I tested this £22 monitor reduced in Black Friday sale…

I tested this £22 monitor reduced in Black Friday sale and was surprised over biggest energy guzzler

The cost of living crisis is continuing to make it harder for everyone to cope with energy bills, groceries, and every day spending. I, like many people, am looking of ways to keep track on where my money goes and where I can afford to make changes to my spending habits, but some of our spending is hard to monitor, especially when you've got to factor in energy usage for lots of household appliances.

While it's hard to know just how much energy your hairdryer, fridge or toaster uses, it's not impossible. This handy device from Amazon claims to tell us just that and its currently reduced in the Black Friday sale.

The full name of the device is rather wordy: Power Meter Plug Energy Monitor Watt Meter Backlight LCD Display Electricity Usage Monitor Consumption Analyzer Voltage Amps Wattage KWH Outlet Power Meter Socket, Updated Version 180° Viewing Angle. If that's already got you a bit boggled, then the device might do the same. The device comes in a small cardboard box with a small reset stick and an A5 set of basic instructions.

After getting my head around the confusing user manual, I decided to try the device on some of my most used appliances: the fridge-freezer, toaster, and hairdryer. The devices measures current (A), watts (W), cumulative electrical quantity (KWh), and voltage (V).

Firstly, let's take a look at how to use the device and to figure out which used the most energy in my home.

How to use the device

It's easy to use. Just plug the device straight into the wall and then plug the appliance you want to test into that. The screen will light up and you can switch to different display modes by clicking the function button. Once the appliance is up and running, it's as simple as reading the number on the display and noting it down.

Toaster

Whether I'm looking for breakfast, an afternoon snack, or something to fill me up after a few pints, my toaster is a real staple of my kitchen. But how much energy is the popular appliance using?

To find out, I plugged the energy monitoring device into my non-branded toaster. The report was as follows:

Current (A): 4.244 amps
Cumulative electrical quantity (KWh): 0.020
Voltage (V): 239.6

Although a bit confusing, the toaster comes in at about middle place with these scores. Read the other scores to put this in perspective.

Fridge-freezer

Next I decided to test an essential appliance to see how it held up.

When I used the device on my Beko HarvestFresh fridge-freezer, I was surprised that the readings were significantly lower than that of both the toaster and hair dryer.

The display recorded the following:

Current (A): 0.009 amps
Cumulative electrical quantity (KWh): 0.028
Voltage (V): 240.5

Pretty much every household owns a fridge with some also owning a freezer, and a it's an appliance most of us couldn't live without. Saying that, I was quite reassured that such a big appliance that's continually on had a lower reading than the appliances that are used more infrequently.

Hairdryer

I use a Smooth and Shine 2200 hairdryer from TRESemme a few times a week. Although it's not on everyday, I was interested to see how it compared to the other devices and whether I might opt to let my hair air-dry more often now that it's getting warmer.

The results were as follows:

Current (A): 8.593 amps
Cumulative electrical quantity (KWh): 0.005
Voltage (V): 239.6

Washing machine

I tried my Beko machine out with the Amazon device on the Quick30C setting. The results are as follows:

Current (A): 0.066 amps
Cumulative electrical quantity (KWh): 0.033
Voltage (V): 244.4

I then tried the washing machine on the 'classic' setting and there were some minor changes to the results, suggesting there's not much different between a common cycle and the more eco-friendly option:

Current (A): 0.067 amps
Cumulative electrical quantity (KWh): 0.033
Voltage (V): 243.3

Kettle

In a nation obsessed with tea, not much time goes by without the hiss of a kettle, but is this popular appliance using more energy than other items in the household? I tested it with the Amazon device:

Current (A): 12.49 amps
Cumulative electrical quantity (KWh): 0.048
Voltage (V): 242.8

Verdict

Out of the three devices I tested, the kettle had the highest current by far (12.49 amps) with the hairdryer coming in second (8.593 amps), and the fridge having the lowest current of 0.009 amps.

The hairdryer had a high current but lowest KWh. As the current was so high, I decided to test the appliance on the cold setting. The current reading then dropped significantly to 2.374A, making it one of the lower scores.

It was comforting to know that the appliance I couldn't live without - the fridge - was at the bottom of the table for energy usage, while my usage of a hairdryer (the highest offender) could easily be cut down or the energy usage can be almost quartered by simply switching to the cold setting. The energy monitor product is available on Amazon for £16.99.

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