Black & Decker EM100B Energy Saver Series Power Monitor
by Black & Decker
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List Price: Our Price: $85.80 You Save: $14.19 (14%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $73.95 (click here) Category: Tools See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Black & Decker EM100B Energy Saver Series Power Monitor
Customer Review: now more energy aware
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this after shopping around, would have given it a 5* if the monitor panel lit up, I have a little trouble paying attention to it at night unless the light is shining right on it. I do like it, it was easy to setup on the meter and also easy to setup the monitor itself.(just for silly, I am a woman, so you don't have to wait for your husband to set this up) I wish there was some way to sync it so when the meter is read it would reset, but for an energy monitor and the awareness of what's going on and what runs up the bill, this was just what I needed. I now know it costs more for my electric H/W heater to run than the central A/C unit,oven or even the clothes dryer.(that made me go out in the utility room and turn down the thermostat from all the way on full at 150* to 120* and put the H/W heater insulating blanket that was still in the package in the garage on the H/W heater) It also shows that rooms in the house that DON'T have CFL lightbulbs cause the reading to go up significantly, and the rooms with CFL lightbulbs, well they hardly register. So if your trying to prove something to yourself or others in the house this will do the trick. It's not that I am not using any more or less power on the things I need to use, but it is helping me conserve and reduce my carbon footprint and the awareness of what is using the power and what it costs to use it wisely. This was a good buy.Customer Review: Great simple to use product
Summary: 5 Stars
Bought this item to help see where all the electricity we were using was going. Received it quickly and had it installed and running in about an hour. Works great, although the resolution is limited to 100 watts immediate use. My older house has a mechanical type meter, with just 110v (what an electrician once called a "two wire" system, once he stopped laughing). I had some concern that it might not work on this older house, but it works fine.
Over time it seems very accurate. It lets you see exactly how much energy various appliances and machines are using, with the "tare" feature you can isolate just one item. I was shocked how many watts my tiny microwave used!
To get the item set up correctly takes careful reading of the instructions, but is not beyond even an ADHD case like me. It will even track your usage in dollars, although I don't find that very useful.
One thing - after installing you need to reset both the sender and the home base - I'm surprised it didn't automatically pick up. The hint to do this was buried in troubleshooting advice at the back of the manual.
Also - it has an outside temperature reading, but no inside. It's a shame they didn't put both temps on there.
The information from the unit is interesting, and it could be helpful if you have some real power hogs in your system, as far a minimizing your energy use. I find with my minimal use I can't really cut back much - although it will remind me if I leave a fan on somewhere. My usual continuous wattage is from 300 to 700 watts - although at the lower level I think I run into that low power resolution problem.
It's a great toy, and useful as well!
Customer Review: Would not work for my electric meter
Summary: 2 Stars
According to the product manual, my electric meter is the most common type: glass dome with visible rotating wheel. The sensor is supposed to fit over the dome with the sensor pickup arm directly over the rotating disc. However, the dome on my meter is too big to properly align the pickup arm. This problem is not mentioned in the manual. I called Black & Decker support and talked to a very nice lady who obviously was not familiar with this product. After talking to a supervisor, she offered a few suggestions. I tried the suggestions, but the sensor will not pick up the rotations of the meter rotating wheel. I was able to tell enough about the power monitor to see that it would give useful information if it would work, but the manual should be more specific about compatible electric meters.Customer Review: Read the manual or checkout the FAQ document on the Black & Decker Website
Summary: 4 Stars
Any wireless product connection is subject to the other pre-existing wireless devices in your house or in your home vicinity, including your neighbors.
This product uses the 433 MHz band which is used with remote outside weather stations and outside temperature monitors. The manual and FAQ document on the Black & Decker website explains how you can reconfigure the device to another channel within the 433 MHz band.
I live in Sillycon Valley, CA in a HOA development where I can detect over two dozen WiFi base stations broadcasting on the 2.4 and 5.8 GHz band.
My previous 2.4 GHz cordless phone crapped out all the time interfering with my WiFi base station. I gave up with 2.4 GHz cordless phones and went to the 5.8 GHz band cordless phones and still had problems. Reports are that 5.8 GHz band cordless phones have problems with 2.4 GHz WiFi access points as well as 5.8 GHz WiFi access points causing problems. Gave up on 2.4 GHz phones and 5.8 GHz phones and went with a DECT 6 cordless phone and have not had problems with the WiFi or cordless phones since.
DECT 6 is a wireless technology originally developed in Europe based on the cellular GSM cell phone wireless technology. It is on a completely different frequency range (1.9 GHz).
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No problems with DECT cordless phones, no problems with my wireless access points, no problems with my Black & Decker EM100B wireless power monitor....
Customer Review: Can't use it.
Summary: 3 Stars
My electric company (JCP&L of New Jersey), does not allow anything attached to the meter.