Watt-O-Meter Helps Israelis Figure Out What's What With Their Electricity Consumption
Karen Chernick | | Comment | Email this
Do you know how much energy is required to power the computer that you’re reading this on? How about the light above you? The air conditioning? And do you know which one is the worst offender in terms of electricity consumption? When you don’t know how much energy you’re using, it’s easy to forget about conservation.
Smart energy meters installed in people’s homes help us remember how much energy we’re using by telling us how much electricity a certain appliance requries or by giving us a constant reading of our energy consumption. A popular American energy meter is the Kill-A-Watt, which requires that electrical appliances be plugged into it in order to determine which devices guzzle the most.
Thanks to a new company, Elah Valley Energy Engineering, a different type of smart energy meter is now available to the Israeli public. The company is importing Watt-O-Meters (see clip above for a peek at what they look like), which install on home fuse boxes to provide a constant reading of a home’s electric consumption. (As well as – for those motivated by the shekel to save electricity – the monetary amount that is being spent on electricity in real time.)
Even though the Watt-O-Meter itself doesn’t actually reduce energy usage, a real time awareness of one’s consumption has been found to be a powerful motivating tool in cutting those watts. When consumers can anticipate what their next electric bill is going to look like, it’s a nice reminder to limit the amount of time that the water heater is on, or a gentle push to turn on the fan instead of the air conditioner.
See the clip below for a home demonstration (in Hebrew) of how the Watt-O-Meter works:
Read more tips about how to cut electricity usage::
