Saving energy is elementary with Wattson

Posted on 4th June 2008 at 20:48 Tagged under Electronics, Gifts & Gadgets and Home & Garden

Even though it looks like a plastic bridge over a purple river of light, the Wattson does a lot more than just look pretty. Wattson allows you to monitor how much energy your home is using, presents it to you in fancy charts and graphs on your computer, and suggests ways to cut your usage. So whether you're a hardcore environmentalist looking to save the planet or simply a savvy consumer looking to save some money on your electricity bills, the Wattson could be the invention you've been looking for.

Developed by the clever people at DIY Kyoto, the Wattson comes in two parts. The first is the main box which looks pretty, and wouldn't look out of place in the most stylish of homes. The second is the sensor clip and transmitter. Even though Wattson allows you to measure the energy usage of your whole house, you won't have to rewire the mains system to be able to use it. The sensor clip simply clips like a peg around one of the cables running into your electricity meter, and the transmitter wirelessly sends this information about the electricity you're using to the main box, which can be positioned anywhere in your home. It's all perfectly safe, and can be done by anyone with half a brain at home without having to call out an electrician.

Wattson relays the information it receives in many ways. When the lights glow blue, you're using less energy than usual, and the planet is happy. When they're purple, you're using about the same amount of energy as usual. And when they're red, you'll have Greenpeace knocking on your door telling you to turn off the plasma TV. If you prefer to work with numbers, Wattson can even tell you how many Watts your home is gobbling up at any moment, and how much it's costing you in the Queen's pounds and pence. If you connect your Wattson up to your PC or Mac, the free holmes software can produce plenty of nifty graphs and charts, showing you how to reduce your energy usage, and even connecting you up to other eco-nuts over the internet to share energy saving tips and tricks. The video below shows some of these nuts turning lights on and off to show you exactly how the Wattson works (warning, watching for longer than about half a minute may cause drowsiness), and we can assure you you'll be doing the same thing as soon as you get your mitts on one.

The Wattson is simple, portable, stylish, and the creators claim it'll help you save around 5%-20% of your electricity bill. It's environmentally friendly, quick and easy to install, and only uses four watts, costing about £4 a year to run. Do you need one? Probably not. Do you want one? That's for you to decide. Will it help you save money on your electricity bills, whilst looking snazzy at the same time? Almost definitely.