[The wireless Wattson device, which costs between $299 and $329, monitors the amount of electricity that flows into the home. -- PHOTO: GREEN KONCEPTS]
By Sherwin Loh
TO SAVE money on electricity bills, one has to spend some money first. This was the lesson sales and marketing director Ben Tan learned, when he first bought the Wattson device, which monitors electricity usage in the house.
Before the device came into play, the father of two had no idea which appliance used the most energy in his condominium apartment.
'My wife thought it was the 40-inch TV or the game console,' recalls the gaming enthusiast.
As it turns out, the most power-hungry contraptions were their two 10-litre water heaters, which, according to the Wattson, used 3,400 watts of power annually.
The two-piece Wattson device, priced between $299 and $329, is a wireless gadget that monitors the amount of electricity that flows into the home. The sensor clip is connected to the home's electrical cables that runs to the fuse box. Whenever an electronic item is turned on, the sensor sends the readings to the receiver, which detects the increase in energy output.
If all appliances in the home, including the refrigerator and alarm clocks, are turned off, the receiver would read 0.
By turning on a device one at a time, the receiver displays the annual energy consumption of the device and this helps home owners identify the ones that draw the most energy.
'We were leaving the water heater on the whole day and now, we turn them on only when we need them,' says Ben.
The end result? A more conscious effort by his family to conserve energy and the family has not had their bill cross the $500 mark in recent months.
Previously, their monthly average hovered at the $550 region.
'There was a significant reduction. It made us understand what consumed power and also made us mindful of what appliances we left on.'
The fact that the Wattson displayed the readings in large red-coloured readouts also spurred his children on, who started turning appliances on and off, to see which ones drew more power.
The Wattson is similar to the ETrack device, jointly launched by the National Environment Agency (NEA) and local electrical equipment developer Bridex Harwal last year and on trial in some households here.
While the NEA says it is too premature to provide statistics on how the devices have helped families cut down on their energy bills, anecdotal evidence suggests that the devices do help.
'Families were surprised at how much energy they were using and began investigating what was adding up the watts. They began to understand their household energy consumption and took the appropriate steps to reduce energy usage,' says Kenneth Lee of Green Koncepts, who brought in the Wattson.
He is now working with companies, which are using the device to monitor consumption patterns during and after office hours, and taking steps to engage employees to turn office equipment off.
Even without spending money, there are some tips from the NEA on trimming the power bill. For example, laptops consume less power than desktops and setting your computer to screensaver mode does not save energy if the screen saver is graphic-intensive.
Cover liquids and wrap foods stored in the refrigerator as uncovered foods release moisture and make the compressor work harder.
For more energy-saving tips, visit www.e2singapore.gov.sg/energy-saving-tips.html.
Easy does it
AFTER setting up the device, which was a breeze, I started making notes on which items caused the numbers to jump.
Basically, items like the water heater, iron and air conditioner are the biggest culprits.
The Wattson comes with a software that charts daily consumption patterns by the hour, for those not keen on constant surveillance. Once plugged into the computer, the software will upload the day's readings and lets you know how much power was used throughout the day.
Theoretically, once you have an average level of energy consumption to work from, you can then identify the days where there happens to be fluctuations and probe into the cause.
