The Energy App That Blamed the Toaster
A free A2-level English story for language learners, readable online in English, with an option to listen via the free Storyteller app.
Emeline's home energy app keeps blaming her toaster for late-night power use until she finds her roommate's aquarium heater on the same outlet.
Emeline downloaded a new home energy app last month. The app tracks how much power each device uses. Every few days, it sends her a small report.
One morning, the app sent Emeline a strange alert. "Your toaster used a lot of power at three a.m.," it said. Emeline frowned and read it again.
"I never use the toaster at night," she said. She turned to her roommate, Rania. "This app is probably wrong," she said.
Rania looked over Emeline's shoulder at the phone screen. "That's strange," she said. "Let's check the toaster together."
They walked into the kitchen and looked at the toaster. It sat cold and unplugged on the counter. "It's not even plugged in," Emeline said. "The app made a mistake."
Rania thought for a moment. "Wait," she said. "My fish tank heater plugs into that same outlet."
"The app probably reads the outlet, not the toaster," Emeline said. "It just has the wrong label."
They opened the app together and found the outlet's settings. Emeline changed the outlet's label to fish tank heater. The next report showed the correct name.
