Southern California Edison's Tool Lending Library Presents - How to use to kilowatt logger.

Hi I'm Chris from the Southern California Edison Tool Lending Library. In this video, I'm going to show you how to use the Kill A Watt EZ and the Kill A Watt Power Strip. Let's start with the EZ, well because it's EZ-er. Basically, what this little guy does is tell you how much energy any electrical device or appliance in your house is using . And it'll help you calculate how much it costs to run that appliance. Pretty cool! Let's check it out. OK. Let's try it out on my computer. I unplug the computer, and plug in the Kill A Watt EZ. Now, I plug the computer into the Kill A Watt. Turn on the computer, and that, my friends, is the basic setup. Truth in advertising. It is easy. OK. In order to use the Kill A Watt, you'll need to know the cost per kilowatt where you live, which you can find by looking at your latest bill. Once you have that information, hold down the RESET button for a few seconds until you see the "reset" signal. Then, hold down the SET key until the cost per kilowatt starts flashing. You can change the value using the UP or DOWN buttons. Then hit the SET button to save. Now let's find out how much this computer costs to run over a year. I hit the MENU and then DOWN until I see COST. Then I press the UP or DOWN buttons to see the cost projection for a year. Over a period of a year, this computer will cost fifteen dollars and twenty four cents, assuming I leave it on all the time. But, of course, I don't leave the computer on all the time. Some of the time, it's in sleep mode and I turn it off entirely at night. So like most devices or appliances in your house, it cycles through an on/off mode througout the day, that's why the best way to figure out how much energy a particular device uses is to leave the Kill A Watt plugged in for at least twenty four hours. Then you get a true picture of the energy usage over time. Now that brings us to the topic of vampires. I'm talking about vampire energy. That's the energy used even when a device is supposedly turned off. Take this computer... in sleep mode. As you can see, it's still drawing energy... and guess what, it's costing me money. This is also true of devices in your entertainment system. Anything that has internal clocks, digital circuitry or remote sensors, like your DVR, for instance. It's gonna draw energy even when it's off. And speaking of your entertainment system, the Kill A Watt Power Strip is a great way to find out how much energy your entertainment system is using, whether it's on or off. The Kill A Watt Power Strip is similar to the Kill A Watt EZ, except it allows you to plug in a number of devices at the same time. Let's check the vampire energy this entertainment system is using. The Kill A Watt Power Strip works a little bit different than the EZ model. It doesn't calculate the cost for you, but by pressing the WATT/PF key, I can see the current power consumption in watts when the entertainment system is supposedly turned off. So, the question is, what do you do with this information? Well, I might decide to turn off the power strip on this entertainment system and just shut it down completely during the night. You can even buy a smart power strip that does that for you automatically. And, of course, if you have an older appliance that's drawing a lot of energy, you might consider replacing it all together with a newer, more energy-efficient model. Check with Southern California Edison to see what kind of rebates they may be offering. And you might be surprised at how quickly you can pay off the cost of a new appliance just in energy savings alone. The Kill A Watt can help you figure that out. So check it out. It'll help you lower your energy usage and help you lower your electric bill. Borrow one for free from the Southern California Edison Tool Lending Library. OK. See you later. I'm going to go hunt down some vampires. �