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An energy monitor can be attached to an electrical box fairly easily to measure how much electricity is being consumed by your household. If your provider doesn’t give you an energy monitor, many high street stores will sell one that can be attached to any energy box. Your monitor won’t communicate information back to your energy supplier, but it will help you determine when you use the most electricity so you can gauge the times when you need to cut back the most. Here are the three main components of any energy monitor, and how they all work together to supply you with an accurate reading of your electricity use. Handheld Display The handheld display of your monitor is the part of the system that you will use on a regular basis. This is the component with a digital monitor that shows you a reading of your energy use in real time. In some cases, such as with a British Gas smart energy monitor, you can also see the amount of money that you can expect to pay for your energy in real time as well. This eliminates any mystery around your electricity expenses, though the monitor will not be able to read your gas use. Depending on the brand, your display may also give you the option of receiving energy saving tips and show you your greenhouse gas emissions. Sensor The sensor is the piece of an energy monitor that actually detects your electricity use from the electrical box on the side of your property. This component physically clips onto the power cable that runs from your energy box – read the safety instructions carefully before attaching the sensor. A sensor monitors the magnetic field around the power cable to determine the amount of electrical current that is passing through. Your energy is measured in amps. The sensor physically connects to the transmitter as well, through which it is able to communicate with your handheld display inside the house. Transmitter The transmitter for your energy monitor plugs into the sensor, and then wirelessly communicates the information gathered by the sensor to the display monitor. Think of the transmitter as the middle man in the operation – it reads what is being detected by the sensor and then shares the data with the display monitor so that you can read it. The transmitter also changes the data to terms that you can understand. The information sent wirelessly by the transmitter is recalculated to show the number of kilowatt hours (kWh) you have used – the same measurement used on your monthly electricity bill. Changing the information to kWh is also allows the display to configure the amount of money that the energy will cost. Getting a Monitor If you are fortunate enough to have a smart meter, you probably have a smart monitor as well. As smart meters are becoming more commonplace in the UK, so too is the change to allowing each household to have a monitor as a standard part of their energy packages. Smart meters use the data collected and send it directly to your energy provider. However, if you have yet to receive a smart meter you may still be able to get an energy monitor and use it. Stores like Tesco and Argos sell monitors for anywhere from 20 to 100 pounds. You will need to install these monitors yourself, but the three components are relatively easy to assemble and get working. An energy monitor is smart for any household that is budget conscious. It’s also vital if your family is actively trying to reduce your impact on the environment. Thanks to your energy monitor, you can figure out the best off-peak times to do laundry or run your dishwasher, and see when your bill is rising too high for your budget. Just remember that your monitor may not be precise if it’s not attached to a smart meter. Always take a manual reading of your electricity meter to make sure that your monitor is accurate. Since your monitor will not communicate with your provider, also remember that you still need to submit readings to your provider if you want to get an accurate bill as opposed to an estimated one. Laura Ginn knows that an energy monitor can be a useful tool in the fight for energy efficiency. Visit http://www.uswitch.com/energy-saving/guides/energy-monitors/ to find out more about how they work and how they can help you reduce the amount of energy that is wasted in your home.
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