This innocuous-looking device could come in handy if you're coughing up huge electricity payments but have no clue about your usage pattern. It's a small device called The Energy Detective (TED) – a home energy monitor that can track and display your electricity usage in real-time.

For instance, when you power up the mixer or microwave, you can immediately verify the energy usage in kilowatts or dollars on TED’s screen. I think this could be a very good mechanism to monitor a device that may unnecessarily be guzzling energy. For the really energy (or budget) conscious people, there is a provision to program alerts to tip you off whenever the usage exceeds a pre-defined limit – pretty useful if you want to avoid surprises with your monthly electricity bill (who wouldn’t?).