This is the "Killawatt" and the makers say it will tell you exactly how much energy your household appliances use so you can decide what you need to use less therefore "killing watts" from your electricity bill.
"I'm looking to see how I'm gonna plug this in," says Longview resident Sonya Pereira,
Pereira was interested in testing the device.
"I feel like there's nowhere to cut costs. We've cut as low as we can and this might come with an answer," Pereira explained.
There was one restriction with the model we bought... a max voltage of only 125 volts.
This means testing big appliances is out. No matter, Pereira says she has questions about several smaller items.
First, she's heard several theories about computers.
"That it takes more energy to boot it up than it does to run 24 hours a day. You turn it off its just the same as hibernate, its not gonna use anymore energy," Pereira said.
So, for a week and a half she tested everything from the computer to her coffeepot.She said it was easy to use and the most surprising item: her hairdryer.
Turns out, the hair dryer used more than she thought. Figuring one use a day, it used 44-hundredths of a kilowatt. Times that by 7 cents per killowatt equals 3 cents a day, 22 cents a week, and 88 cents a month.
"I'll let my hair dry now unless I have to use it," Pereira added.
And the coffee pot? Once a day, it used 34-hundredths of a kilowatt, times the 7 cents equals 2 cents a day, 17 cents a week, and 67 cents month.
But the big question was the computer that stayed on 24/7. It used 12-hundredths of a kilowatt times 7 cents equals 20 cents a day, $1.41 a week and $5.65 a month.
"While it was in use it was only 10 watts difference from hibernation, not much difference at all," Pereira said.
When saving money a bucks a buck, but we did learn its our necessities like the refrigerator, air conditioner and stove that suck the most energy.
We couldn't find the "Killawatt" in any local home stores. It is available online and those models range from the basic one we found to models that do the calculations for you.
In addition to the few dollars we've saved with this item, heres a way to save you $20 to $200 more. Don't buy this product, you get one use out of it then your done until you buy something new. Instead, click on the website below to find a free online energy calculator you can use for everything in your home. You may be surprised what you find.
