This was posted 12 years 3 months 13 days ago, and might be an out-dated deal.

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Belkin Conserve Insight Energy Use Monitor $25 after Coupon Code Plus Shipping

120
CONSERVE20

Pretty good price for this type of unit.

Monitor your energy usage with the Belkin Conserve Insight Energy-Use Monitor. Its easy-to-read display shows how much devices really cost-in watts, dollars, and carbon emissions. Plug a device, such as a TV or microwave, into Conserve Insight to see the true impact to your wallet and the environment instantly and over periods of time.

Code can Also be used for:

8 Socket Powerboard with Surge Protection
Remote works from 20m away. 1 switch for everything.
SAVE $71 ONLY $99
http://www.alwaysonsale.com.au/aos/products/133928-belkin-co…
 
Recharge Valet 4x Charge
Switches off the power once recharged. Draws zero power when not in use.
50% OFF ONLY $25
http://www.alwaysonsale.com.au/aos/products/133924-belkin-co…

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  • +1

    Does anyone have one of these, they sound pretty good, and it seems like a great price at $35 delivered

    • +1

      Keen for a review as well, especially on easy of use re entering $ per kwh etc.

    • +1

      Re-entering $/kwh is a relatively easy I think.

    • +1

      Did someone pick one up in the last deal?
      http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/58466

    • +1

      Bought it when agl smarter living store had it on special for $26 delivered. Good little unit. Very easy to change the cost per kWh. Don't have it on me right now but if you leave it on for a while it gives a pretty good indication of price per month and year.

      Pretty shocking how much energy the fat PS3 and TV used.

      • +2

        how much does a ps3 / tv use per hour?

        • +1

          This article is a bit out of date (it is from 07 so it is using early revisions of console hardware and firmware), but it provides an in depth analysis of energy consumption for the consoles during differing activities (e.g. gaming uses more power than when the console is idle - or watching a movie).

          Link to article…

        • +1

          I'll check tonight but IIRC ~220W for 40" SONY LCD (4-5 years old model). ~200W for PS3 using PlayTV. So I suppose that's 0.22kWh and 0.2kWh respectively. Yup that old fat PS3 is a hog.

    • +7

      I bought one recently when they were on special to compare with my other 6 or so types of plug-in power meters. Put it aside as largely useless, as it didn't have a running total of the kWh that you are billed for.

      CHOICE recognized the lack of kWh readings; but gave it 100% for low standby power reading accuracy - rather a furphy in my opinion. European standards specify no more than 1 watt for standby (eg all my power meters consume under 1W - generally around 0.5W): costing under $2 if left on continuously for a year. IMHO low level standby accuracy down to 50/60% is largely immaterial, if the accuracy at higher levels is there for billing purposes.

      Can't cope with measuring kWh consumption [& dollars billed] for a Dishwasher, W/M or Dryer cycle.

      The fancy fonts (difficult to read); and overly complicated averaging programming, which don't address the central billing issue made this an irritating, useless yankee (?) marketing product; at least to this old git. Should a nerd be able to get some practical use out of this unit please let me know - I would welcome the education ;-)

      For $35 get a Steplight unit posted to you. 95% accuracy LOW & 100% HIGH. Simple to operate & very readable. For half the price get the ALDI unit.

      Looking at the Belkin unit now it is quite pretty -USELESS? 8<))

      PS Check out the CHOICE test results.

      • +2

        Thanks for the insightful review. Do the Steplight or ALDI units have cumulative totals?

        I bought one at Coles for about $30 and I can't figure out the controls, or what each of the menu items means. How do you rate this one for accuracy? If it's good, I'll try again to figure out how to use it haha.

        • +2

          Both the Steplight & Aldi units have kWh ( ie cumulative) totals. The Aldi unit also breaks this down by [24hour] days or [30 day] months.

          Check the model number on the unit you bought - it may be covered in the CHOICE tests.

          (I recently bought some remaindered units from my Ringwood, VIC Coles for $4, intending to give them to my library with some simple instructions - but they may be early faulty models which didn't allow for the Power Factor).

      • +1

        So you reckon the Steplight is better? Because if I understand correctly it is missing the function to show you how much something is costing per month/year.
        I understand it is hard to measure short power consumption (e.g. kettle) with the Belkin, just trying to compare them.
        Thanks for your help, if not for your comment (and some Amazon reviews), I would probably already purchase the Belkin.

        • +2

          For simplicity and the largest viewable display I would put the Steplight (rebranded WattsClever?) first. Google Steplight and check out the unit & 2 page manual.

          I prefer the much cheaper ALDI unit (although it is rather more complicated to use with a [small] 40 page booklet): and rate it with excellent units costing 10 times as much. The ALDI graphical representation of past history (also supported by a numeric breakdown) is dependent on the unit being plugged into the appliance for an extended period; and is a nice feature but not necessary. (I had one plugged into my TV/PVR/DVD power-board logging daily & monthly usage time & kWh consumption - with a history over 7 months).

          From memory the Belkin may be programed to average power draw over the period it is plugged in - so if one was left plugged into a fridge for a few days (to cover infrequent automatic defrosting) it might give a "seasonal" cost estimate.
          I may try that! I will also check Amazon - thanks.

        • Cheers for the reply.

          Unfortunately we don't have Aldi in WA, never bothered me until I joined OZB :-D

          So I suppose the next best thing is the steplight, and I will just have to make the calculations myself…

    • +1

      I have one, bought it for my parents for Christmas, it was a bit overpriced at $50 for me.

      It can read the energy consumption of very high drain applications such as a coffee machine or a dryer and does produce interesting results.

      However it's really only useful at measuring the standby drain of appliances.

      PRO TIP: Turn off anything with an amp if you are not using it!

  • +1

    alwaysonsale.. urgh.. anyone wanna hand me their 5 maglite torches? lol

  • +1

    I bought one of these from United Energy before for $27. It's almost perfect except it doesnt have accumulated usage overtime. Basically it only display the Watt/$/Carbon rate of the given instant.

  • +2

    Can you put this between a powerboard and the wall? I would like to know how much all my PC gear including the displays are sucking down.

  • +1

    Choice did a review on this: http://www.choice.com.au/reviews-and-tests/household/energy-… but the results are open to subscribers only.

    Let's just say that of the products they tested, it's had the best bang for your buck and after reading the review, I just bought one. Wish I'd been paying more attention when AGL had them for $26 delivered, but meh…

    • +1

      Copies of CHOICE are usually available from your Library. From the CHOICE Comments section LOW level testing was in the 1 - 2W range.

      The Belkin unit shows instantaneous power draw - your kWh bill ($$$) is based on the aggregate of all fluctuating power draws over time - eg plug the Belkin into your M/W, W/M, Fridge etc & watch the fluctuating power draw.

      For $17, or perhaps less now, the ALDI unit is far more sophisticated; and more importantly USEFUL IMHO ;-)

      • +1

        Ah, impulse purchases… looks like I was literally purchasing this unit while you were writing your review above! Oh well, I did actually only want something to measure ongoing consumption of individual applicances, rather than ongoing kwh, as I already have an EnviR logging to pvoutput.org. Given your comments, I will also be looking out for one of the Aldi ones, though…

  • +1

    Are these the same sort of thing?
    http://aldi.com.au/au/html/offers/2827_20119.htm

    • +4

      YES - actually measures wattage to an insane 3 dp (2W on continuously costing less than $5 for a full year) - but one needs to watch the small decimal point - it jumps around with fluctuating power levels.

      I have one plugged into a power board on top of my fridge. It simultaneously displays both the instantaneous power draw and the accumulated kWh we are billed on. Another nice touch is the lower section that graphically displays daily [or 30 day monthly] figures for kWh consumption. I can tell which days were hotter by the increased kWh consumption in the 7 day (or month) period :)

      • +2

        Cool thx, saw a few in either FTG or Bayswater Aldi (vic)

  • I use the Doss MPM01 monitor to monitor power consumption of items around the house.
    It shows quite a few different things.
    i was mainly after power use in watts.
    Our "household" daily use is about 42kWh so i was hunting for wher the power was going.

    It is only $14.95 +post

    http://www.radioparts.com.au/ProdView.aspx?popup=1&Category=…

    Technical info here
    http://www.doss.com.au/mpm01-mains-power-meter/

    • I have the MS6115 too. I have 4 comments to make:-

      1) Check that it is not an earlier faulty unit that doesn't allow for the Power Factor. You may be able to check this by testing your MicroWave standby (as I understand that they may all be "inverter" units?) -sb only a few watts - eg 3W for my Panasonic, whereas my original Jaycar unit showed nearly 80W: explained by a PF of .03.

      2) The tiny display is very difficult to read; and for these old eyes I found a torch was of more help than a magnifier.

      3) Showing kWh to just 1 dp (or to the lower 100Wh) is just annoying. Better units (such as ALDI or Steplight/WattsClever) display 3 dp (ie to individual Wh) - & are also actually readable to the eye :-)
      Rather than showing 0 when heating a cup of chilled fridge water for a cup of tea I get 43Wh - so for 6 cups of tea or coffee in the day I know that I will use about 0.23kWh.

      4) From memory the instructions are shite. I subscribe to the KISS principle - the Steplight is tops for this; although the cheaper ALDI wins on value & features.

      PS Like other units there are many rebranded versions - costing up to $40, or down to $4 for my Coles runout, which may be the faulty PF version. Of interest your reference & Specs refer to 2 batteries, whilst the Manual says 3?
      (I think I have both the 2 & 3 battery versions).

  • +3

    1.5% convenience fee? im not buying from here just on principle.

    • +1

      http://www.alwaysonsale.com.au/aos/info/terms/

      1.4 An Administration Service Fee of 1.5% and a delivery fee applies to each product purchased. This fee will display in your shopping basket that can be accessed by clicking on "Buy Now" in a product listing or "Your Order" from any other page. Specifications and prices and fees are subject to change without notice.

      The administration service fee appears to be component pricing. Component pricing is against the law.

      http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/816199

      The single price means the minimum total cost that is able to be quantified (or calculated) at the time of making the representation.

      You must include in the single price any:

      • charges of any desciption payable by a consumer to purchase the good or service (e.g. administration fees, compulsory services charges, booking fees)

      • taxes, duties, fees, levies or charges payable by the consumer for the supply of the good or service (e.g. goods and services tax or sales tax).

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