Question: "I am planning to monitor my home office consumption. All of my devices come from a double power point (computers, adjustable desk, small heaters, desk lamps, printers, etc). Can your power meters be used like this for 24/7? I’d like to monitor energy consumption of my personal home office for tax purposes. Or do you have a better solution?
Answer: Provided the power limits of the plug are not exceeded, one or more plugs could be used to monitor energy consumption in a home office.
Please note: suggestions are general, please speak with a tax accountant for any specific advice.
A few other considerations:
- any hardwired lighting would not be captured
- any hardwired or central air conditioning would not be captured
- if your electricity rates change throughout the day, it may not be easy to disaggregate your usage.
An alternative approach would be to have an electrician install a sub-meter on a circuit just for your home office.
This would show cumulative consumption over time and you could manually take a record (once a month, quarter or year), or could be combined with an app-based energy monitor for more granular data.
Lastly, I would suggest comparing these hardware solutions against the non-hardware options detailed by the ATO.
