Electrisave Monitoring Device - A small review

["darren_karp2001" <darren@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi All,

As mentioned on another thread I received my electrisave 'cent-a-
meter' this morning.

Well packed and complete, installation was a doddle. As I have an=20
outdoor plastic cavity box I decided to attach the sensor to the=20
live wire feeding my meter and attached the transmitter to the back=20
of the box using some double sided sticky foam.

After pressing 'search' on the back of the receiver it started=20
monitoring straight away.

Configuring the device from $ to =A3 and entering my unit cost per Kwh=20
(6.6p) was a doddle and the instruction manual accompanying the=20
device made it easy to understand.

The LCD which isn't backlit is nice and large (circa 4.5" square)=20
and the readout is very clear. It benefits from displaying the=20
average humidity and temperature every 3 seconds which is an added=20
benefit. A face icon displays whether it believes the humidity is=20
good or bad.

You can set the device to display pence per hour, KwH or Amps being=20
drawn.

The MAJOR downside to this unit is that is DOES NOT keep a tally of=20
your consumption, so although you can take the receiver to various=20
appliances around the home to see what they cost per hour to run, it=20
won't let you see 'savings' made on a week by week or month by month=20
basis.

This IMHO lets the unit down dramatically. Afterall, how can=20
you 'save' money if you don't know how much you are 'saving'?

There is however, a Mark II version of the unit being launched in=20
the 2nd half of 2007 which is meant to have features like the=20
ability to link it to a PC, etc.

The transmitter frequency is 433Mhz so it would be interesting to=20
see if any kind technical chap can come up with a solution to allow=20
PC monitoring and recording.

All in all a very clever device and well made but in its current=20
form it makes for an expensive temperature & humidity gauge.

Darren