AlertMe energy management systems: Take the power back

Ever wonder how much you’re spent on using your kettle today? Or how about how many kilowatts you’re going over your daily average by? Well now you can find out. In a set-up reminiscent of educational books of 70s and their visions on what houses of the future might be like, AlertMe have launched a range of products designed to help you monitor your energy use.

Set-up is simple. Attach a clip to a cable on your electricity meter – which reads the electronic current – and wait whilst the wireless AlertMe hub picks up the signals. Let your wireless Internet router pick up the signal from the hub and away you go – you’ve now got a fully functioning online dashboard on your computer where you can monitor your energy usage, compare your output to the rest of the UK and feel bad about yourself when you realise your heating is costing 4 pence more than it did yesterday.

The online dashboard is a breeze to use, with a clean design and a plethora of cutesy graphics and graphs that will help ease in your new eco-warrior status.

There’s also iPhone compatibility, letting you check up usage when you’re away from the computer, and a link-up with Google PowerMeter, meaning you can also see your stats on your iGoogle page.

Indulge in the more fanciful features of this product however and you’ll probably end up spending all the pennies you’ve saved from cutting back on the bills. The most intriguing feature – monitoring and controlling appliances remotely – involves buying an AlertMe Smart Plug (£25), which requires batteries too. There’s also a £1.99 monthly subscription fee to use the service.

Saying that, the novelty of turning your stereo in the living room on and off from your bedroom is worthy of the price alone – but you might have to go a week without heating to justify buying the pricey add-ons.

The AlertMe Home Energy Management System starter kit is priced at £29.99 or £49.99 with an in-home display.