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John July 23, 2011 at 4:16 am

BUYER BEWARE – CHECK WITH YOUR UTILITY COMPANY BEFORE BUYING! We had this installed on our meter for about 6 months (Dec 2009 – May 2010), before our utility rep took the remote sensor off our meter while paying a visit to read the meter, and left it hanging from our front door with a note saying that JCP&L (Jersey Central Power & Light, part of First Energy Corp) doesn’t permit *any* devices to be attached to their meters. I called a supervisor at JCP&L and confirmed that this is their policy.

Otherwise, the unit worked very well while it was installed, other than occasionally losing signal (could usually be fixed by experimenting with placement of the receiver/display unit). Changes in power usage (e.g. from turning on/off lights, appliances, etc.) are reflected within a few seconds. I’d give it 5 stars if it could optionally be mounted somehow at the breaker box rather than *on* the meter. I guess there must be someone out there using a similar looking device to unfairly interfere with their meter’s readings, ruining it for the rest of us…

Minor nitpick: unit only reads in 100-watt (0.1 kilowatt) increments, so it could be more precise… but understandable at this price point.

Eckman July 23, 2011 at 3:20 pm

Black and Deckers Powercost Monitor..

So far im a fan of Black and Decker..quality products with great ratings..

I bought two of these, one for my house and one for my fathers.. Mine works great.
My fathers hooked it up and continues to have “ERROR” displayed on the lcd.. It has detected the remote outside but does not display the kwh usage.. I’ve used this to determine overall electricity consumption in the house. It works pretty well and accurate.. I tracked my usage from the meter and compared within a month and shows right to the kwh.

It has helpful instruction on how to mount and install. The price for kwh is a bit confusing but I got it as close as I could with my electricity provider.

In general with electronics..not every product will come out working perfect and Ive had a great ratio of things working so far when I purchased them so I’m not gripping to much about the ERROR that occured on the one. If you want to know how much you are using at a time overall for the whole house during your evening.. this is for you.

Altho one thing I would love to see in the future!
It would have got 5 stars if it had a data logging function and logged into a memory the usage ..every hour..or every 10 mins..something like that..download it to a pc and look at your usage that way for a day or month.. in excel..

Oh well..cant have everything..if anybody has anything or products they know like that ..with a lower price..let me know!

Thanks hope this helps!

Nestor July 24, 2011 at 4:08 am

After seeing reviews, I was sceptical as to how well it would work. Now, 3 months later, I can safely say that it is ultra accurate. Last bill was $207.88 (Florida A/C usage and two tier billing) and this device stated it should be $207.64. Prior month it was off by $5, and the month before that off by $10. So it seems to adjust accuracy over time, even though it is reset each month.

You have a choice of displaying KW used or money, and I choose money. (press a button to switch at any time). 20 cents an hour when pool pump is on makes more sense to me than 1.43kw. Makes it so anyone can see and understand what is being displayed about usage. It shows normal minimum usage with TV and A/C off at around 4 cents an hour, so you easily see a good base starting point.

Prior to this I was using a Kill-a-Watt meter, and still use it at times for very small devices. The B&D power monitor can also measure small devices though. You just need to combine several of the small wattage devices to get an accurate reading. I will turn on three 100 watt lights, plus a couple low wattage ceiling fans, and depending on what is off or on, I can determine what each device uses. Accurate this way to around 40 watts.

Concerned about battery life, so installed Sanyo Eneloops, and originals are still going strong 3 months later. Wireless range is fine here, at about 40 feet and through 3 walls. Installation took about 10 minutes, mainly getting the optical output on meter lined up with sending unit. Temperature display is a great bonus, as it shows true outside temperature from the shaded side of our house, which is much better than Internet or Windows sidebar temperatures. I don’t care what the temp is 20 miles away, I want to know what it is here, and this shows it.

This device will cost you more money than you thought. After getting this, I have added 3 ceiling fans, a solar attic fan (ridge vent useless here, so sealed that up first, then went with 12/24vdc 16″ gable fan combined with 45watt solar kit from HF, with end results 15-20 degree drop in peak attic temps), repaired attic ducts, changed pool pump motor, added a Hot water heater timer, and turning up A/C 2 degrees. Based on readings from the B&D power monitor, all the above should pay for itself in less than a year.

Ishikawa July 24, 2011 at 3:22 pm

I HAD TO RETURN ITEM. IT WAS INCOMPATIBLE. I AM AWAITING A SALES TAX REFUND FROM AMAZON. THANK YOU