Best Home Energy Monitors 2026 (and Emporia vs Sense)

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The bill arrives and it’s $60 higher than last month. Nothing changed, or so it seems. Was it the new freezer in the garage, the teenager’s gaming PC, the dryer, the heat pump on a cold week? Your meter only tells your utility one number. A home energy monitor tells you where that number comes from, live on your phone, so you can stop guessing and fix the thing that actually costs money.

The best home energy monitor for most homes in 2026 is the Emporia Vue 3: it sits in your breaker panel, measures the whole house plus up to 16 individual circuits, tracks solar, and costs about $199.99 with 16 sensors. For a single appliance, a $33 Kill A Watt or an energy-monitoring smart plug does the job without opening the panel.

Below: six monitors, from in-panel systems to plug-in meters, with their real specs, plus a straight answer on Emporia vs Sense now that Sense has stopped selling its monitor. We researched and compared them from maker spec pages, manuals and installation guides; we did not test them.

Prices change often. The prices below are what we saw at the maker or a major retailer in October 2026; check the current price before you buy.

Our top picks

Home energy monitors compared

Monitor	Type	What it measures	Connection	Install	About (Oct 2026)
Emporia Vue 3	In-panel	Whole home, up to 16 circuits, solar	Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz or Ethernet	Electrician	$199.99
Emporia Pro EV Charger	EV charger + in-panel monitor	Charging, plus the Vue 3 in the box	Wi-Fi	Electrician	$599
Kill A Watt P4400	Plug-in meter	One device: W, kWh, V, A, Hz, VA	None (LCD screen)	Plug in	$32.99
Kasa KP125M	Smart plug	One device: live and past W/kWh	Wi-Fi + Matter	Plug in	Not on maker page
Eve Energy	Smart plug	One device: use and cost projection	Thread + Matter	Plug in (needs a hub)	Not on maker page
Emporia Smart Plug	Smart plug	One device, in the Vue app	Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz	Plug in	$34.99 sale

In-panel monitor or plug-in meter?

In-panel monitors clip current sensors (CTs) around the wires inside your breaker panel. They see everything: the whole house, each circuit you put a sensor on, the dryer, the water heater, the heat pump, solar going out. That’s the only way to measure 240 V hard-wired loads, which are usually the big ones. The catch is installation inside a live panel.

Plug-in meters and smart plugs sit between one appliance and the wall outlet. They’re cheap, take seconds to set up and tell you exactly what that fridge, dehumidifier or entertainment center uses, including when it’s “off”. They can’t measure anything hard-wired or on a 240 V outlet.

The best home energy monitors

1. Emporia Vue 3: best overall

The Vue 3 is a small box that mounts by your breaker panel, with up to three 200 A sensors for the mains and up to 16 50 A sensors for individual circuits. Emporia says it tracks solar generation and net metering, works on single- or three-phase service, and connects over 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi or Ethernet. It carries UL 61010 and UL 2808 listings and a one-year warranty, and the app is free (Emporia’s page lists no monthly fee). Because each circuit has its own sensor, you see what the dryer, water heater or AC actually draws, measured directly rather than guessed by software. It also ties into Emporia’s smart plugs and EV chargers in the same app.

• Good: about $199.99 with 16 circuit sensors (Emporia, October 2026), with smaller kits also sold; circuit-level data; solar tracking; Ethernet option for a panel far from the router.
• Watch out: installs inside the breaker panel; Emporia’s own guide says the service wires stay live even with the main breaker off and that a licensed electrician or other qualified person should install it; needs internet for live data; Emporia’s product page doesn’t state an accuracy figure.
• Best for: homeowners who want to see every big load, and anyone with solar.

Check the Emporia Vue 3 price on Amazon

2. Emporia Pro EV Charger: best if you’re adding an EV charger

If an electrician is coming to install a Level 2 charger anyway, this is the smart way to get a monitor. The Pro EV Charger comes with a Vue 3 energy monitor in the box. Emporia’s PowerSmart load management uses it to slow charging when the house is drawing a lot, which Emporia says can avoid a panel upgrade. The charger delivers up to 48 A hardwired (on a 60 A circuit) or 40 A on a NEMA 14-50 plug, has a 25 ft cable, is UL listed and ENERGY STAR certified, and carries a three-year warranty.

• Good: about $599 for charger plus monitor (Emporia, October 2026); one electrician visit covers both; load management.
• Watch out: only makes sense if you have or are buying an EV; the 240 V circuit is a job for a licensed electrician, with a permit where required.
• Best for: new EV owners who want whole-home monitoring too. See our best EV chargers for home.

Check the Emporia Pro EV Charger price on Amazon

3. P3 Kill A Watt P4400: best plug-in meter

The classic. Plug it into the wall, plug the appliance into it, and the LCD shows watts, volts, amps, hertz, VA and cumulative kilowatt-hours. Leave a fridge on it for a week, read the kWh, and you know what it costs to run. It handles up to 15 A (1,875 VA, 125 V max). P3’s manual rates its accuracy at 0.2% for voltage, 0.3% for current and 0.5% for watts. No app, no Wi-Fi, no account.

• Good: about $32.99 (P3, October 2026); precise; shows standby watts instantly; nothing to set up.
• Watch out: you read it in person; no history beyond the running total; 120 V plug-in devices only; the manual lists a six-month warranty.
• Best for: checking a fridge, freezer, dehumidifier or space heater, one at a time.

Check the Kill A Watt P4400 price on Amazon

4. Kasa Smart Plug Slim KP125M: best smart plug

A slim plug (2.6 x 1.5 x 1.6 in, so it doesn’t block the second outlet) that shows real-time and historical power use in the Kasa app and estimates the bill, including with time-of-use rates. It’s Matter certified, so it works with Apple Home, Alexa, Google Home and SmartThings, and it can switch off automatically when power use goes over a limit you set. Rated 15 A, 1,800 W for resistive loads; UL listed. TP-Link’s page shows no price.

• Good: history and bill estimates in the app; schedules and away mode; Matter means it isn’t locked to one voice assistant.
• Watch out: one appliance per plug; the energy data lives in the Kasa app rather than every smart home app.
• Best for: tracking a few devices over weeks and switching them off on a schedule.

Check the Kasa KP125M price on Amazon

5. Eve Energy: best for privacy

Eve Energy tracks a device’s power use and projects its cost once you enter your electricity rate. It runs on Thread and Matter with local control: Eve says no subscription, no registration. It works with Apple Home, Alexa, Google Home, SmartThings, Home Assistant and Homey, and acts as a Thread router to strengthen your mesh. The US model is rated 15 A, 1,800 W, with UL and TÜV certification.

• Good: works without a cloud account; strong smart-home support.
• Watch out: needs a hub that is a Matter controller and Thread border router (for example a recent Apple TV or HomePod, or a compatible Google or Amazon hub); Eve’s page shows no price.
• Best for: Apple Home users and anyone who wants their data to stay at home.

Check the Eve Energy price on Amazon

6. Emporia Energy Monitoring Smart Plug: best add-on for a Vue

If you have a Vue, these plugs fill in the gaps: the Vue sees a whole circuit, the plug sees the one device on it, all in the same Emporia app. They show real-time use, run schedules and work with Alexa and Google. They’re sold in 1-, 2- and 4-packs, are ETL certified and carry a one-year warranty. Note the lower rating: 10 A continuous, 15 A peak for up to an hour a day (1,800 W max).

• Good: about $34.99 on sale, $47.99 regular (Emporia, October 2026); one app with the Vue.
• Watch out: Emporia says not to use it with refrigerators, freezers, medical equipment, pet heat equipment or critical network gear; 10 A continuous is lower than most plugs.
• Best for: Vue owners who want device detail on TVs, computers and small appliances.

Check the Emporia Smart Plug price on Amazon

Emporia vs Sense: which should you buy in 2026?

Short answer: buy the Emporia Vue 3. Sense said it would stop selling the Sense Monitor by December 31, 2025, or sooner if it ran out of stock, and move its software into utility smart meters. Emporia’s Vue 3 is still in production and measures circuits directly. If you already own a Sense, keep using it: Sense says app and firmware updates, device detection improvements, data access, security patches and customer support continue for existing monitors.

	Emporia Vue 3	Sense Energy Monitor
Status in 2026	Sold new by Emporia	Sales ended by Dec 31, 2025; existing monitors supported
How it finds devices	A sensor on each circuit (up to 16) measures it directly	Two sensors on the mains; machine learning identifies devices by their electrical signatures
Extra circuits	Built in (8 or 16 sensors)	Flex add-on sensors: up to two dedicated circuits, or solar
Solar	Yes	Yes (solar configuration)
Install	In the panel: licensed electrician	In the panel: licensed electrician
Price	About $199.99 with 16 sensors	No longer sold by Sense

The two approaches. Sense put two sensors on the main wires and used machine learning to recognize each appliance’s signature, so it could name the fridge or the dryer without a sensor on each circuit. That’s clever, but it depends on the software learning each device. Emporia takes the plain route: a sensor on every circuit you care about, so the number for that circuit is a measurement, not a guess. Where two devices share a circuit, an Emporia smart plug splits them out.

Where Sense went. Sense says it is embedding its software in the next generation of smart meters through utilities. Its meter-partner page names Landis+Gyr as its meter maker and National Grid (upstate New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island) as a utility rolling them out. If your utility offers it, you may get Sense-style insights with no hardware in your panel at all. Ask your utility.

Buying a leftover Sense? You may still find new or used units from third-party sellers. Sense says it supports existing monitors, but we’d put the money into a product that is still made and sold by its maker, with a warranty from that maker.

Who should install a panel monitor?

A licensed electrician, with a permit where required. Emporia’s Vue 3 installation guide warns of dangerous voltage and says the service mains stay energized even with the main breaker off. Ask for a quote when an electrician is already coming for an EV charger, a heat pump or a generator inlet.

How to choose a home energy monitor

• Start with what you already have. About 73% of US homes had a smart meter in 2022 (EIA). Many utilities show hourly or daily use online and let you download it with the “Green Button”. It’s free, and it may be enough to spot patterns.
• One suspect or the whole house? A $33 Kill A Watt or a smart plug answers “what does this fridge cost?” A panel monitor answers “where does all of it go?”
• Count your big circuits. Dryer, water heater, range, AC or heat pump, EV charger, well pump: those are the ones worth a sensor. Count them, then pick a kit with enough sensors (Emporia sells versions with 8 and 16).
• Got solar or planning it? Pick a monitor that tracks generation and net metering, like the Vue 3. See solar energy.
• Check your Wi-Fi at the panel. The Vue needs 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi or an Ethernet cable where the panel is, often a garage or basement.
• Plan to act on it. A monitor saves nothing by itself. An ACEEE review of feedback programs (2010) found household electricity savings of 4% to 12%, and that came from people changing habits and fixing problems.

What a monitor helps you find

Your always-on load. A 2015 NRDC study with Berkeley Lab, using smart meter data from 70,000 Northern California homes, found an average always-on load of 164 watts, nearly 23% of those homes’ electricity use. Any monitor shows your own baseline at 3 a.m. As an example of our math: one device that pulls 10 W around the clock uses about 88 kWh a year, about $15 at the 2025 US average of 17.3 cents per kWh (EIA). More in phantom power.

The big users. Nationally, air conditioning (19%), space heating (12%) and water heating (12%) were the largest shares of home electricity use in 2020 (EIA), but a panel monitor shows your own home’s order. See what uses the most electricity.

When you use it. If your utility charges more at peak hours, live data shows what’s running then, so you can shift laundry, dishwasher and EV charging. See time-of-use rates explained.

Keep exploring

Our guide to how to lower your electric bill turns what you find into savings. For single devices, see the best energy-monitoring smart plugs; to cut waste, read phantom power and what uses the most electricity. If you’re adding backup power, a monitor helps size it: see home battery backup. Learn how power is measured in electrical energy, and browse all our energy-saving tips.

Home energy monitor questions

What is the best home energy monitor in 2026?

For most homes, the Emporia Vue 3: it measures the whole house plus up to 16 circuits, tracks solar, and costs about $199.99 with 16 sensors (Emporia, October 2026). It installs in the breaker panel, so have a licensed electrician do it. For one appliance at a time, a Kill A Watt P4400 or an energy-monitoring smart plug is enough.

Is Sense still selling its energy monitor?

No. Sense said it would stop selling the Sense Monitor by December 31, 2025, or earlier if inventory ran out, and is now putting its software into utility smart meters. Sense says it keeps supporting existing monitors with app and firmware updates, data access, security patches and customer support. For a new purchase, we recommend the Emporia Vue 3.

Can I install a home energy monitor myself?

Plug-in meters and smart plugs, yes. Panel monitors go inside the breaker panel, where the service wires stay live even with the main breaker off. Emporia’s guide says a skilled person such as a licensed electrician should install the Vue 3, and some places require one by law. Hire a licensed electrician, with a permit where required.

Do energy monitors actually save money?

Only if you act on what they show. ACEEE’s 2010 review of feedback programs found households cut electricity use by 4% to 12%. The savings come from finding always-on loads, fixing faulty equipment and moving use away from peak hours, not from the device itself. Your results depend on your home and habits.

Does my smart meter already do this?

Partly. Most US homes have a smart meter (about 73% in 2022, EIA), and many utilities show hourly use online or let you download it with the Green Button. That shows when you use power but not which device. Some utilities are rolling out meters with Sense software built in; ask yours.