SURAIELEC Watt Meter, Plug-in Socket Power Meter, Auto Cost Calculator, Backlit Large Display, Overload Protection, Kilowatt Wattage Voltage AMP Tester, Electricity Usage Electrical Energy Monitor

I needed something to tell me how much electricity I was using in my place. It’s safe, and small and reliable to read the number. I purchased it and I’m glad I did. It was very helpful for me to understand how much juice I was burning durning the day. Do your math and it will give you an answer.Always, unplug the items when you not using them it will save you money on your bill.

Far better than a KILL A WATTPro's:+ Illumiated display+ Retains results after unplugging+ Covers only one outlet+ Computes cost as well as power usage+ Far less expensive than a KILL A WATTCon's:+ The reset requires using a paper clip or some other sharp toolGet this meter. You won't regret it.

Overall I like the device. When plugged in, the display lights with any button press and remains lit for a while. I like that it shows the maximum watt draw. I wanted to know exactly that so that I could properly size an inverter to run a fridge and freezer on batteries during power outages. Each display has the cumulative time at the top. The "manual" states that this is the amount of time that the meter is connected to the power source. That is not correct, at least not on mine. It rather shows the amount of time that power is being drawn. So if this is connected to a cooler that runs intermittently, it displays the amount of time that the cooler is drawing power, not the amount of time that the meter is plugged into the outlet. So, you can't know from the displays what the overall average power use is. You can only calculate the average power consumption while the cooler is actually running, which only occurs when the compressor is on. To know the average, I have to use a different KAW meter that keeps track of total watts consumed and total time the METER is plugged in. Other than that, it works well, but it's not quite as useful as it could be. So, it's a little bit of a letdown. But it does show the maximum power draw that occurred while in use, which my other meter doesn't show. The time also shows the total amount of time that power is being draw, which my other meter also doesn't show. It would be nice if it showed both how long the meter was plugged in AND how long a powered device was actually drawing power. Then it would be just about perfect.Setting the cost is slightly tricky. In the display with only the time and cost showing (no middle field), press the "cost" button for a few seconds. You are now incost entry mode, but you must press the "function" button so that the first digit starts blinking, and then the "up" or "down" key to change the value of that digit. Then press the "function" key again for the next digit and repeat for further digits. When set, press the "cost" button to exit the cost entry mode. You are now set. It seems that the first two digits should be for whole cents and the digits to the right of the decimal for fractional cents, so it is not a dollars and cents display. If your electricity rate is 33.14 cents per kWh (like if you live in California where they have cheap renewable power), the display, once set, will read 33.14, and if your electricity costs 6.04 cents per kWh (like where I live) then the display in setup mode will read 06.04. The actual total cost of electricity consumed will be in the mode 1 screen where time, total watts and cost are displayed.

Sure it sat unused for most of the two years but it kinda counts.Pros:Good PriceAppears to be accurateGood featuresGood functionalityHasn't started a house fireConsA few more decimal points in kWh would be nice. 99% of applications and users will never need/want to go beyond a thousandth of a kWh (aka a watt) but it would be nice regardless.Exact wattage range needs to be more clear. To me saying its wattage range is 0.0-3680w means that it can track a .5w nightlight's power draw. It cannot. Most users will not need that but if you do or you want to know consider a different meter.

Nice Watt meter for the price.It functions very well, small in size, Very well built.

Does what it's supposed to.

It's functional, and tells you what you need. For the price I am happy with it. It's a lot cheaper than the other name-brand option. However, this thing does have some design flaws which are annoying and can give you bad data.Button design flaw: There's no button to reset the stored min/max wattage reading, besides the full reset button. This is annoying because the full reset is engraved and you need a tool to push it (can't use your finger). Also, using the full reset will reset your price per kWh setting. I'm frustrated that this product was designed with BOTH an "up" and "down" button, which don't seem to do anything except light the LED backlight and help you set the electricity price. Since the price is set per digit, why couldn't they just have had one "set" button (to increment up) and another "zero lo/hi" button?Data accuracy issue with "max wattage" reading: Based on my observation, the electricity monitoring goes into a sort of "sleep" state when the power consumption is 0. The count-up timer will stop when this happens. There is a major issue here, which is it seems to take a few seconds to detect once power has started flowing again. When using the "current wattage" mode, you can still see updated (if laggy) wattage numbers, but THE MAX WATTAGE READING WILL DROP A FEW SECONDS OF DATA. This means that if you have something using 0 watts for a while, then 500 watts for a couple seconds, then 100 watts. you will see those numbers in "current wattage", but in "max wattage" the device will still tell you 100W. This is really a pain when testing something like a refrigerator, which has a power usage pattern like I described above, but I can't see the ACTUAL max wattage unless I'm staring at this thing in "current wattage" mode when the fridge turns on.