There has been a huge rise in the use of home energy monitors lately.
Many homes now have one of these handy little gadgets that let you monitor the electricity you are using.
Energy monitors are one of the most useful tools a household can possess and yet in many cases, after a few days of playing with them, the novelty of identifying the different power usage from appliances wears off and they can get tossed in a draw and forgotten about.
But electricity monitors are more than just another toy or gadget, they can help you make real savings in your energy bills, cut down on waste and help the environment too.
Identifying the power usage of different appliance is only one aspect of an energy monitor but there is much more to them than that, and if used correctly they can slash your home electricity bills.
There are a wide range of electricity monitors on the market and they range in sophistication too.
Some allow you to monitor your home power usage remotely and online while even simple hand held devices will be able to monitor your hourly, daily and monthly electricity usage.
And after prolonged usage patterns soon emerge and areas of waste become identifiable, enabling you to turn off and save money.
Another great use for electricity monitors is to identify other methods of doing things.
Often, when people see just how much power appliances such as the tumble dryer use, it can encourage them to resort to other methods.
Using a clothes airer for instance will make dramatic savings.
Electricity monitors are also great at identifying those hidden, yet needless costs such as stand-by.
By leaving turning off all devices that are on standby you can see just how much you are spending by leaving on that little red light on the TV.
Some electricity metres even will show you in both power consumption and actual money cost the amount electricity you are using.
You can identify the most expensive gadgets to run, most costly days or hours and even work out how much your quarterly bill will be before it arrives.