If you’re anything like me, you have a slew of gadgets and a large electric bill. So when Black and Decker came out with their Power Monitor, I knew that this device was going to help raise awareness on how electricity was being used in my house. In order to use this, you will need access to your electric meter and a copy of your electric bill. You first mount the sensor around your electric meter and position the optical scanner correctly which can be difficult, especially with older meters. This took me a while, but I finally got it but it could prove to be your downfall if you have an incompatible meter.
To read the current power usage the device either “scans” the rotating wheel inside your meter or connects to the optical port. If you have a considerably older meter the sensor can’t read the rotation and will fail. There are a few fixes they suggest but none of them worked on John’s meter. It did, however, work on my meter.
You then set up the receiver by first binding it to the sensor module and then entering some information from your electric bill.
This part seems a bit involved, but really wasn’t so bad – looked a lot more complicated for those with tiered electrical billing. The $100 kit displays time, inside temperature, cost per hour and total cost (since last reset).
In the end, I found out that I’m using around 30 cents per hour on average, so I removed a few light bulbs, turned off the monitor, TV and extra lights. Now my house is dark and I bump into things a lot, but I reduced my power consumption by two thirds. Now you too can do your part to support a greener planet. I need to get me some candles.
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Can’t find the manual online. How far does the radio signal transmit. I am in apt Paying $156 a month and I think it is the hot water heater and refrigerator making the bill so high. But with the meter being 80 – 120 feet away I hope it will work.
I had read on another review the transmission distance is up to 60 feet, probably won’t work in your building.
I’m not entirely convinced this isn’t just one more in an expanding line of products promising “greener” living and lower electric bills, but only adding one more layer of confusion to a simple solution. Use common sense.
I’m having a little trouble setting up the power monitor. I have it setup on the meter housing correctly, but inputting the values from my hydro bill, which is one tier at $.95/kwh, seems a bit vage. The top value on the meter never goes above $0.02 and over a month the total$ never went above $7.82. Black and Decker tech support has no idea how the power meter works! It was a rush product for Christmas and they haven’t been briefed on how it works. And all you get is a women who isn’t terribly tech savey. So here I am looking for help.
Chris
I purchased this monitor approximately 6 months ago and it seems to fall asleep often even though the monitor is no more than 30 feet away. I have checked my lithium batteries and they are at full strength. there are no steel beams in my house which would interfere. The only thing that may interfere is that the electric meter is right beside the air conditioner heat pump.