P3 International Kill A Watt EZ P4460
By: Dan Durland
July 31, 2010
Introduction
Today I'm looking at the Kill A Watt EZ from P3 International, a user-friendly power meter that enables people to calculate the cost to use their home appliances. Founded in 1987, P3 International has a wide variety of products in Home Electronics, Outdoor Living, Weather and Security. P3 - Home
Description
The Kill A Watt EZ comes packaged in a tamper-proof, sealed, pre-formed plastic enclosure. The front of the packaging reveals the unit and its basic features while the back of the packaging reveals a brief description and the basic specifications.
Features
Specifications
Opening the packaging requires a pair of sissors or a sharp knife, once that is accomplished you have the unit itself and the users manual.
http://www.p3international.com/manuals/p4460_manual.pdf.
Test Setup
While the Kill A Watt EZ can be used on any Electronic Device operating on 120 vac, I'll be performing my evaluation using my Office Workstation with the following Specifications.
To perform my evaluation I'll plug the Kill A Watt EZ into an electrical outlet and plug my APC Back-UPS XS 800 into the Kill A Watt EZ. Next I'll press and hold the Reset key on the Kill A Watt EZ until "rESt" appears momentarily on the LCD screen. This deletes any previous measurements that may have been stored in the Kill A Watt EZ's memory. I can now turn on my computer and the Kill A Watt EZ will start monitoring the electrical usage. For Load Testing I'll be running 3DMark06 to simulate a Gaming Environment.
Results
I ran 3DMark06 a few times and then I did some basic office work to give the Kill A Watt EZ some time to collect a few hours worth of data. I then programmed in the cost of electricity per KWH which is $.095 or 9.5 cents in my area. To set the rate you press and hold the "SET" key until "Rate" is displayed and the current value is flashing. Adjust this value with the "UP" and "DOWN" keys until the value matches your price per KWH. To save this value press and hold the "SET" key until "SAVE" is displayed. This value will now be the default, even if you reset the unit this value will remain until you assign it a new value.
Basic Measurements
Press the "MENU" key until "Volt" is displayed in the LCD. Pressing the "UP" and "Down" keys will cycle you through the various values (Volts, Hz, VA, AMP, P.F., KWH, Watts). The Watt values shown are at idle and higher video loads.
Costs
To view the Cost data press the "MENU" key until "Cost" is displayed in the LCD. Then you can use the "UP" and "DOWN" keys to cycle thru the various time settings (Hour, Day, Week, Month or Year)
Final Thoughts / Rating
Pros
With it's simple user interface and low price ($20-$30 US) the Kill A Watt EZ is a handy device that could find a useful purpose in every home. I'm awarding the P3 International Kill A Watt EZ P4460 a 5 Star Rating
I would like to thank P3 International and Tech-Forums for allowing me to review this product
By: Dan Durland
July 31, 2010
Introduction
Today I'm looking at the Kill A Watt EZ from P3 International, a user-friendly power meter that enables people to calculate the cost to use their home appliances. Founded in 1987, P3 International has a wide variety of products in Home Electronics, Outdoor Living, Weather and Security. P3 - Home
Description
The Kill A Watt EZ comes packaged in a tamper-proof, sealed, pre-formed plastic enclosure. The front of the packaging reveals the unit and its basic features while the back of the packaging reveals a brief description and the basic specifications.
Features
• Project costs by Hour, Day, Week, Month or Year
• Shows the operating costs of your household appliances
• Accurate within 0.2%
• Large LCD display
• ETL Approved
• Displays ten critical units of measurements
• Shows the operating costs of your household appliances
• Accurate within 0.2%
• Large LCD display
• ETL Approved
• Displays ten critical units of measurements
Voltage (Volts)
Current (Amps)
Watts (Watt)
Kilowatt Hours (KWH)
Frequency (Hz)
Volt Amps (VA)
Power Factor (PF)
Elapsed Time
Rate
Cost
Current (Amps)
Watts (Watt)
Kilowatt Hours (KWH)
Frequency (Hz)
Volt Amps (VA)
Power Factor (PF)
Elapsed Time
Rate
Cost
• Model - P4460
• Operating Voltage - 115 VAC
• Max. Voltage - 125 VAC
• Max. Current - 15A
• Max. Power - 1875 VA
• Weight - 5 oz.
• Dimensions - 5-1/8"H x 2-1/2"W x 1-1/2"D
• Operating Voltage - 115 VAC
• Max. Voltage - 125 VAC
• Max. Current - 15A
• Max. Power - 1875 VA
• Weight - 5 oz.
• Dimensions - 5-1/8"H x 2-1/2"W x 1-1/2"D
Opening the packaging requires a pair of sissors or a sharp knife, once that is accomplished you have the unit itself and the users manual.
http://www.p3international.com/manuals/p4460_manual.pdf.
Test Setup
While the Kill A Watt EZ can be used on any Electronic Device operating on 120 vac, I'll be performing my evaluation using my Office Workstation with the following Specifications.
• Intel i7 920 @ 4.0 GHz
• EVGA X58 SLI LE E757
• 12 GB (6x2GB) DDR3 1600 MHz
• EVGA GTX 280
• Corsair 750 watt Power Supply
• Seagate SATA 250 GB Hard Drive
• Blu-ray and DVD Burner
• Generic 22" 1680 x 1050 Monitor
• (1) 140mm, (6) 120mm, (3) 100mm Case Fans
• APC Back-UPS XS 800
• Windows XP x64
• EVGA X58 SLI LE E757
• 12 GB (6x2GB) DDR3 1600 MHz
• EVGA GTX 280
• Corsair 750 watt Power Supply
• Seagate SATA 250 GB Hard Drive
• Blu-ray and DVD Burner
• Generic 22" 1680 x 1050 Monitor
• (1) 140mm, (6) 120mm, (3) 100mm Case Fans
• APC Back-UPS XS 800
• Windows XP x64
To perform my evaluation I'll plug the Kill A Watt EZ into an electrical outlet and plug my APC Back-UPS XS 800 into the Kill A Watt EZ. Next I'll press and hold the Reset key on the Kill A Watt EZ until "rESt" appears momentarily on the LCD screen. This deletes any previous measurements that may have been stored in the Kill A Watt EZ's memory. I can now turn on my computer and the Kill A Watt EZ will start monitoring the electrical usage. For Load Testing I'll be running 3DMark06 to simulate a Gaming Environment.
Results
I ran 3DMark06 a few times and then I did some basic office work to give the Kill A Watt EZ some time to collect a few hours worth of data. I then programmed in the cost of electricity per KWH which is $.095 or 9.5 cents in my area. To set the rate you press and hold the "SET" key until "Rate" is displayed and the current value is flashing. Adjust this value with the "UP" and "DOWN" keys until the value matches your price per KWH. To save this value press and hold the "SET" key until "SAVE" is displayed. This value will now be the default, even if you reset the unit this value will remain until you assign it a new value.
Basic Measurements
Press the "MENU" key until "Volt" is displayed in the LCD. Pressing the "UP" and "Down" keys will cycle you through the various values (Volts, Hz, VA, AMP, P.F., KWH, Watts). The Watt values shown are at idle and higher video loads.
Costs
To view the Cost data press the "MENU" key until "Cost" is displayed in the LCD. Then you can use the "UP" and "DOWN" keys to cycle thru the various time settings (Hour, Day, Week, Month or Year)
Final Thoughts / Rating
Pros
- Low Cost ($20-$30)
- Simple User Interface
- Large LCD Readout
- Works with any 120v Device
- Paper Manual
With it's simple user interface and low price ($20-$30 US) the Kill A Watt EZ is a handy device that could find a useful purpose in every home. I'm awarding the P3 International Kill A Watt EZ P4460 a 5 Star Rating
