Home automation has become a hot topic these days, with more services and hardware becoming available at increasingly better prices. Now another new product has hit the market, this one from a company called Visible Energy. The item, known as the “Monostrip”, provides some unique features at a very good price.
The Monostrip essentially looks like a mini powerstrip, but has WiFi and smart technology built into it. Plug this outlet into any standard wall outlet and then plug your device of choice into the Monostrip. The device is designed to handle even heavy-duty appliances (up to 20 Amperes).
“As with other Visible Energy Smart Outlets products, energy usage for the device plugged into its outlet is acquired every 5 minutes and stored for 4 months. A text display shows power and other usage consumption data together with status information. The Monostrip connects through WiFi communication to the home network and Internet.”
Once you have set up the Monostrip and plugged in your device of choice then you can begin monitoring energy consumption and cost via the internet or using an iOS app called “Energy UFO”. Unfortunately there isn’t an Android or Windows Phone app as of yet.
There are two models of the Monostrip available – a U.S. standard 110-120 volt model and a European standard 250 volt version. The Monostrip is available now for $49 from the Visible Energy web site.