Power Meter

This plug-in monitor is built for tracking individual appliance usage—ideal for spotting energy hogs like heaters, kettles, or gaming setups. You plug it into the wall, then plug your device into the monitor. It shows real-time power draw, total energy used (kWh), and even cost estimates if you input your tariff. The LCD backlight makes it easy to read in low light, and the 180° screen tilt helps visibility from different angles. It stores usage data even after unplugging, which is handy for multi-day tracking. The overload alert kicks in if a device exceeds safe limits—solid for safety. ✅ Pros Accurate readings—tracks watts, amps, volts, and kWh Backlit display—easy to read in dim areas Cost tracking—input your tariff for £ estimates Memory retention—keeps data after unplugging Overload warning—adds safety for high-draw gear 2-pack value—monitor multiple devices at once ⚠️ Cons No app or smart features—manual tracking only Not suitable for hardwired appliances—plug-in only Limited to 13A devices—not for heavy-duty site gear No export function—can’t log data externally Slight learning curve—requires setup for cost tracking 🧍‍♂️ Personal Verdict Used this to monitor a heater and fridge—gave clear readings, helped spot energy spikes, and confirmed which gear was draining the most. For under £20, it’s a proper tool for cutting waste and keeping tabs on power-hungry kit.

This has worked exactly as expected with no issues. It’s easy to plug in, simple to read, and gives clear, useful information straight away. The display is bright and easy to see from different angles, which helps more than I expected. I’ve been using it to keep an eye on power usage and it’s done exactly that. No fuss, no problems and I'm happy with it.

I have only had the meter for a week or so. We bought it to replace a much older unit (different model and manufacturer) that had mysteriously become very inaccurate. Everything so far has been quite pleasingly simple. The massive advantage over the old device is that this meter will integrate the power reading over a period of time to give total energy consumed in kWh. The old meter would only give current power consumption. If the equipment under test has fluctuating demand (e.g. anything with a temperature controlled heater or pump), it is very difficult to get a good idea of energy usage without this feature. I have compared the voltage reading against an accurate digital voltmeter and get agreement with 0.5%. I cannot be sure the current range is as accurate, because I could only compare it with a current clamp working at the lower end of its range, but the readings were consistent so I have no reason to doubt the plug-in meter. I do find it strange that nowhere on the unit is there any mention of the manufacturer or model number, although there is a label giving the electrical specifications. The instructions are very brief, as mentioned elsewhere, but then they'll get lost anyway! It is obvious how to operate (except I have not used the cost function. I am perfectly capable of multiplying the kWh buy the charge rate using a calculator). The most important point to remember ( I will probably write it on the unit) is that you can clear the readings and restart the timer by holding don the "FUNCTION" and "UP" buttons for a few seconds. For us it is really useful that we can clear the readings without having to interrupt power to the equipment for which we were measuring the power consumption. I have not had any need to press the "RESET" button yet. The price was very keen and it's doing a really good job for us so far. I have no reason not to give it 5 stars

Great tool to help assess and record energy usage. I used this tool to verify what an electrical item requires at startup under load and average usage to see if my pure sine wave inverter can support it, in my truck.

Although there are many of these identical looking power meters, they are not all the same in operation. A check on YouTube will show that the internals of these are much the same, featuring 2 integrated circuits (ICs). One does the volts, amps and power measurements, and a second is a microcontroller, that also includes the user interface button behaviour via software (firmware). It is the user interface firmware, which is customised by the maker, and can results in major differences , resulting in some being better than others. Unlike some others, the user interface on this one is fairly logical, and consequently easy to remember. I had originally brought another similar looking type, which I had to send back because it had no working backlight. But found its user interface was totally different, and not very well thought out. In its set up procedure it even included setting a real time clock, which you don’t need. You actually just need duration, which this meter provides, together with the 7 display modes, which are simply cycled though by just pressing the Function key. Another very important aspect of this meter maker is the attention to safety. Whilst most of the others show and use a metal reset tool, that looks a bit like a paper clip, this maker supplies a plastic reset tool, shaped for the job. Being plastic is very important, because behind that recessed reset button is live mains potential. There is no isolation transformer, and its not a good idea to use a metal tool, especially as rubber buttons tend to loosen up after a while,and can have gaps. BTW always enter cost per kWh in pence. It will stay in pence, with the decimal point moving as the cost increases.

I bought this product to find out how much electricity a plug in electric radiator was using, and therefore how much it was costing to run. This energy meter is made in China. The instructions are pretty dire - you just have to feel your way, experiment, pressing different buttons until you have your price per kWh stored. My British Gas bill states the price per kWh is 17.345p. So when you program it in you will have to decide whether to put 0.17 or 0.18. Only 2 decimal points available. The backlit display comes on as soon as you plug the meter into a switched on socket. It doesn’t go off after ‘30 secs’ as stated in the instructions, it is more like 15-18 mins (I am timing it for this review, but it varies). There are 7 functions - allowing you to toggle through to find out eg how many minutes/hours the appliance has been on for, how many kWh used, what voltage is coming through, what the current is (no idea why I’d want to know that, but someone might), what is the minimum wattage being used, and the maximum wattage being used, finally just the cumulative time and the price/cost of the power used. BEWARE - if you turn the socket off or remove the meter from the socket (perhaps because bending down to read it is annoying), you will lose your data. It says that data is stored, but that is not what I’ve found. Also, you can only use an appliance with a maximum wattage of 1600 or is it 2900 or 3680kWh. I have seen conflicting information on the internet and in the instructions. There is an overload alarm apparently, but I’ve not seen that in action. All in all for the price it will give you some idea of how much juice your appliance is using. For me, I wanted to measure the cost of running the appliance over a period of a couple of weeks. I don’t think it’s going to be very reliable at doing that. And if I accidentally turn the socket off I will lose all my data. You could just measure the KWh used over a period of a minute (Or an hour), and then put the appliance on another timer that allowed it to be on for a certain amount of time, eg 5 hours per day for a radiator in my case. Once you know roughly how much it is costing per hour, you can calculate how much it cost over a week. The instructions for this product need a serious overhaul by a native English speaker to really make any sense. Also, amend the 30sec cut off for the LED display, which is wrong. The worst is the fact that you lose your data when the meter is disconnected from power (eg I might want to move the radiator from one room to another). That is my main bug bear with this item.

The energy seams to work ok. Easy to set up and use.

Item as described, works very well so you know exactly how many units you use and the cost for each appliance, if you want to know the cost of each unit you have to push the small reset button with the little white stick tool , very good price and seller was quick to send , I would highly recommend.

Meter appears to work well, but the build quality isn't great. Removing the thin clear film from the display seemed to almost pull the display out of the casing.