Anyone familiar with this thing?

[kurt]

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[Jim Katen]

It's a power monitor. The two current transformers wrap around the incoming service entrance wires and measure the current. The little transmitter sends the information to a display somewhere in the house where the occupant can read it to see how much power is being used.

One study showed that just having a device like this cut electricity use by 30% as people played little games with themselves to see how little power they could use. Kind of like the mileage display on a Prius.

[palmettoinspect]

What Jim said. I've seen them a few times on houses the builders were pushing really hard as

"green" houses. There's a read out somewhere for it that monitors the usages. Usually see that tinfoil stuff in the attic along with stuff like this.

[John Kogel]

I recommend those to people that plan to rent out a suite that has a subpanel. They can monitor the sub with one of those devices and probably print the tenant a bill.

[Tom Raymond]

Usually see that tinfoil stuff in the attic along with stuff like this.

I like radiant barriers. No need for a foil hat when one has a whole house solution.

The usage devices are silly, if you have electric service you have a meter. Get off your arse and go read it.

[David Meiland]

Energy monitors are a great tool for anyone looking to cut their electric usage. Most people don't have any idea what their various loads are, or how their behavior is translating into electric bills. In this region it's common for folks to have electric everything, including heat, and little idea why their bill is high or how to cut it. An energy monitor gives you real-time info on exactly what your load is at any given moment, and if you pay attention to it for a little while, you quickly learn the signature of the various devices in your home. The one Kurt saw probably puts the info on the owner's computer or tablet screen, and you can get models that track multiple circuits and make pie charts.

Yes, you can get off your arse and go read the meter, but if it's outside on a pedestal hundreds of feet from your door, and you have to take a stopwatch and a calculator to get a load reading, you're not going to do it. I have a couple of the older TED monitors that cost me about $20 each, and they're very useful.