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The Wattson - Voted Number 8 in Stuff Magazine's Top 10 Gadgets 2007
We like two things here at Ethicalsuperstore.com... well, we like loads of things really, but we like two things especially - saving the planet is one, and gadgets is the other. Imagine our delight then, when this little beauty landed on our doormat. It saves the planet, it looks cool, and (oh yes there's more!) it saves you money (up to 20% off your electricity bills in fact!), all at the same time. It's like an environmentally friendly swiss army knife, but without the thing for getting stuff out of horses hooves.
This ingenious little white box does all this because it displays the amount of electricity you are using at any given time, through a clever system of colours and numbers. Simply clip the wireless sensor onto your electricity meter (no electrician required!), and stick the Wattson somewhere you can see it (trust us, you'll want to see it), and watch as it tallies up the power you are using in real time, and tells you the associated cost. Wander round your house switching stuff off, and you'll see the power (and cost) savings in real time. Just don't blame us if you end up sitting in the dark for hours! Not that sitting in the dark is a bad thing, especially when the Wattson's ambient lighting kicks in - just remember that red means your energy usage is high, and blue means it's low. See, it's educational as well - is there anything this marvellous box can't do?
Wattson will measure up to 12.5kW for a single phase electricity supply (your average house) and up to 37.5kW for a three phase system. This makes Wattson suitable for homes and offices. If you're running a light industrial unit or have lots of things like cookers or commercial microwaves then you might want to contact us first.
Larger premises usually have 20-30mm cables that carry bigger supplies of electricity (manufacturing and baking are two typical examples) so this is something to check.
The Wattson can also be connected via USB to your computer (PC and Mac compatible) to download energy usage data, and you can also go online to see how your efforts are contributing to the global effort against climate change by fellow Wattson users.
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Ethicalsuperstore.com product code: 51605
Shipping Weight: 1kg
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About DIY Kyotoback to top »
DIY KYOTO value simple things, and seek to produce products of perfect convenience and utility, elegant in their conception and efficient in their operation.
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Verified product ownerIt's completely mesmeric too, watching the number jump as you turn things on and off, watching the colours fade from eco-friendly blue to killing-the-planet red. everybody asks about it as well.
Being wireless you can take it round the house with you too, which is very handy for hunting down "power vampires", those things that suck up electricity without you really thinking about them. Surprises for my included the tiny night light we have to stop you stubbing your toes in the dark in the bathroom and the kettle. Eating up a massive 1400 watts, the kettle is the most power-evil thing in the house so far. The good thing is that you don't use your kettle for more than a few minutes at a time, and good job too!
I've not experimented with Holmes yet, but it's only a matter of time.
This e-View is rated: Helpful (6) Passionate (0) My guess is you will drop 200-400W 'background usage' during the time your house is occupied, as you turn off lots of things (mainly lights) that are normally on. When i used the software to measure the improvement i dropped my total electricity usage by 25%.
This e-View is rated: Helpful (1) Passionate (0) Product Questions about the Wattson Home Energy Meterback to top »
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5 out of 5 people found this question and answer helpful
Tom asked this question on 24th Feb 2008
Q: Are both the CT's and the display unit powered by batteries. Can they be powered by mains? If not how long do the batteries last? If the batteries go flat do you lose your data.
A: The transmitter (the bit that clips to the cable by your electricity meter/fusebox) is powered by 4 AA batteries. When you buy your Wattson you'll find that DIY Kyoto have supplied you with four good quality AA batteries in the box.
The batteries are Duracell Procell, and these should last between 3 and 6 months. You can use rechargeable batteries in the transmitter, but they may only last for 2 -3 weeks because the power drainage characteristics mean that alkaline batteries are more suitable. We'll do some research to see if we can find some that will work.
The display unit has a built in battery pack which means that the Wattson can be carried around the house when you're hunting power vampires. If you're in numbers and colours mode (this uses about 5W of power), then the battery will last about 8 hours. When the battery starts getting low it will flick into low power mode (1W) so that you don't lose any data. You'll need to plug Wattson back in to the mains to charge up again.
Wattson comes with a charger in the box so that you can power it from the mains. Here are all the bits that come in the box:
If you're using Wattson in night mode (the display is switched off) then you may get up to 3 months out of the internal battery.
Even if you leave Wattson plugged in 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in full numbers and colours mode (5 Watts) then it shouldn't cost more than £8 per year in additional electricity usage (at £0.13 per kWh).
My Wattson is by the front door, so that when I leave the house in the morning, I can just press the mode button on the top of the unit, and switch it into night mode when there is no one in.
Wattson uses EEPROM memory to store its data which means that it should be safe if the unit loses power completely. I'm just checking with the manufacturer now, so we should have a definitive answer for you soon.
I hope this answers your questions! :)
4 out of 4 people found this question and answer helpful
Karl asked this question on 24th Feb 2008
Q: Mow many data points can the device store? John said "up to 4 weeks", but is that one point per day, per hour, minute, second or per millisecond?
A: Wattson has a 32Kb non-volatile EEPROM internal memory, which stores data at five-minute intervals. This means means 288 values for every 24-hour period. Every five minute value has a cost (pence/cents, etc) assigned to it, which is stored at the time of readings collections. So historically recorded
readings and costs are not affected by current rates.
You have to connect Wattson up to your computer to download the information. You'll need the holmes software to do this, and you can download it for free. Make sure you do a monthly download, or Wattson starts overwriting the oldest data first. You might lose some information if you forget. Wattson has a mini USB connector, and comes supplied with a USB lead in the box to enable you to hook it up to your computer.
Wattson is USB 1.0 and 2.0 compatible, and comes with a USB-A to USB mini-A cable.
3 out of 4 people found this question and answer helpful
Tom asked this question on 29th Jan 2008
Q: How many days of data can the device store?
A: Wattson can store up to 4 weeks of energy-use history which can be uploaded to your computer via the USB lead.
Easy-to-use software (holmes) is available for your PC/Mac which will allow you to look at the history of your electricity use over a period of days, weeks or months. John
