A Cool Tool...

I have had this cool gadget for two months now, and I keep meaning to tell you about it, but haven't found the time.

Well, I can't hold back any longer.  For those of you who see me on a regular basis, you've probably heard more than you want to know about this tool.  Bear with me.

Blue Line Innovations (bluelineinnovations.com) has created a gadget called the Power Cost Monitor, and SMUD, my local utility company, partnered with them to make it available to SMUD customers already pre-programmed with our power rates and thresholds.  They mailed me a postcard months ago asking if I wanted to purchase this tool at a discounted price during their promotion.  After thinking about whether or not to spend the money, I went ahead and ordered it.  I figured it would be interesting to know how much you save when you turn off a light, or unplug an appliance, or any of the other energy-saving tips I hear about.

Needless to say by the title, I'm in love with this product!  I have definitely saved the purchase price in energy costs already.  Granted, that doesn't count the cost of replacing the energy hogs that were my porch lights!  But another month of energy savings will pay for those too.

Enough rambling, let's get to the meat of this post.  I have to tell you about this product.  If you go to the website I mentioned above, they have a picture of the tool.  Essentially, the large number at the top of the screen tells you how much energy you are using AT THIS MOMENT.  This is done by attaching a "reader" to the meter on the side of your house that transmits data to the monitor.  It reads how fast your meter is spinning, and translates that to a cost/hour.  So, when you turn on the light, you can see an immediate change in this data.  Using this tool, I was able to determine the amount of energy each appliance in my house uses, and what that costs me on an hourly/weekly/monthly basis.

The other sections tell me how much I'm using now as compared to other times during the month, how much my utility bill is so far, and what my utility rate is right now.

Knowledge is power!  And by acknowledging what costs the most money, you can effectively trim your usage.  Granted, finding out that my 10-year-old dryer uses a lot of energy doesn't mean that I can afford to replace it with a high-efficiency dryer right now, but knowing what my current dryer is costing me will mitigate some of the cost when it is time to replace it.

Like I said, replacing my outdoor lighting has already paid for the cost of the monitor, and will soon pay for the cost of the new lights.

This is a cool tool.  Theoretically knowing that turning off the lights will save you money is nothing compared to actually seeing what that cost savings is.  Before long you'll find yourself sounding like your mother, "turn off that light"!