bands up atop the display and a socket to plug devices into. The backside of he Kill A Watt meter has a three prong plug. Since the unit is rather large, it’s best to use with an extension cable so you’re able to hold the unit in your hand to read measurements. I had a miniature outlet strip that I used which I plugged the Kill A Watt meter into so I could hold it in my hand and read the umbers. I then took my toaster which is rated at 850 W and plugged it into the Kill A Watt meter. I first pressed the volts button and t showed 120 volts. I then tested the frequency hz and it showed 60 hz. So everything was looking good. I then actually urned on the toaster and the unit quickly measured 790 watts. I tried to crank it to full heat but there might be another setting that I don’t know about that pulls more power, but it was right in line as to what the manufacture said about the amount of power the toaster and would use. So if you’re someone that has a lot of electronic gadgets around, chargers, fish tanks, or have a lot of things plugged into outlets and outlet strips, and you want to know exactly what’s going on, then the Kill A Watt meter is something that I consider buying. It works great. There is also a Kill A Watt EZ version that actually shows you a dollar amount right on the display as to monthly operating costs for devices ! http://www.p3international.com