Energy Guides

AlertMe Energy Kits: Can they help to reduce your electricity bills?

By Becca Talbot - becca@consumerchoices.co.uk

Using an energy monitor like the AlertMe Energy Kit could help to reduce your electricity bills by up to 25%. (Updated 15/1/10)

If you’re looking to save money on your energy bills, one of the simplest ways is by reducing the amount of energy you use.

This isn’t always easy, especially if there are lots of people in your house, or it is large. However, an energy monitor, such as the AlertMe Energy Kit, lets you check your electricity consumption online which may help you consciously curb the amount of electricity you’re using.

The kit was launched in partnership with the Google PowerMeter, and promises to help consumers make small changes to save money on their energy bills and reduce their carbon footprint. Below we explain how the AlertMe Energy Kit works and how it can help you slash your electricity bills…

What is AlertMe Energy?

The AlertMe service was launched in 2008 and now offers over 10 different “smart” products for consumers, allowing them to easily keep a tab on their energy usage and control the security of their homes.

Designed to help households looking to save energy and money, the AlertMe Energy Kit is an affordable and easy-to-use energy monitor system that connects straight to your broadband service. It lets you see exactly how much electricity your home is using in real time, in kilowatts (kW). It also calculates an estimate of how much this is going to cost you - giving you a £-based figure.

How does the AlertMe Energy Kit work?

The AlertMe Energy Kit is quick to install and easy to use. The kit contains the following equipment:

• An AlertMe meter reader - The meter reader measures your home’s overall electricity usage. You can fit it yourself - it clips easily onto your electricity meter allowing you to see exactly where, when and how your home is using energy.
• An AlertMe hub - The hub talks securely to the AlertMe service on the internet through a wireless connection, so you can monitor and control your home’s energy usage anywhere.
• An AlertMe transmitter - The transmitter connects to the meter reader and talks wirelessly to the AlertMe hub, allowing you to view the energy information collected online.
• An ethernet cable
• A power cable

Simply connect the meter reader and transmitter to your electricity meter, and then connect the hub to your broadband wireless router, and the equipment will communicate wirelessly with each other.

AlertMe Energy Kit

You can then view your usage on your personal AlertMe dashboard via the AlertMe website. You’ll be able to see exactly where, when and how your home is using energy, make changes and monitor the impact of those changes in real-time, saving you money and reducing your energy consumption.

The AlertMe Energy Kit also works with the Google PowerMeter application, making it really simple to view your home’s energy usage directly your iGoogle homepage.

How much does the AlertMe Energy Kit cost?

You can purchase the AlertMe Energy Kit directly from the AlertMe website (www.alertme.com). The kit costs £69.99, plus £2.99 a month for a subscription to access your online AlertMe account.

The £2.99 monthly subscription allows you to:

• Monitor what’s happening in your home online
• Access the AlertMe online dashboard anytime, anywhere
• Receive instant alerts via email
• Remotely control appliances online

The AlertMe service provides technical help and free customer service. You can also pay for the subscription annually for £29.90 - saving £5.98 off the monthly cost.

You can also purchase AlertMe SmartPlugs for £25 per plug. These plugs connect wirelessly to the AlertMe hub, allowing you to monitor the exact amount of electricity the appliances plugged into them are using, as well as giving you the ability to control these appliances remotely. For example, if you’re television is plugged into a SmartPlug, and you see online that you’ve left it on stand-by mode, you can turn it off remotely via the AlertMe dashboard - saving energy and reducing your energy bills.

How much money will I save with an AlertMe Energy Kit?

AlertMe Energy says using the energy kit and making simple, small changes to your behaviour will have a real impact on your energy usage and your wallet. It suggests that consumers can save up to 25% each year off their electricity bills.

But the amount you actually save will depend on how conscious you are of the amount you’re using, and whether you proactively try to reduce your consumption.