What will measuring my watt usage do?
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Become aware of my usage
Save electricity
Lower maintenance costs
Extend life of equipment
Save money $$$
Help maintain the earth for future generations to come!

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Use the worksheet to create a list of all the appliances/electronics room by room
Measure the usage of each appliance by using the KILL-A-WATT METER
Create a course of action for reduced energy consumption and waste

STEP 1-
Depending on what you want to measure create a worksheet or download one.
Are you concerned about watts or money?
Or BOTH!
Use the worksheets to create a list of all the appliances/electronics room by room, appliance by appliance-
Here are some samples

Download Electricity Audit Template
(an Excel file) from http://greenresourcehub.org/site/view/53

Room Device Watts used when
ON
Watts used when
OFF
Est. KWH
Monthly
(opt)
Power
Strip it
Unplug
It
Lose it
Line
Switch it
Wish
List it
Live with it
Download Electricity Audit Worksheet
(a pdf file) from http://www.rvccc.org/kill-a-watt.html

What’s a WATT METER?
A watt meter measures the electricity use of most electric home appliances and electronics. Some measure only the usage, some can calculate the costs associated with the usage. There are a few models on the market, currently we will be talking about the
P4400 Kill-a-Watt EZ meter. The meter can measure how many watts are being used when the appliance is ON or OFF. Appliances can often draw “vampire” watts while being plugged into the wall socket and not being actively used.

This diagram shows the basic functions of your meter.
Familiarize yourself with your meter.

P4400 Kill-a-Watt EZ will measure the usage as well as the cost associated with the usage. Look on your utility bill to figure your rate.
To the right is a typical local
UTILITY BILL. Some of you will be billed for Natural Gas as well as
Electricity.
The number you want to be concerned with is the sum of all your charges and surcharges. You may have to add up some of the charges to get your final cost per watt.
Here all the costs are added to get
$o.107 / kwh.
0.053
+0.048
= 0.101
+ 0.0604
= 0.107

Plug your KILL-A-WATT meter into a 120V wall socket near each appliance, then plug the appliance you want to measure into the socket on the meter
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(you may need an extension cord to do this, as it may be difficult to see the reading on the meter if your wall socket is inconveniently placed behind the appliance)

Follow these instructions for inputting the necessary information
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Press RESET till “rEST” appears. You will do this every time you want to read new information. In any mode, you can hold the RESET to clear previous appliances, times, rates, etc.
Press SET till “Rate” appears. The rate should be flashing. Press UP or
DOWN to set your rate. ( From your utility bill find your rate- if your rate was 10.7 cents per KWH, then set the rate to $0.107 or call your utility company to get the rate . If you have variable rates, you will have to meter for all rates and hours.)
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Press SET again till SAVE appears on the display.
To see actual cost of power consumed or projected cost, press MENU button until “COST” is displayed. Then press UP or DOWN to set by
HOUR, DAY, WEEK, MONTH, YEAR, TOTAL.
Plan to leave the meter on the appliance over a period of time & calculate as needed..

HOW LONG SHOULD I LEAVE MY APPLIANCE PLUGGED INTO THE METER?
This depends on the usage. If it is on all the time you will get a pretty good idea soon.
If the appliance is on for 4 hours then turned off for 20, you need to let it run through the cycle several times in order to get an accurate reading. The consumed cost projection will be higher then will average out over the cycle of usage and non-usage.
WHAT IS BEING MEASURED?
Total consumed Power- Press MENU till KWH is displayed
Total Costs- Press MENU till Cost is displayed, push UP or DOWN to see by preference- hour, day, week, month, year, total
WHAT ELSE CAN THIS MEASURE?
If you press the MENU button, the other information options will show themselves-
RATE, KW, ELAPSED TIME, VOLT, COST.
When VOLT shows on the LCD display, you can push UP or DOWN to see
Volts (true RMS)
Current in AMPS (true RMS)
Watts in Active power Watts
VA in apparent power (VA=Vrms*Arms)
Frequency in Hz,
P.F. Power Factor (PF=Watts/Vrms*Arms),

STEP 3-
CREATE A COURSE OF ACTION to
REDUCE YOUR ENERGY CONSUMPTION
Review your worksheet or excel file after you have logged the information of every appliance.
Do you see how much electricity can be saved?
Do you see how much money can be saved?

CREATE A COURSE OF ACTION to
REDUCE YOUR ENERGY CONSUMPTION
Plug it into a power strip that you can easily turn off when you are not using them.
Useful for several appliances which work together like a computer, printer , scanner, external drive.
Or an entertainment center - TV, DVD player, cable box.
There are many models of Smart-Strips available which allow certain items to be turned on or off according to usage needs!

CREATE A COURSE OF ACTION to
REDUCE YOUR ENERGY CONSUMPTION
Unplug any thing that you only use occasionally

CREATE A COURSE OF ACTION to
REDUCE YOUR ENERGY CONSUMPTION
For a device you use occasionally but is difficult to unplug you can install a line switch. The “heavy duty “ switches are recommended, can be installed into the appliance cord, and cost about $3 – but make sure they are PROPERLY installed!

CREATE A COURSE OF ACTION to
REDUCE YOUR ENERGY CONSUMPTION
Such as an old appliance... figure out which ones are energy hogs and plan to replace it with an Energy Star model as your budget allows. Newer appliances are more efficient so they will save you $$! There may also be rebates and tax credits available ..

CREATE A COURSE OF ACTION to
REDUCE YOUR ENERGY CONSUMPTION
There are some things you just can’t turn off… clock radios, appliances with built in clocks necessary for proper operation, devices where cords /plugs are inaccessible, cordless phones, answering machines, etc.
Or put items on auto sleep mode!

CREATE A COURSE OF ACTION to
REDUCE YOUR ENERGY CONSUMPTION
Just do it! Get rid of something that you don’t really need ~ an extra old fridge or freezer with just a few items, a mug warmer, a lava lamp!

CREATE A COURSE OF ACTION to
REDUCE YOUR ENERGY CONSUMPTION
It looks like you won’t really be saving so much per year?
Imagine this -you have 20 students in your class, they each have a room full of appliances, multiply this by the whole school, every one has a family whose home has appliances, a village, a town, a county, a state, a nation…..
THE WORLD!
So, EVERY LITTLE BIT C O U N T S !

Some of the great information provided herewith can also be found at http://greenresourcehub.org/site/view/53 http://www.rvccc.org/kill-a-watt.html
You can also go to these YouTube sites for more info.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l_mo1jwh8Y http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8u06os1IqQ&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-EA3Zhgy9c&feature=related

The Kill-a-Watt EZ meters can be loaned through the TC3
Baker Learning Center / Library system by TC3 students, staff, and faculty.
The loan program allows you to keep the meter for up to 2 weeks to measure your personal watt usage. The meters can also be loaned for class projects or departmental usage.
Each Meter will come with directions to go to TC3 sustainability site for a link to this pdf.
This Kill-a-Watt Loan program was brought to you by
In Shik Lee, SUNY GREENS NY COORDINATOR and funded by TC3 INNOVATIONS GRANT 2010.

How can I use a Kill-a-Watt in my classroom?
Consider using these with your students
• to open their eyes to their own energy usage
• to calculate how much energy or money a class, a school, a city might use/save
• to show that appliances draw energy when not turned on
• to apply math skills in everyday functions
• to show how to set up Excel files to show various outcomes
• to show relationships between volts, hz, amps, watts, and $$
• to show that every little bit counts!
• Create games or contests to promote energy savings and awareness – set class goals, office goals, team goals
• Create a chart with various appliances to see relative usage or to compare efficiencies of various models