KINGSTON, LUZERNE COUNTY --We've heard the news. PPL customers will pay 30 percent more for power next year. But you can cut costs by using less. And an electricity monitor claims to help you do that. Tonight consumer reporter Jeff Chirico puts it to the test.

Kill-A-Watt says it empowers you to save hundreds of dollars on electric bills. Plug in appliances and it says it will assess how efficient they really are. To test it, we turn to a Tuesday Tryout team member. On the stage, singer Dolly Yunkunis electrifies her audiences. But it’s her electric bill that really shocks her. “Oh oh. You have to see some of my electric rates."

So we bring the Kill-A-Watt electricity usage monitor. It claims it could save you money. Dolly reads the directions --but they're confusing. “I need an electrician. Good thing we have one." Tom Herron of Friedman Electric says the product could be valuable because you can “get a better understanding as to how much the toaster or laptop is consuming and what it costs you at the end of the month."

We plug the monitor in the wall --and then the toaster into it. The nameplate on the toaster reads it should use 850 watts. Our monitor shows... “826 watts." That's good.

Next --the tv. Surprisingly, even off it still uses one watt. "It’s not going to cost you a lot. But cumulatively throughout the house, keep adding these devices you could be into couple hundred watts."

Finally we try Dolly's stereo system. It draws 13 watts just in standby mode. "Did you realize you were drawing power even when you weren't using it? Not at all." You can leave Kill-A-Watt plugged in longer, to see how much it uses over time. "With that knowledge we can turn down turn off devices and hope save increased costs."

While it provides good information, we all agree you don't need a 25-dollar gadget to change your habits. So the Kill-A-Watt powers half way up the Try-O-Meter. Once you use the Kill-A-Watt once, you probably won't use it again. My advice –turn off computers when they’re not in use and unplug cell phone chargers when they’re not hooked to a phone.