Many appliances within your home draw electricity the entire time they are plugged in and not just when they are turned on. The P3 International P4400 Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor allows you to monitor the power consumption, which allows you to determine which appliances are worth keeping plugged in.

Just plug the power monitor in a wall socket, plug the device whose power consumption you want to measure into the monitor and a large LCD display on the power monitor counts consumption by the kilowatt-hour. This is measured the same way your power company measures power consumption for your entire house. The difference is that P3 P4400 Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor allows you to calculate the power consumption for individual devices in your home. You might be surprised to learn how much power some devices, like old television sets, are consuming even when you think they are turned off.

Find out how much that old refrigerator or freezer really costs in power consumption. With this device, you can now determine if it is time for a new refrigerator or if that old air conditioner is cost effective.

The U.S Department of Energy says that 20% of the cost of our electric bills comes from power consumed by items that are left plugged in when they are not in use. An electric usage monitor will help you determine which items are costing you the most to run an identify those that might be better off unplugged while not in use. The Kill A Watt calculates the voltage, line frequency, current and power factor.

Because it can monitor voltage and line frequency, the power monitor can verify that an outlet is working and can evaluate the quality of the electrical power provided by your power company.

The P3 International P4400 Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor is designed to work with 115 volt AC appliances. It displays volts, amps, and wattage within 0.2 percent accuracy and calculates electricity expenses by the day, week, month, or year.

The P3 P4400 Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor is one of our favorite best gadget gifts. The P4400 and other P3 electric usage monitor models can be found at Amazon.com, Northern Tool and finer hardware stores.