Best Home Energy Monitors

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Choose the best energy monitor for your home

Smart monitoring devices are popular tools for managing energy consumption at home. Higher electricity costs and environmental issues, particularly energy waste and climate change, have contributed to their growth.

With an energy monitoring system, engaged consumers have the power to make accurate decisions on their energy usage. Knowing exactly how much electricity you use and where that usage comes from can help you optimize your energy usage. If you have a residential solar system, an energy monitor can help track your generation and consumption.

Thanks to increased competition, savvy shoppers have a variety of monitoring options to choose from. Before you buy, let’s learn more about energy monitoring systems to understand what they are, how they work, what features matter most for you, and the best options for an energy monitor in 2023.

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What are the benefits of using an energy monitoring system?

Consumers are paying more for electricity in America because of increased demand and higher natural gas prices (since natural gas is required for power generation). According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, retail electricity prices in 2022 increased significantly more than in recent years, only outpaced by 2008 figures.

This is where a home energy monitor can come in handy. With a monitor, you can collect 24/7 data on your energy use data and receive an analysis of the number of kilowatts used and dollar amounts related to usage. With some energy monitoring systems, you can review historical data on your home energy use, which can create huge cost savings.

A quality energy monitoring system will also:

• Detect inefficient appliances and electronic devices
• Identify energy waste and hot spots for excessive energy consumption
• Display usage patterns by the day, week, and season
• Help you lower your energy use, carbon footprint, and energy costs
• Provide a cost estimate for future consumption

The best energy monitoring systems for 2023

• Gen 2 Vue: Whole Home Energy Monitor
• Sense Energy Monitor
• Neurio
• Smappee
• Eyedro

Gen 2 Vue: Whole Home Energy Monitor

Emporia’s Gen 2 Vue: Whole Home Energy Monitor gives residential homeowners a total look at their power consumption. A Vue monitor and 16 sensors attach to the circuit panel in your home. The sensors also connect to the appliances in your home. The system comes with DIY instructions, though the manufacturer recommends professional installation by a licensed electrician.

When you use discount code “SAVEONENERGY,” you’ll save 5% on your purchase of Emporia products.

What we like:

Vue transmits energy use notifications 24/7 through a Wi-Fi antenna to your mobile phone or web app. Consumers with solar panels can use the monitor to track solar net metering data. This data is the amount of excess solar power you have generated that is headed to the grid vs. how much energy your home consumes.

What to consider:

Vue collects and stores data on the cloud, not your device, making it sometimes difficult to retrieve data without Internet access.

Sense Energy Monitor

Sense also provides information in real time on the energy use patterns in your home. Alerts from Sense detail the state of critical devices, such as the sump pump. Sense also supports time-of-use (TOU) electricity rate plans where rates change based on usage times. With a TOU plan, electricity costs are higher for certain hours each day and cheaper at other times.

The Sense monitor alerts users in TOU service areas when electricity rates change during the day as an aid to help consumers save money. Sense recommends a licensed electrician install the device.

What we like:

The standout feature of the Sense monitor is that it supports TOU rate plans. You can also customize the device’s notifications for critical-use issues.

What to consider:

It can take more time than some monitors to detect devices. It can also confuse high-wattage devices, for example, the oven and clothes dryers.

Neurio

Neurio is another smart monitor that provides real-time data about energy consumption for your entire home and individual appliances. Neurio aims to cut your home energy costs by up to 20%. It also alerts you if you are close to exceeding your energy budget and will notify you about your home’s energy use while you are away. The system is easy and quick to install. But Neurio recommends hiring a licensed electrician for installation if you have no experience working with the electrical panel.

What we like:

Neurio boasts a highly accurate reading of your entire home’s energy use with a 1% margin of error. Unlike some other monitors, it allows you to compare your home’s energy use to your neighbors.

What to consider:

Sometimes, the Neurio monitor can mistake devices with the same wattage.

Smappee

The Smappee monitor reports on the energy use and cost of each appliance in your home, including your electric vehicle, solar panels, water, and gas. Smappee promises up to 30% savings on energy costs. As with other monitoring devices, it’s recommended that a licensed electrician install the Smappee monitor.

What we like:

In addition to monitoring your appliances, Smappee can monitor energy generation from solar panels.

What to consider:

The monitor sometimes confuses appliances with similar energy uses. It also may not automatically recognize an appliance.

Eyedro

The Eyedro monitor can be customized to display energy use in several views, such as watts, dollars, and cents. It offers several energy monitoring systems, two of which can monitor your home’s solar generation. Non-solar options are less expensive. Overall, the monitor provides reliable and accurate data about your electrical usage.

What we like:

The Eyedro monitor has an interface that is user-friendly and easy to install. It also relays solar panel performance and net metering.

What to consider:

The monitor’s software isn’t always user-friendly.

How does a home energy monitor work?

An energy monitor involves a relatively simple setup. The monitor is connected to your electric meter and collects data about energy use in your home, including waste, inefficiencies, and consumption. A good energy monitor can also measure energy usage and performance for every home appliance by accessing their circuits.

Some energy monitors track exactly how much energy is consumed by appliances and electronic devices in your home, even if those machines are switched off. They also provide data on costs for operation each month. The software used for energy monitoring analyzes all these numbers and creates a user-friendly report that goes straight to your mobile phone and computer. With some monitoring systems, that data is available via Wifi in real time.

There are limitations for most monitoring systems: They only provide home electricity use in kilowatt hours (kWh) and don’t list gas use. Smappee and a few other monitors also analyze your home’s gas consumption data.

What to look for in a home energy monitoring system?

The right monitoring system for you is dependent on what you’re looking for. The monitoring quality and price are influential factors for most customers. When you shop for an energy monitor, remember to look for these features:

• Real-time monitoring is the most useful tool for understanding energy usage and making beneficial improvements. It gives you an opportunity to detect energy waste and weaknesses in your home’s energy efficiency patterns.
• Historical data will help create an understanding of trends and energy use, so you can visualize areas for improvement.
• Personalized and user-friendly reporting gives you the tools to read and understand basic home energy use statistics while filtering away unneeded data.
• Easy installation takes all the complications away from the process of installing a monitoring system. Some devices can be installed and start transmitting data in just minutes. The help of a skilled electrician is needed to install some energy monitors, which many homeowners choose to ensure safety.