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Wednesday, 30 December 2009 11:40 |
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Power Monitoring Meters such as the Ryobi Power Usage Meter let you monitor the power usage of your home electronics so that you can become more aware of the power usage of devices such as TVs, stereos, computers, microwaves, cell phone chargers, and other appliances.
Gain Control Over Your Power Consumption By becoming more aware of the power consumption of your devices and appliances, you can make educated decisions about reducing your usage of devices which you either leave on all the time or use more frequently than necessary. Also, you might be surprised by how much more energy certain appliances use. The U.S Department of Energy reports that 20% of our electric bills come from items that are left plugged in when they are not in use, or items that are in standby mode.
Even though some manufacturers provide power consumption costs on the Energy Guide sticker affixed to the appliance, this is only an estimate of annual usage, and is self-reported by the manufacturer. Your actual energy cost will in fact depend on how often you use the appliance, as well as the utility rates in your area. Besides, most electronics devices don't come with these Energy Guide stickers. 
Plug and MonitorTo monitor the power consumption of an appliance or electronic device, simply plug it into the Power Usage Meter and it will tell you the efficiency of that item by displaying power consumption in kilowatt per hour. Kilowatt-hours (kWh) are the measurement of total energy used over time, and are also the metric that your utility company charges you by. At the click of a button, the Ryobi Power Usage Meter even gives you the actual cost of operation in $ when you program in the rate your utility company charges you. This is handy when you want to know just how much playing your XBOX360 is costing you per hour. As power conservation within the home becomes more important, Power Monitoring Meters such as the Ryobi Power Usage Meter finally provide you with a means to inexpensively take more control over your 'power-consumption footprint' and start cutting down on electricity costs. Investing in a smart power adapter such as the iGoGreen Powesaver can further aid in reducing costs by automatically cutting off the power that devices use even when they are off. The Ryobi Power Usage Meter (E49CM01) retails for around $25 from Home Improvement stores such as Home Depot.
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