The EnerJar by Matt Meshulam and Zach Dwiel was king at the recent Greener Gadget Design Competition in New York City. Despite its simplicity, it won against high-tech-looking gadgets. Its simplicity was actually its strongest point.

“[It’s] an easy-to-build device that accurately measures the power draw of electrical appliances. The user plugs the EnerJar into any three-prong wall outlet, and measures a device by plugging it into the outlet on the EnerJar. It is our goal that users of the power meter will gain an understanding of power draw and use this knowledge to effectively reduce their electricity use.

“A simple interface was a high priority in designing the EnerJar, so a single ‘mode’ knob is the only control on the meter. This knob selects among displaying instantaneous power, average power, or cumulative energy consumption in kilowatt-hours.”

So, true to my fashion, I’m sensing a touch of iPod in that single knob.

Now what’s more, the schematics and source code for creating Enerjar is available for free at enerjar.net. I love these guys. I’m saving my sarcasm for the next post.