Kill A Watt

The International Home and Housewares Show 2008, held this week in Chicago, touted many eco-friendly, energy-efficient household products coming soon to retail and online stores. Sales of home accessories are expected to grow by up to 5 percent this year, despite a downturn in sales of homes and construction goods, according to the International Housewares Association, which runs the convention.

Energy conservation is key to keeping utility bills low and relaxing demand on the electrical grid. But who knows how much it costs to keep a computer or home theater humming? The $100 Kill A Watt eight-outlet power strip, shown here, should tell you.

Its display spells out energy usage over time, including maximum and minimum volts, amps, watts, and leakage current. When it detects that no power is being drawn, the Kill A Watt switches to no-load mode. A filter is built to dampen noisy AC power. The original Kill A Watt only had one outlet.