Portable Energy Meter

Accurate and easy to use, these plug-in meters work on any standard 120-volt electric appliance. Use one to:

• Measure voltage, electricity cost and electric consumption.
• Find out the exact operating cost of various appliances, from refrigerators to lamps and computers.
• Identify the potential causes of high energy use.
• Predict your savings in reducing appliance use.
• Calculate the payback for replacing older equipment.
• Discover how much power some appliances draw even when switched "off;" i.e., "phantom power."

Borrow a portable energy meter at no cost from your local public library. MGE has donated many of these meters to area libraries. Usual checkout period is two to three weeks but varies with the host library. Because the meters are popular, you may want to reserve one ahead of time.

Find and/or reserve a meter online by searching on "Portable Energy Meter" in your library system's online catalog. In the South Central Library System, you can also click on "Watts Up?" or "Portable Energy Meter" at the bottom of Madison Public Library's electronic booklist, connecting with LINKcat.

For more information

Phantom Energy: Average Annual Energy Use [226 kB PDF]
Phantom Energy: Can You Identify the Users [143 kB PDF]
Standby Power [212 kB PDF]

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