Bikes are probably, nowadays, the most efficient transportation method in highly populated cities. You can skip traffic jams as soon as you glimpse them, you can tie the bike to a fence and go have a coffee and the list could continue. Speaking of traffic, I wonder how many of you take speed into account. You know those little gizmos that you mount on your handlebars and a sensor on the wheel to monitor your speed by counting the rotations per minute? Well, that is exactly how the Blue Line PowerCost Monitor and Energy Meter II informs you in real time just how much electricity your household is consuming.

You only have to clamp the sensor to your energy meter and it will transmit information to the portable, wireless receiver that shows your current current usage (not a typo there) on a large LCD screen. There are many electricity rates that can be set-up for extreme accuracy, included with single rates, tiered rates and, of course, time-based rates. What the sensor does is to measure the speed of the wheel, while the display unit takes care of converting that information into energy and cumulative dollars and cents, as well as kilowatt hours.

It seems that third-party research has revealed the fact that monitoring the energy costs can get users notice of when to start cutting back on energy use and save money, somewhat between 6% and 18%. Blue Line's PowerCost Monitor packs smart technology that calculates users' home's electricity use and displays the information in a way that everyone can understand, namely in dollars and cents.

The funny thing is that the PowerCost Monitor requires batteries for operation, about four of them, AA in size, that are included in the package (mind changing them). For the $99.31 price tag, you also get rubber shims, clear alignment template and the owner's manual, besides the Display Unit and Sensor Unit with clamping strap.


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