Best Home Energy Monitors in 2023

Household monitors vs. individual appliance monitors

It is important to distinguish between household energy monitors and energy monitors for individual appliances. Some energy monitors are used to monitor a single appliance at a time and give you a more detailed look at that particular device. Household monitors plug into your energy meter and give you a complete energy-use picture. This page focuses on the big-picture monitors.  

Appliance recognition

Your appliances have unique ways of using electricity. Some energy monitors have an appliance recognition feature that plug into your circuit breakers, detect how appliances around your home are using electricity, make a quick judgment on the type of appliance that’s detected, and report on the actions of that specific appliance. 

Not all monitors have this feature, and even for those that do have it, the technology doesn’t always work perfectly. It’s usually easy for the monitor to detect differences between a TV and a refrigerator, but devices that use electricity in similar ways (think heating devices, like a toaster and a curling iron) may be more of a challenge. 

Real-time cost tracking

Some, but not all, home energy monitors allow you to track the cost of your energy consumption in real-time. Real-time cost tracking will allow you to watch as your electricity consumption and costs increase or decrease. You will also be able to see and understand the effects of turning devices on and off. If cost saving is important to you, pay particular attention to devices with this feature. 

Mobile apps and notifications

Many energy monitors connect to a mobile application that can send notifications about your appliances, tips for further savings, and warnings on abnormal appliance usage. If you want to be notified about a specific issue with your electricity use, be sure to confirm that the device you’re choosing has this functionality. 

Solar ready monitor options

For homes with solar installed already or homeowners considering solar, devices that come solar ready allow you to monitor your solar electricity production. Energy monitors with this option allow you to see how much energy your solar panels are generating, when, and how it is used. 

Installation

Unless you’re very familiar with your circuit breaker, we recommend consulting an electrician for installation. Many home energy monitors market themselves as do-it-yourself, but any project involving attaching a device to your circuit breaker will come with shock hazards. 

It’s true that bringing an electrician to your house for the installation will increase the total cost of the equipment, but once installed, the devices allow for significant savings. If you apply the learnings the energy monitor can provide, you can make up the upfront cost and the price of installation in no time.  

Neurio vs. Sense: how do the top monitors stack up?

Two of the leading home energy monitors, Neurio and Sense, have a few distinct characteristics to consider when comparing the two prodcuts. While the basics are the same, both are installed in your circuit breaker by attaching transformers to your power lines and allow real-time monitoring of consumption and generation, there are a few major differences. 

Perhaps the biggest differentiator for the Sense is its standard feature that allows appliance recognition. The longer and the more you use Sense, the better it will be at recognizing the signatures of the appliances around your home. Neurio allows you to upgrade to this feature, but it may not be as advanced as the Sense version.

A new unique feature for Neurio allows you to control and monitor distributed storage systems, potentially enhancing the return on your storage investment. Neurio claims that more efficient use of a solar + battery system can reduce the payback period by 30%.