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Belkin Conserve Insight™ Energy Use Monitor
As mankind continues to rely on electrical
devices in our everyday lives, the more damage we do the planet. The carbon footprint of an average
Australian family is around 14 tonnes of greenhouse gases per year as
stated by the WWF Australia in their article "What causes global warming?".
It is also estimated that our carbon footprint is 25% more than what the Earth can sustain and if
companies and individuals don't address this issue soon, it is theorised that
by 2050, we will be using over 50% of the
biosphere's capacity of the planet which could be quite disastrous to
our future. (WWF Living Planet Report, Humanity's Ecological Footprint)
To compound this problem, all this additional use of electricity, especially
the "stand-by" mode of many devices not only increases our carbon footprint but
also the wasted money we give to electrical companies. Fortunately there
are a few solutions available to us.
As opposed to stripping naked and going
back to nature, mankind relies on electrical products on just about
everything and in
order to highlight the amount of energy we use and spend, Belkin have
created this innovative device called the Conserve Insight™ Energy Use Monitor which displays
some interesting facts about our electrical devices.
This device not only monitors the cost of
running it but also the amount of carbon dioxide levels produced by the
unit and best of all, you can get all this information from a glance.
Boasting a large LED screen, the unit has three buttons that displays
the CO2 impact on the environment, financial impact and finally watts
for energy consumption. It's quite impressive as it displays real-time
usage in watts and even monthly and yearly projected costs and CO2 usage
by just a press of a button.
With that said, this is the perfect device
to see how much money you are really spending and the impact these
devices are having on the environment. We tested our 50" Plasma TV and
according to the device, when the product is in standby mode, we are
spending $32 per year which is roughly around 99kgs of CO2. When
we tested this product on our entertainment system, the projected cost
per year was $86 which was quite alarming.
Apart from devices that use standby, this
device can even be used to monitor devices that are turned on and we
were quite surprised at the results, especially with some of kitchen
appliances.
Final Thoughts?
In conclusion, the Belkin Conserve Insight™
Energy Use Monitor is an amazing piece of technology that is actually
quite addictive at the start as you attempt to gain how much energy
products are using in both their native on mode and standby mode. With a recommended retail price of $49.95, the Belkin
Conserve Insight™ Energy Use Monitor is definitely the product to have
to observe your electrical usage and more specifically your costs and
the amount
of carbon dioxide produced.
Amazing!
Available at all good
retailers |
