Belt tightening’s become a way of life at most companies, and even outfits that don’t care about “going green” are watching the electric power meter to keep a lid on energy costs.

IT can help manage conspicuous consumption of electricity not just by encouraging users to power down systems when not in use or putting systems to “sleep” if they’re not needed. It can be a big help to measure the energy used by devices to get a good idea of where the big drains are and focusing on them to get costs down.

One nifty little device you might want to look at: Power plug meters. This device sits between the power outlet and a device. It  displays how much power (load) the connected device is consuming at any given time.

The current generation of power plug meters can also track minimum and maximum power draw. Some show the line voltage and monitor and track other power quality aspects, which can help diagnose problems and let you know where to add power protection accessories.

Computerworld.com just reviewed three brands of power meter. Read their opinion here.

Tags: consumption, costs, electricity, green, power