Power meter reactions and usage

In the recent holidays we were tasked with recording our daily power usage.
To be quite honest I found the device and the recording to be a nightmare. The device I was using was a cheapo from the warehouse, the "Elto Electrical Power Meter" and its design was definitely reflected in its pricing.
The device was so difficult to use that of the whole holiday period I only got 3 reliable readings.
The device told me the readings in cents
The devices I managed to get readings for were
My Computer
117.2cents over 24 hours
The Household Dehumidifier
138cents over 24 hours
An Oil Fin Heater
972.38 cents over 24 hrs


My reactions


My Computer

The power meter was quite hard to understand at first but after that I found it interesting to see how much I was costing my parents by leaving my computer on for 24 hours.

The Household Dehumidifier

I checked up on it every now and then. I wasn’t really interested in seeing how much the dehumidifier was using. I was also very annoyed at the interface as the device did not do as I programmed it to and instead of starting recording at 1 it started at 11 the next day and so when I went to check it, it had only been recording for 3 hours. I had to wait another day. It is something to think about in the upcoming project. Also interesting to note that it is using more power than my computer.

An Oil Fin Heater

Every time I use this device I see the real need for a much better designed interface. When the machine decides to, it does the job. But when it doesn’t work it can be very frustrating.

Anyway, after this terrible experience of metering I saw the great need for something low cost, efficient, and incredibly easy to navigate and use. This will form the bases of my ideas for this second project.