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: More toy than useful tool
Summary: 3 Stars
This product sounds like a great idea. However, in using it I have found it to be more gimmick than tool, and after about a month, I seldom check it anymore.
Here are the flaws:
1) it only measures down to .1 KWh (100 watts). So you can't tell what the effects are of devices using less power than that.
2) In my experience, when power consumption falls below about 500 watts, it just registers zero. During most of the daytime when my lights are off, it stays at zero.
It has taught me a couple of things about my power usage -- most importantly, I hadn't realized before just how much power lighting will burn up over the course of a month (a lot).
Customer Review: Easy setup, good for kids
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this product thinking that it might help save energy and teach our kids to turn off electrical devices (lights, TVs, etc). The product was relatively easy to setup and it has proven to be a good motivator for kids and has helped to lower our usage. Our electric meter is situated under gutters which have been dripping water from ice dams during the last couple of weeks. The meter has a hard time seeing the signal under such conditions, but this is understandable. Overall I have been pleased. It would be nice to be able to download the data as others have suggested.Customer Review: Energy Power Monitor
Summary: 5 Stars
Great product, installed easily as advertised and the setup was straight forward. The projected cost feature in KWH and $ is very useful. Portable monitor is very helpful. Cost is reasonable and watching the electric useage as different applicance come on is informative but questionable value due to no control (e.g. refrigerator, freezer and clothes washer).
Does help to know where concemption is occuring with no connect/disconnect issues.
Customer Review: poor
Summary: 2 Stars
The Black & Decker EM100B is to complicated and the instructions are to vague. I'm unable to keep it working for a day, and I have had other people work with it. Customer Review: Three month review
Summary: 2 Stars
My meter had the optical port on top. Installation was easy and I had no difficulty with the alignment.
I really enjoy seeing how much electricity I'm using at any moment and the meter has been great in that regard.
The problem I have is with the indoor unit keeping a signal. Even with brand new batteries installed in both indoor and outdoor units, the indoor unit frequently loses the signal and goes into sleep mode. I've had the indoor unit sitting 6 inches away from the meter with only the outside wall between the two and I still lose the signal. No, it's not a brick wall.
The instructions say to wake the unit from sleep and it will reconnect. That hasn't worked yet. Every time I need to set the indoor unit in ID mode and go around the house and push the reset button on the outdoor unit to regain the signal indoors.
Sometimes it will hold the signal for three or four days and sometimes it can't hold the signal for five minutes. It's been very hit or miss. So of course the running total for the month is not accurate due to all the time spent in sleep mode.
My recommendation is to wait until Black & Decker works out the kinks and releases version 2.