Energy Guides

What is an electricity monitor?

By Hazel Cottrell hazel.cottrell@consumerchoices.co.uk

Using an electricity monitor could help you cut your energy bills significantly. This guide explains how they work and how to get one… (12/2/10)

Electricity monitors, also known as “wireless energy monitors” or “electricity display devices”, are hand-held devices that show you how much electricity you are using in real-time. They are designed to help you monitor and reduce your electricity usage.

If you are interested in cutting your energy bills, check out the sections below to find out how electricity monitors work and how to get your hands on one.

• What is an electricity monitor?
• What are the benefits of electricity monitors?
• How do electricity monitors work?
• Where can I get an electricity monitor?

What is an electricity monitor?

An electricity monitor is a wireless, hand-held device that shows you how much electricity you are using in real-time.

Electricity monitors come in a variety of models, but will usually look something like British Gas’ EnergySmart electricity monitor:

What are the benefits of electricity monitors?

Electricity monitors are designed to help you save money on your energy bills. The idea is that once you can see exactly how much electricity you are using in real-time, you will be able to identify ways to reduce your usage and so reduce your bills.

However, this depends on your using your energy monitor proactively – simply installing it will not save you money.

It’s important here to point out that electricity monitors are not smart meters, as the two often get confused. Smart meters, which the government hopes to have in every home by 2020, will be able to communicate with your energy supplier and as well as coming with visual display units, will have several other benefits.

For more on this read our quick guide - What’s the difference between a smart meter and an electricity monitor?

How do electricity monitors work?

As well as the wireless hand-held display unit, electricity monitors come with two additional parts:

1. A sensor, which clips onto one of the wires at your electricity meter
2. A battery-operated transmitter unit which sends information from the sensor to the display unit.

Setting up an electricity monitor should be fairly straightforward and doesn’t require an engineer – you can do it yourself.

Once attached to a wire at your electricity meter, the sensor will measure the electricity current flowing through the wire. The transmitter will then send this wirelessly to your hand-held display unit, where it will usually be translated into electricity use in units (kWh), cost (pounds) and emissions (CO2).

You can place this visual display unit anywhere you like in your house – allowing you to keep a constant eye on your electricity use and see how changes in your behaviour affect it.

Where can I get an electricity monitor?

The number of electricity monitors available has grown significantly over the last year and there are now plenty to choose from.

You can buy electricity monitors in shops or online from a variety of retailers, including Tesco, Amazon, Homebase and John Lewis. They typically cost around £30-50, so the payback period should be less than a year if you use them effectively and reduce your electricity consumption.

Alternatively, you could get a free electricity monitor if you sign up to certain energy tariffs. For example, British Gas is offering a free EnergySmart monitor to everyone who signs up to its EnergySmart tariff and at the time of writing, E.ON’s Energy Saver tariff comes with a free electricity monitor too.

Another option for monitoring electricity usage is the AlertMe kit. This comes with a sensor and monitors how much electricity you are using, but instead of sending the information to a handheld display unit, it transmits it securely to the AlertMe service on the internet through a wireless connection.

This means you can monitor your home’s energy usage online wherever you are. For more information, read our guide to AlertMe energy kits.

More information on British Gas’ EnergySmart monitor