Using BlueLine Innovations’ PowerCost Monitor To Measure Our Home’s Electricity Consumption – 1

Last week I was contacted directly by Mr. Peter Porteous, CEO of Blue Line Innovations, Inc., the makers of the PowerCost Monitor™.

This device, among other things displayed on its packaging, “…displays your current and total electricity usage in dollars and cents as well as kilowatt hours…”.

So what?

Well, in an ‘what gets measured gets done’ tactic, if a home owner could receive constant, real time information on her / his home’s electricity consumption, including the actual amount of money it is costing them for the electricity they are using at any point in time, rather than simply the monthly or bi-monthly bill from their local electric utility, then the home owner might be more likely to take action to reduce their electricity consumption and save money.

Made sense to me.

And, based on the material Mr. Porteous provided, the PowerCost Monitor has been on the market in the United States and Canada for 5+ years, with 100,000 installations, is applicable to an estimated 90% of the electric meters used on homes in North America, is powered by 4 AA batteries which are said to last about a year, and helps home owners achieve electricity reductions of between 6 and 18% in households using the device.

Now, Mr. Porteous offered us a unit to try in our own home because of all the articles we have written on energy savings for the home. So, based on this information we said, yes.

For an energy conservation device such as this to be useful to the average homeowner, it has to be very easy to install and use; at least it does for this homeowner.

The instructions were very detailed and easy to follow, including installation of the Sensor Unit based on the different types of electric meters found in homes.

First, I installed two of the 4 AA batteries provided in the box in the Display Unit which stays inside the house, per the picture below.

Then, I installed the other 2 AA batteries in the Sensor Unit which goes outside on your electric meter, again per the picture below. (sorry that the camera was just a little out of focus )

The instructions then called for me to setup my utility’s electricity billing type and amount. This will allow the Display Unit to show me precisely, based on what my electric utility charges me, the amount of money it is costing me for electricity consumed in my home (vs based on some average rate for North America). This was pretty easy as well.

I have to comment Blue Line Innovations in having very detailed, clear, and easy to follow instructions. As a professional educator myself, I deal with training and instruction materials on a daily basis and for product instructions, those for the PowerCost Monitor™ were very good.

To continue to the installation of the Sensor Unit on our outside electric meter, simply select this link to Part 2.

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