Eco Eye Review

A product review of Eco-Eye Mini - a wireless electricity monitor

In our article Eco-Eye Energy Monitor (1) we introduced the latest realtime wireless electricity monitor under development. Now (mid-Feb 2008), Eco-Eye is now on sale here in the UK.

We trialled Eco-Eye Elite and Eco-Eye Mini (corporate version) for one month, and so what follows are the results of our extensive research and testing.
For background on related products have a look at our articles on the Owl (2) (Owl review (3)), Efergy (4) (Efergy review (5)), and Wattson (6) wireless electricity meters.

Installing Eco-Eye

As with all wireless electricity monitors a small electricity detecting device is clipped onto the mains supply cable where is enters the electricity meter*. This is in turn plugged into a battery powered transmitter which sends data to the battery powered wireless receiver which displays the electricity usage information on its screen.
* A meter box key is provided with Eco-Eye to allow easy instant access to outdoor electricity meters.

Initialising Eco-Eye for first time use is very simple. The voltage is preset to 240V (for UK use), so just the current time and the cost per kWh (unit) of electricity are all that remain to be set. (Check your most recent electricity bill to find out the amount you are paying per kWh).

30 channels (wireless transmitting frequencies) are available, however the default setting (CH-02) can be used as long as there are no other Eco-Eyes within 30 metres of yours. It is also possible to change the currency displayed from the default Ł symbol to Euro or $, and the voltage to 110, 115, 230, or 240V.

Eco-Eye Functions

One of the major benefits of Eco-Eye when compared to its competitor products is its simplicity of use. OWL and Efergy have quite busy screens showing lots of information. Eco-Eye on the other hand has a very clear and simple display which hides its depth of functions from the user except for when they are needed.

The display can be left in kW mode showing the current amount of power (to two decimal places - e.g. 1.23kW) being used in realtime. Alternatively, the cash cost of using that amount of power for one hour, one day, one week, one month, or one year can be displayed making it very easy to see how much money can be saved by turning off the lights in a room, or simply by switching off appliances is standby mode. Finally you can display the amount of carbon emissions (7) you would generate if you used the current amount of power for one month.

Eco-Eye Historical Data Memory

As with Efergy, Eco-Eye has history functions which enable you to look back at your electricity usage. Six sets of historical data are stored inside Eco-Eye and can be displayed quickly with just couple of button presses. They are as follows:

1) Total kWh of electricity used in each of the previous 32 hours.
2) Total cost of electricity used in each of the previous 32 hours.
3) Total cost of electricity used on each of the previous 32 days.
4) Total cost of electricity used in each of the previous 32 weeks.
5) Total cost of electricity used in each of the previous 32 months.
6) Total amount of carbon emissions generated by electricity consumption during the previous 32 months.

For example, below are shown the results (manually copied from my Eco-Eye Mini) for the total cost of the electricity I have used over each of the last five days: -01 = yesterday, -02 = the day before yesterday, and so on.

Accumulated Data

When first entering history mode, the 'history' icon flashes. This tells you that you are viewing Accumulated data. This shows how much electricity you have used so far during the current time period - e.g. if you were in cost per hour mode, Eco-Eye displays the total cost of electricity used so far during the current hour. When a new hour starts, that value is reset to 0, and the previous hour's total gets stored in history. Accumulated mode is available for all time periods (displaying total cost of electricity) and will also display accumulated hourly kWh usage and monthly carbon emissions.

You can also display the grand total electricity used since the device was last reset. This makes it easy to see how much electricity your house used while you were away on holiday for example (just reset that memory before departure) much as the trip odometer on a car can be used to display the distance you have travelled on a car journey.

Changing Batteries and Long Term Memory

When the display/receiver batteries need replacing, the stored history data are not lost - all that is lost are details of any consumption since midnight on the day the batteries were removed from the display/receiver. Therefore it is best to change batteries early in the morning to minimise the amount of data lost.

Eco-Eye Mini Special Features

One problem with Efergy and OWL is that they get through batteries quite quickly. This can be expensive and inconvenient, and also results in yet more batteries going into landfill. Eco-Eye has been programmed to reduce its battery consumption to the minimum possible.

Instead of the receiver being on constantly (or for long periods) to receive data, it has a very accurate internal clock which enables it to turn on the receiver for just a few milliseconds (thousands of a second) at the exact times it knows the transmitter will be transmitting data.

Eco-Eye and Eco Eye Mini

There will be two products in the initial range - the Eco-Eye Elite with a large display/receiver unit (170x80mm) and large screen, and the smaller Eco-Eye Mini identical in function but with a smaller display/receiver (approx 80x75mm). The transmitter and receivers are both powered by 2 AA batteries (4 Duracell AA batteries are provided), but can be powered with rechargeable batteries (8) or plug-in mains adapters (available at Ł4.99 each).

Connecting Eco-Eye to a Computer

Although the Eco-Eye unit itself does not have a USB connector to enable collected data to be downloaded, displayed, and analysed on a PC, a new product to be called Wi-eye is being developed which will work with the existing Eco-Eye transmitter sending data wireless directly to a PC. When the PC is switched off, the Wi-eye will continue to collect incoming data ready to upload it when the PC is switched back on.

This is an excellent approach which means that the Eco-Eye will remain simple and affordable for the majority of customers, but has the flexibility (with Wi-eye) to create a very powerful electricity usage monitoring and analysis system for those that want to pay extra for added features.

Overall Conclusions

Eco-Eye is an excellent product. It has the build quality of OWL (formerly known as Electrisave), more history functions than Efergy, and uses its batteries efficiently. It is also very easy to install, initialise, and use, and as explained below is well priced. With the possibility of integration with Wi-Eye, it will be able to transfer all collected data direclty to a computer in realtime - a feature which will be of great interest to many customers.

Jan 2009 Update - Note that since this review was published new improved versions of the OWL and Efergy wireless energy monitors have been released: OWL CM119 (9), and Efergy Elite (10).

Eco-Eye is designed and made here in the United Kingdom and uses 100% recycled (and recyleable) packaging.

Buying Eco-Eye in the UK

Eco Eye Elite is available for Ł49.99 in the UK from Ethical Superstore (11) - click here to buy Eco-Eye Elite (12) now.

Web Link References

(1) http://www.reuk.co.uk/Eco-Eye-Energy-Monitor.htm
(2) http://www.reuk.co.uk/Owl-Wireless-Electricity-Monitor.htm
(3) http://www.reuk.co.uk/Electrisave-Review.htm
(4) http://www.reuk.co.uk/Efergy-homeCO2meter.htm
(5) http://www.reuk.co.uk/Efergy-homeCO2meter-Review.htm
(6) http://www.reuk.co.uk/Wattson-Energy-Meter.htm
(7) http://www.reuk.co.uk/carbon.htm
(8) http://www.reuk.co.uk/buy-AANIMH.htm
(9) http://www.reuk.co.uk/OWL-CM119-Wireless-Energy-Monitor.htm
(10) http://www.reuk.co.uk/Efergy-eLite-Wireless-Energy-Monitor.htm
(11) http://ethicalshop.at/reuk76
(12) http://ethicalshop.at/reuk76?CTY=9&DURL=http://www.ethicalsuperstore.com/products/eco-eye/eco-eye-elite/

Article from REUK.co.uk:
http://www.reuk.co.uk/Eco-Eye-Review.htm
Published: 11th February 2009
Š REUK 2009