While working at home, the P4400 energy meter has helped me reduce my energy bills.  My electric bill was over $450 two years ago and now it goes between $150 and $300 depending on the month.  The low cost of the product, $20, means it is easily within the reach of nearly any consumer.  The only real drawback is that the meter cannot monitor large appliances like room air conditioners; it still can tell you how much power that 100 watt light bulb is really pulling and what it is actually costing you.

The meter will arrive packaged in a large, clear two piece plastic enclosure.  Inside are an instruction manual and the product itself.  The device weighs about 2 ounces.  The case is made of sturdy, beige colored plastic and is rugged enough to survival the occasional fall on the floor.  The P3 International Kill A Watt is very large though, while plugged in it will block both outlets on a standard 120VAC wall outlet.

The display is 4 digits and has the following front-panel button capabilities: volts, volt-amps, amps, watts, power-factor, frequency (hz), KWH, timer (since reset).  The volts button displays the volts at the wall socket.  The amp button shows the amount of current being consumed through P4400.  The watt button displays the watts being consumed.  The Hz and power-factor show characteristics of the power coming into your house.  The red or KWH button shows the number of kilowatt hours consumed since last reset of the unit.  When the unit is unplugged, it will lose all data.

Success Stories
The following examples are the result of monitoring electricity usage on my household appliances.  The total electricity savings for me was about .7Kwh a day which represents $.07 at $.10 per Kwh a day!  The net profit after one year is $25.55 which pays for the cost of my Kill A Watt meter!
 
Refrigerator Savings
My ten year old refrigerator was consuming an average of 2.2Kwh per day.  Obviously this was costing me a tremendous amount of money per year and I wished to reduce the cost without buying a new one.  First, I pulled off the bottom filter screen and discovered it was very clogged inside with dust and pet hair.  For the next four hours, I cleaned out the bottom and back of my fridge.  The next day, Kill A Watt reported 1.81Kwh of usage.  The following day this was reduced to 1.53Kwh.  The likely reason for the first reading after cleaning was the fridge had to chill down after being opened so long the day before.

Cel-phone and Lawnmower battery chargers
We all have cel-phone, portable game and cordless electric lawn mower battery chargers plugged in around the house.  When not used these chargers still consume electricity.  My electric lawn mower battery charger was consuming 3 watts of power which translated into .1Kwh after after a week.  I now disconnect all my chargers when not in use and save approximately .1Kwh a week by doing so.

Power Surge Detection
Recently, I have had my meter plugged into a wall outlet in the kitchen and noticed constant elevated spikes of voltage in the afternoons.  Spikes are dangerous in a modern home because they send sensitive electronics more power than they can handle.  However, the real danger is with your filament based light bulbs.  They are very sensitive to voltages above 120 VAC and can burn out quickly.  If you are experiencing frequent burnouts of bulbs, I suggest photographing the display and contacting your power company to see if they can resolve the issue.

Power Consumption Figures
To give you an idea of how much power everyday products use, I created following list of products which have their power consumption figures listed below:
Black & Decker CMM1200 Cordless Electric Lawn Mower, .43 Kwh per charge
Dirt Devil M084105 Jaguar Vacuum, 1233 watts peak
Sony DVP-NS700H DVD Player, 10 watts peak
Philips 32PFL5322D 32 inch HDTV LCD TV, 125 watts peak
Sony DVP-NS77H DVD Player, 9 watts peak
Bose 3·2·1 GS II Theater System, 33 watts peak
Cuisinart DGB-600 10-Cup Coffee Maker, 1065 watts peak
Hoover S2531 Sprint Upright Vacuum, 428 watts peak
ViewSonic VA703B (Black) LCD Monitor, 58 watts peak
Hewlett Packard StorageWorks MSA70 41780 Hard Drive Array, 191 watts peak
Cuisinart DGB-550BK 12-Cup Coffee Maker, 1065 watts peak
Lakewood HV9 Floor / Box Fan, 44 watts peak
PHILIPS 42" LCD Television 42PFL3603D, 208 watts peak
Yardstick YS24 Cordless Electric Weed eater, 16 watts peak while charging
Energizer CHDC Ni-Mh battery charger, 3 watts peak  
Sony PSP 100 Battery Charger, 7 watts peak
Laptop Power Supply for Toshiba ADP-75SB BB PA-3432u-1ACA PA3380u-1ACA PA3432e-1ACA, 61 watts peak
ASUS 1005HA (1005HA-VU1X-BK) netbook, 31 watts peak

I tried plugging the Frigidaire FAS156N1A Heavy Duty Room Air Conditioner into my first Kill A Watt P4400 and to my horror saw the display go away!  The air conditioner itself was not powering up the compressor either.  After removing the meter, the compressor came on.  I tried plugging the P4400 into another outlet but the display was very faded and nothing I could plug in would cause it to respond.  The meter blew out its circuit board because the 1500+ watts of power overloaded the shunt.

Specifications
120 VAC, one socket.
4 Digit LCD Display
1500 Watt peak current capacity (damage will result above this amount)
Displays volts, amps, and wattage within 0.2 percent accuracy
6 month manufacturer's warranty

Summary
The Kill A Watt P4400 by P3 International is a great buy and will pay for itself if used to monitor power usage by large appliances like refrigerators and home entertainment equipment.  The device does have its peak power limitations but these can be overcome if you are careful about what is actually plugged in.  For me, the real fun is watching how much power products in my home consume.  You should get one today and start saving as well!

Recommended: Yes