Got a power bill the other day - $700 for two months. Ouch. Huge ouch. Just a leeeeeeedle bit miffed.

Details: one person house. Very little use of a heater for the last two months. Got a couple of Macs in a room, idling 24/7 (including a 2009 Mac Pro). Nothing else really that I can see could be using so much power. A tad dumbfounded about the power bill.

Went looking for devices that can narrow down what is using up all the electricity.

Found:

Belkin Conserve Insight - about $50 each



Mains Power Meter - about $20 each



Then there's the Clipsal Cent-A-Metre, but I want to narrow down which room is using up all the power, and then what particular gadget(s) in that room are costing me a fortune.

Anyone used any of these gadgets? Feedback? Why is the Belkin one two and a half times the price of the Jaycar one? Why aren't these things more common?

Has anyone used any of these, or something else, to identify what was costing too much to run, and subsequently gotten their power bill a lot lower?