The Kill A Watt is an electricity usage monitor marketed by P3 International. It features a large LCD display and it enables cost forecasting.[1] It measures the energy used by individual appliances plugged into the meter, as opposed to in-home energy use displays, which display the energy used by an entire household. The name is a play on the word kilowatt.
Having a NEMA 5-15 plug and receptacle, and rated for 120 VAC, the Kill A Watt is sold for the North American market. The manufacturer is the Taiwanese company Prodigit,[1] which also makes models suited for 240 V with European Schuko, U.K. BS 1363 and Australian AS 3112 receptacles as well as a model compatible with 100 VAC for the Japanese market (2022-04,[2] marketed there as the Watt Checker [ワットチェッカー] Plus by other companies).
The device can give an indication of the standby power used by appliances.[3]
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There are several different models of Kill A Watt meters:
This is the original, most basic version, equivalent to the Prodigit 2000M.[4] From the time it is plugged in, it measures:
Most users would use mainly the Power and Kilowatt-hour settings, to measure how much power devices use, and how much total energy they use over time. The P4400's measurements are lost and the time and power consumption accumulators reset when power is removed.[5]
This is an enhanced version, equivalent to the Prodigit 2022[6] which includes a backup battery to preserve measurements when unpowered. It has the same capabilities as the P4400, and can be programmed with electricity cost information, which enables it to display the cost of the electricity consumed to date, and cost extrapolated per hour, day, week, month, or year.[7]
This model (also known as the Prodigit 2024[8]) is integrated into an eight-outlet surge protector. It does not display frequency or apparent power, protects against surges and EMI, has a configurable overcurrent shutdown limit, and also measures earth leakage current; one version acts as an earth leakage circuit breaker (ELCB).[9] It switches power on or off at an AC zero crossing, minimizing current surges and interference.[10]