Onzo home electricity monitoring kit

John Chan | Apr 15, 2009

The Onzo on a refrigerator.
(Credit: Onzo)

Monitoring energy use seems to be catching on in popularity these days, given the trend of conserving electricity to benefit the environment. We recently had a hands-on with the Wattson wireless power monitor. Now, another promising product, the Onzo smart energy kit, has surfaced.

Like the Wattson, the Onzo, a Red Dot Design Award winner, consists of two portions; a sensor and a display. The sensor connects to your mains to detect your energy usage and this is wirelessly sent to the display. Unlike the Wattson though, the display gives more information in one glance. Besides showing the number of watts you are using at one point in time, the Onzo also tells you how much energy has been consumed that day versus what your target is--great for making sure you don't go over. There's a Web site where you can upload your data to track usage over time; the Wattson uses a desktop software.

Aesthetically, the Onzo looks like it will fit in to most homes. It's small enough to be unobtrusive and, from the company's photos, can be pinned onto a cork board or magnetically fixed to a refrigerator door. This UK product is expected to be available by mid-year. Onzo currently does not have plans to release it in Asia but it is planning to do so in Australia and New Zealand. For now, check out these other photos of the monitoring device.