Wattimer

Wattimer is an informal term used to describe devices or concepts that combine the measurement of electrical power in watts with a timing function. It is not a standard unit or a widely recognized product category in formal electrical engineering, but it appears in technical discussions, product descriptions, and educational materials to convey the idea of tracking power usage over time.

In hardware terms, a wattimer typically refers to a power meter or energy monitor that includes a timer or time-stamping capability. Such devices can display instantaneous power (W), log energy consumption over an interval (Wh or kWh), and report duration of operation. They are useful for energy audits, appliance testing, and evaluating the efficiency of devices under specific duty cycles. Some consumer smart plugs and energy monitors provide wattimer-like features such as programmable timers and usage graphs.

In software or theoretical contexts, wattimer may denote a modeling construct for scheduling or budgeting energy use, where tasks are constrained by power limits and time windows. However, this usage is not standardized, and the term is primarily encountered in informal writing rather than formal standards.

Origin and usage: wattimer blends watt, the unit of electrical power, with timer, a device that measures elapsed time. To avoid ambiguity, it is better to describe a device as a "power meter with timer" or "energy monitor with elapsed-time logging" rather than using the shorthand wattimer.

See also: wattmeter, power meter, energy monitor, kilowatt-hour, timer, energy management.