With very convincing demos and promising very huge savings in the monthly bill are the most often point of sales of these advertisers. But let us uncover the reality of this electricity saving box scam.
Electricity saving box or energy saving box or a.k.a power saver that plugged to the wall outlets (as simple as that) is a real scam. Many people became victim of this product. Advertisement said a 30-60% decrease in electric bill every month with matching demonstration that the current is actually become lesser when the electricity saving box is plugged in.
Ordinary people (with no background in electrical or electronics engineering or related discipline) are surely convinced by their lies. As an electrical/electronic engineer, practitioner and hobbyist let me tell you and share a little education how this advertised electricity savings box works and to reveal its great scam. Electricity saving box scam revealed this time!
Helpful Terms to Help Explain this Electricity Saving Box Scam
Real Power – this is the true power each appliance consumes and this is the power considered by the electric utilities to charge to their customers.
Apparent Power – this is the total power including the power losses in the transmission lines or simply the power delivered by the electric utility.
Voltage (V) – this is the voltage coming out from the wall outlet
Current (I) – this is the current flow to the appliance or device once it is plug in to a wall outlet
Power Factor (PF) – this is the multiplier to the apparent power to get the real or true power
Let’s Do a Little Math
Apparent Power = V x I Equation 1
Real Power = Apparent Power x PF = V x I x PF Equation 2
I = Real Power / ( V x PF ) Equation 3
PF = Real Power / ( V x I ) = Real Power / Apparent Power Equation 4
How the Energy Companies Charge Us on our Usage
The electric distribution companies are charging us through real power we consumed, not with the apparent power. The real power our appliances consumed is following equation 2 above which is the product of voltage, current and the power factor.
The electricity meter used by electric utilities is capable of detecting the voltage, current and power factor and able to compute for the real or true power consumption.
How Vendor Perform Demonstration on the Claimed Electricity Saving Box to Make People Believe Their Claim
Most of the times, the sales representative bring with him an electric fan and a multimeter. They use the multimeter to measure the current that drawn by the electric fan with and without the power saving box. Initially without the energy saving box, the current on the multimeter is high. The current measured once the energy saving box is plugged in is definitely lower than the initial current. Ordinary people are surely amazed and purchase one but after months of using the device, they do not realize the savings as advertised!
Without the Power Saving Box Plugged In
Without the Electricity Saving Box plugged in, the current reading is high. Advertisers emphasized this to the crowd.
With the Power Saving Box Plugged In
With the power saver box plugged in, the current become very low. It is very amazing and totally convincing for the people who are not technically knowledgeable. What happened? How this is possible?
BUT WAIT…How They Perform the Demo?
Are they showing evidence on actual power consumption with and without the box? The answer is no! What they did is only getting the current drawn by the appliance. They multiply the current to the voltage and claimed that this is the power consumed by the electric fan. This is not yet the real power consumed by the electric fan. The real power always includes the power factor on it as illustrated in equation 2 above.
Considering equation 2
Real Power = V x I x PF
Actually, the real power is fixed. For instance, an electric fan is rated 100W. 100W means a real power.
Re-writing the equation above
I = Real Power / ( V x PF )
The real power is constant as well as the wall outlet voltage is fixed. Therefore, the above equation is only dependent to the power factor PF. The higher the power factor, the lower the current or the lower the power factor, the higher is the current. Without the energy saving box, the current is high and it is lower once the box is plugged in because the box itself is making the power factor higher.
On the demonstration, they are not emphasizing this. I don’t even think that these sales personnel know about power factor. They are not engineers or really skilled and knowledgeable on electricity related things.
You may challenge these persons to get a real power meter so that a real power will show. I am very sure that they don’t make it because they will be showing a constant real power drawn by the appliance.
How Electric Utilities Charge Us?
Electric Companies are charging us by the real power we consumed. The real power is always composed of voltage, current and power factor not voltage and current only. If the current is high with a constant voltage, the real power will be the same since the power factor is low. If the current is low, do not be excited because the real power is still be the same since the power factor will be high.
Actual Experiment Conducted Proving that a Higher and a Lower Current will Result to the Same Real Power and Proving the Electricity Saving Box a Real Scam
The reference of this experiment is an electronic circuit with a power factor correction circuit. The power saver advertised is actually working as a power factor correction circuit at least for passive loads. During the experiment, the effectiveness of the power factor is varied and the corresponding current and power are recorded.
There are three iterations wherein the effectiveness of the power factor correction circuit or A.K.A. power saving device is varied. The data in all columns are measured by digital power meter.
The first trial has worst power factor, so it has the highest current reading. The second trial registered an improved power factor thus the current decreases. The third trial has the best power factor of almost unity (the best case for power factor is unity). It has the lowest current.
However, look at the power consumptions, during the three trials all have the same power consumptions of around 275 Watts. By multiplying the voltage (yellow column) and current (blue column) will not give the real power but an apparent power. However, this is what the advertisers taught during the demo that mislead the consumer.
Energy saving box advertiser do consider only the input voltage and the current drawn because what their multi tester reads are only voltage and current but no power factor. They put to the minds of the customer or audiences that the power the electric company read is simply the product of the voltage and current but it is not. A clearly dishonest and misleading demonstration.
The Reason Why an Energy Saving Box Don’t Live as Expected
Electricity saving box scam has been revealed with the technical explanations above. But, what is really the function of the claimed power saver? It is simply a power factor correction circuit. A power factor correction circuit provides correction to the power factor so that the power delivered by the energy company is the same to the power that is actually consumed by the consumer.
The ideal value of power factor is unity or 1. When the power factor is unity, this makes equation 1 and 2 above equal. Majority of the consumer’s load are inductive in nature such as electric fan, aircon and washing machine to name a few. For inductive load, the power factor is always below 1. The claimed energy saver is actually a power factor correction that is most of the time a capacitive network to counteract the effect of naturally inductive load.
As the power factor decreases, the current will increase. As the power factor increases, the current will decrease. However, the real power that is consumed by the equipment/appliance is the same. Real power cannot be measured by simply using a multi-meter as the advertiser did. Advertisers must use power factor meter to demonstrate the reality but I believe they will not make any move that will jeopardize their business.
The Real Function of a Claimed Power Saving Box
Energy saving box is actually a power factor correction circuit. It is a capacitive circuit to counter the effect of inductive loads (residential and industrial loads are mostly inductive in nature). It can be a passive or active solution. A passive solution is just a simple capacitive circuit and only effective for linear inductive circuits but with almost no effect on non-linear systems. On the other hand, active solution uses active devices or circuits to correct the circuit power factor. This is very effective for both linear and non-linear systems however very expensive and complicated.
Below is a waveform of voltage and current of an inductive circuit. As you can see, they are out of phase. The ideal case is for them to be in-phase. With this circuit, the apparent power will always larger than the real power. This is a disadvantage for electric companies since they are supplying more power than the customer actually consumed.
When a passive power factor correction is included or installed, the current and voltage will become in-phase as below waveform. When this happens, the apparent power and the real power will be equal (ideally unity power factor). This is very good for electric companies as they do not waste power.
Below is the waveform of voltage and current of non-linear systems. Non linear systems include rectifier and switching converter. The shape of the voltage is intact (sinusoid) but the current is very distorted which emphasizes a very low power factor.
Considering the same power drawn by the end users, the effective value of the current will be high thus results to higher losses in the transmission lines and a big loss in the part of the electric company. With a power factor correction circuit installed (particularly an active PFC), the current shape will be corrected and restore its sinusoid shape the same above.
Energy Saving Box Scam – Conclusion
1.Whatever the rated power of your appliances, this is the real power that the electric companies will be billing to you.
2.The rated power or the real power drawn by your appliances is always composed of the voltage from the wall outlet, the current and the power factor.
3.Advertisers and vendors are only considering the voltage and current while neglecting the power factor to deceive the consumers.
4.Always remember, when current is high, the power factor is low that will result to a same real power. If the current is low, the power factor will be high which also result to the same real power. You can’t save by using energy saving box.
5.In a very big building where there are lot of inductive loads, there could be an improvement of the energy consumption when a power factor correction circuit is installed. The reason of this is that with a low power factor, the I squared R loss or the copper loss or wire loss is high. Imagine if the wire is very long, definitely the copper loss is relevant. However, this needs more than a plug-in type power factor correction circuit. Really, the advertised one will not gonna work.
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This is true. Your savings will be, P=I.I.Resistance. Even when current I is reduced, the resistance in a short house wiring is less. So that your savings will be minimal even when your current, I is reduced . Your savings will be apparent only in a large installation such as in a factory.
I am a factory electrical engineer, and I have installed capacitors electric motor terminals. Electricity savings is noticeable because power loss, I.I.R is reduced when current, I is decreased.
My daughter once brought home from Manila a power saver gadget which is plugged only in a house outlet. We have tried using for a year, but, no power savings was noted.
Yes, I agree with you that for a huge factory there is a a savings on the losses of the wires when a power factor circuit installed.
Broke mine open to see whats inside. The scam is real. it contains a small circutboard with 4 resistance’s and 2 green diods. That’s it!! Do not be afraid opening yours. It isnow where it belongs, in the trash with a good laugh.
THIS IS THE BIGGEST SCAM THAT I HAVE EVER SEEN I AM A MASTER ELECTRICIAN WITH 50 YEARS EXPERIENCE AND THIS IS A FARCE.
This is true. Your savings will be, P=I.I.Resistance. Even when current I is reduced, the resistance in a short house wiring is less. So that your savings will be minimal even when your current, I is reduced . Your savings will be apparent only in a large installation such as in a factory.
I am a factory electrical engineer, and I have installed capacitors electric motor terminals. Electricity savings is noticeable because power loss, I.I.R is reduced when current, I is decreased.
My daughter once brought home from Manila a power saver gadget which is plugged only in a house outlet. We have tried using for a year, but, no power savings was noted.
Yes, I agree that you can have a savings on the power loss due to resistance in a huge factory or building with long wiring. But with a small house, I doubt about it.
Most houses are not so small. Light, Refrigerator, Dryer, Washer, Heating. Can you install such a unit near the washmachine and dryer?
If you doubt it.
You haven’t tried it .
I’m not an electrician or a engineer but I do know that after I bought one each month I have saved money on my electric bill.i have had it for 4 months now. My bill is down to 54.00 dollars now. I am seeing a reduction of 30.00 dollars a month. I believe it all depends what you have in your house. I have read the that with things like electric heating devices it won’t help with.
as a retired mechanical/environmental engineer I am knowledgeable about electric power generation. distribution, and use. Electrical theories are valid here so there must be an issue in how usage is being monitored and subsequently billed. I am in agreement with Bob and others
that have seen electric bills dropped: I purchased 2 Electricity Saving Box devices around the middle of May and installed one in a receptacle on the inside wall of my kitchen opposite from the corner wall outside where the power panel is. Yesterday I paid my Dominion Energy bill of $34.57; my April bill was $87.45. Anything that reduces the bill $53+ is no scam to me!
I am in my 4th month and my electric bill dropped over 50 dollars. I looked over my usage hostory that past two years and you can definitely see the spike DOWNWARD on the total cost. My last 3 months have never been lower. For a scam, I like the results…….
You can’t compare monthly as your bill changes due to number of days in the reading cycle and difference in temperatures during the month to name a few. You figure based on similar months of previous years still considering this year may be hotter or colder.
Has anyone had other issues like lights blinking even refrigerator light?
Power company checked split bolts and all my connections. This is the only thing that I changed.
Mine has been the same as yours on savings. I want to buy some for my brother. The highest mine has been this summer is $62. That is a big savings
Once the power has entered a house and passed through the meter and been recorded nothing can change that reading.
Please let me know if you truley felt like there was a decease on your electric bill.
I am not an engineer and my math skills aren’t great, but my kids had an average electricity bill in New Mexico of around $140/month and after a full month with this plugged in it was $85 and I told them do NOT try to save energy! They paid about $30 for their unit. Maybe it is a scam.
Jeff, I wanted to chime in with you. Last year, from June to August, the hottest months here in central Maryland, our electric bills were running $110 to $130 each month, and even $100 and up in the late Spring and early Autumn months.
I then purchase a power saving device that I plugged into a wall outlet, to capture electricity that would otherwise go to ground after my major appliances stopped running their motor.
Now, I’m decent in my understanding of electrical concepts and formulae, but I’m not an Electrician or electrical engineer. But what I do understand is money…and very specifically, what is going out of my pockets.
When this year’s electric bills were compared with last years (doing a Year-over-year (YOY) comparison by month is best) just my looking at my May Bill was an eye opener. With no difference in how we consumed power, from last May to this May, the difference was about $70. The same comparison with my June bills YOY showed a nearly $100 drop!
So the proof of the pudding is always in the eating, not sitting back on “credentials and spouting diatribes and “proofs” as to why they don’t work.
Mine do. Scam? Not the one I’m using.
Thanks Jeff for speaking up!
So you went from having $110 to $130 a month bill last year, to having a $10 to $30 bill this year???? Because that’s what a $100 drop is.
what device are y usinb
Hey Jeff
Which device did you purchase
Jeff!!! Mine started as a 12 % lower bill! Worked it’s way up to a bill that was 52% lower. My first year averaged about $45.00 savings per month!
I am a believer! The scammers, seem to be the power companies!
Thank you for enlighten me on this electricity saving box. I actually order this gadget but, i cancel it right away, upon reading your explanation on the gadget scam. thank you again by saving P2k
thank you for enlighten me on the electricity saving box and save me the P2k. salamat.
You are welcome
I once bought a box called powermaxx in manila at handyman, I bought it for 1,500 pesos. After 1 month no change in my bill, after 2 and 3 months still no change(I was starting to regret my purchase), but on the succeeding months my bill dropped by 30%. Plus i dont get busted chargers anymore. I think that the saving is more noticeable when you are using motorized equipment and power hungry devices like selectric stove and oven, hot iron. Im still using it and my bill never exceeded the 1,600 pesos it used to be 2000-2300 pesos a month. Plus i get clean electricity. I learned in some forums that it’s only a capacitor and it cleans your power making it more efficient.
A capacitor alone also draws current if put across the line, in order to get any form of cost reduction the majority of the loads in use must be inductive.
A capacitor does NOT draw electricity, it consumes the high spike of let’s say an electric motor during start-up of the motor (inductive current) then it is released back into the line voltage coming into your building so the capacitor is not using energy it’s absorbing the huge startup electricity of a motor then releasing the stored electricity in the capacitor back into your incoming line voltage. Then all that you’re paying for is the L.C.L. or long continuous load of the motor so the capacitors are saving you a huge amount of motor “start-up voltage” money. That is mainly on a huge 3 phase motor current draw. Plus a capacitor is wired in parallel. If it were wired in series then you would see an increase in current use.
A capacitor DOES draw current. That current is in antiphase with inductive currents, acting to reduce the supply current while not affecting the energy consumed by the load.
Thank you for this review. Am I right that they only plugs the gadget? If it is, then I think its only an additional load to my electricity bill. However if the appliance will go through the gadget or we plugs our appliances to the gadget and it will do the magic then I might believe that it works but still I need to know how its system works if its really what it says that helps decrease your consumption. Coz I believe that we can make something to lessen the consumption’s but I don’t know if conversions will work. But anyways THANK YOU for this info.
Yes, you just plug the gadget to an outlet.
your explanation about the gadget is good. tnx for the info.
yes! thanks so much for the explanation. It enlightened me about the gadget. Its truly scam.
Is there any electricity saving gadget/device in the market which is really work? Or none of them really working (just a scam)?
It is kind of like the elusive perpetual motion machine. If you really did not need all the energy that physics requires in order to move an object, you would have “extra” energy. Then you could invent flubber, because extra energy could be continually added rather than decreased. Unfortunately, reality requires a certain amount of energy to move an object, including factors like gravity, friction, and other things. The way to save energy is generally to ease a load as much as possible, with lubricated bearings, efficient circuits, etc., while the load itself always remains what it is. So, basically, the way to save energy is to get fantastically efficient devices that require less power to do the same work (e.g., use LED lights instead of incandescents for the same illumination, get efficient heating thermostats, and things like that). Of course, the other alternative is to simply do less “work”: turn off power when not needed, and don’t use power for anything that doesn’t need to be done. Similar savings methods apply for water and other utilities, combining efficient use with efficient non-use.
THIS is the best comment I have read! Turn off what you do not need. It will indeed save the most money!
I found that using LED lighting and unplugging devices will save a substantial amount of $$$ . even if your appliance is turned off but still plugged in a minute amount of current is still being utilized on a constant basis. Easiest method is to simply unplug the electrical devices when not in use. putting in a switch for the main guzzlers (electric stove, tv might save some $ over the long haul)
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The switch to led bulbs is the only thing I’ve done that has actually lowered the electric bill and after a few months the power company readjusts it’s billing to bring the cost right back up. I noticed the first bill after changing the fluorescent lighting in the garage to leds. Dropped that bill 40 bucks. “Two month billing here”.
The next waste of time that showed substantial savings was the solar panels. Once again, big savings first few bills and then the power company readjusts the billing to bring it right back up.
If you go solar only do it if you can get off the grid.
This so true and its with my water bill well. and I just don’t know what to do. My water bill came down dramatically after 4 people moved out and it only took two billing cycle and the meter now says me and my wife now uses 50 gallons combined daily. My system has no leak. I take a shower once a week during winter and twice a week during summer (excuse my hygiene) , I don’t have a lawn anymore, I even pee at a bucket outside and use it as catalyst to my compost.
The truest electricity saving gadget is YOU and your family. Turn off all lights and appliances when not in use. Your computer, TV, microwave, and other appliances will draw power if they are in the “off” position. It is best to unplug them or use a power strip that you can easily “disconnect” them from the wall outlet.
There is no “magic” solution. If you want a lower electric bill; use less electricity.
I agree with Peter, I purchased 4 of these so called energy savers about a year ago, and I absolutely no savings. When I first plugged the units in my bill dropped from $ 167.00 to $125.00. at that point I was convinced I had made the right decision. But I came to realize that the electric company had been sending me estimated bills because they wanted to change my electric meter. Once they changed the meter the bill dropped to around $30.00 because they refunded the extra charges they had been charging me. Since that time my bill is just about the same as the year before, approximately $120.00 per month. I believe it’s the electric company selling these boxes. Right now the are right where they should be (in the trash) I looked up various electric providers in my area and I chose the the lowest one I could find and locked into the lowest rate for 36 months. Now I see the difference in my bill it’s about $20.00 a month. I live in Fairfield County Connecticut and it’s still pretty chilly around here, and my bill is lower than the years before. Fool me once shame on me. they won’t get the chance to fool me twice. I’m one of the ones that says SAVE YOUR MONEY!
No.
even with a minimal energy savings due to power factor correction characteristics of this energy saving box,it is still a plus for the environment.the real energy savings is within us-we must save electricity to protect our environment and our children’s future.
You did not understand, minimal savings really do mean minimal, negligible actually.
Any resistive load will have zero savings.
On the inductive loads, such as the washing machine (excluding the heating element), the loss of electrical power in your house wiring is already negligible.
Power factor correction can then save mabe 1 percent or so from almost nothing. We’re talking about fractions of pennies!
If u really wanna save any of it, move the appliance closer to the power meter.
That way you also have a saving on the resistive portion (the bulk of high residential power used), albeit not much as the power loss in proper house wiring is already minimal.
When you consider the energy it takes to make and ship the scam box it has actually a negative total energy balance. It is a loss to your wallet and the environment.
Don’t buy it, and if you already bought it, return it.
then save mabe 1 percent or so
1 percent / month will be 12 %/year !
1% of 100 dollars is 1 dollar, per month. So 12 dollars per year saved from 1200 dollars is still 1%. Interestingly, though the above was a slip, this is how scammers work by misrepresenting the apparent facts. Here are the SIMPLE facts:
1. Your electricity supplier charges you at home for real power. Any talk of real and apparent power is irrelevant and any talk of power factor correction using such a unit is irrelevant.
2. If you plug this unit in and the light on the front glows, it is using real power or the light wouldn’t be on would it, so your bill goes up by definition, not down, as its real power consumption is added to your other real power consumption..
3. If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Do you seriously believe the power companies would allow a 50 dollar box from China to reduce their turnover by 50%?
4. If you could save 50% on your power bill with a 50 dollar box from China they would be wired into every house and your power company would have adjusted their rates to assure their profits already, along with smaller power lines, power stations, etc., so that their costs would reduce, making them even more profit.
5. For every 1000 people who see the plain facts of 1 – 4 above, 1 person will still believe you can get something for nothing and they are the scammers profit margin!
6. The scammers are wearing gold watches, driving big cars, live in big houses, have 6 figure bank balances, holiday 51 weeks of the year, drink champagne, eat caviar and sell these boxes the other 1 week of the year. How are you doing?
This is true!
Living in a third world country, these items are abundant and sold in volume because alot of people want to save money.
But the fact is, people are being conned by the notion that “you save x% on your bill”, you don’t because electric suppliers adjust the rates regularly.
No it won’t be. It will still only be 1% over a years span!
That’s not how math works, my friend.
If you save 1% of your monthly bill each month, your overall savings at the end of the year will be approximately 1% of your yearly bill, or approximately 12% of one month’s bill.
No it would not. It would still be 1%. But as power companies do not charge domestic customers for power factor it will make no difference to your power bill. The size of the capacitors in these units would make an insignificant difference to the overall power factor of your home. They simply do not work. They are a complete SCAM and the manufacturers of these devices should be prosecuted.
Thanks for the technical explanation. I was doubtful about this gadget from the beginning and of course didn’t buy it. I only wonder about all those enthusiastic user reviews, telling how less money they laid for the electricity. Are they all telling lies?
I am not sure that all of them are telling the truth. Actually, this gadget is maybe helpful on the following:
1. In a huge building that has very long wiring. Remember that this gadget is a power factor correction thus it will smothen the current therefore a lesser power dissipation due to the wire resistance. However, in a regular house, the saving due to the wire resistance is negligible. These advertisers should clarify the conditions when this device should have benefits. These advertisers are fooling people by saying they will save from their TVs, DVD/MP3 players electricfan and soon. These devices are having shorter wires only and not logical to have savings.
2. This device will have effect on high power motors and other current hungry tools. However, being a plug and play device is not that effective enough to provide a very good power factor correction. Another thing is that specific application will require a specific power factor correction as well. Then you have this product that is claiming to be a universal powet factor correction…it is not the actual situation.
The big mistake you are making is thinking that the device actually improves Power Factor.
The reality is that the box contains a 5 or 10uF capacitor, not some elaborate active circuit that magically adjusts to the need.
Power Factor correction must be done on individual pieces of equipment to be effective. However, even if done perfectly for each device in the home, there will be no change in the reading on the home’s power meter and thus no change in the charges from the power company.
Absolutely 100% scam.
Yes, they are lying.
Not the people from the comments, but the comments themselves are all fakes. For example, in one one the scam sites I reviewed, all comments were apparently from facebook. But, upon inspection of the source code of the page, you can seem the comments are not from facebook, the pictures are not from facebook, all fake. Try to post a review saying it doesn’t work, your post will never get to the page. All fake.
That is 100% correct. Also, no one should be surprised that scammers pay media folks to babysit their media posts.and reviews. They pull down any post that is negative so that only the “fake” positives remain.
I totally agree with you on the constancy of consumed power. Based on your analysis of the energy saving box as a capacitive circuit, it is still useful in reducing current consumption and heating effect on devices. Basically, I think power factor correction is a good thing. If you also consider a clime where power meters are low quality and poorly regulated, reducing current may actually reduce bills. This box might actually be useful after all.
Yes, I agree that this device may have use on specific application but not as advertised as universal plug and play power saver. I explained this on my reply above.
Just always keep in view that the % percentage always remains same. Either on high or low loads like, on 100$ you will save .30$ and on 300$ you will save .90$. The friend who wrote a very lengthy article above surely belongs to any electric supply company as he already admitted in para above the conclusion that it will give the loss to electric company. As you corrected the line loss of your home but the line losses are still there. Which the supply company is charging from you. Some times they also play game by reducing voltage so the current is increased by the appliances used by the consumers and they earn more money. Greedy and Cheaters. Earning money by cheating or misguiding others is bad and sin.
A power company would never reduce the voltage to cause customers to use more power. True motors might use more power but stoves and lights and other totally resistive devices would use less. Electric motors could also overheat and be damaged if voltages are too low.
voltage X current = Watt
or
P = V x I
If the watts increased it means your bill increased and vice versa. When your appliances drawing less current, it will reduce your bill too.
Haven’t you read the article? Multiplying voltage by current gives you ‘volt amperes’, NOT ‘watts’.. To get watts, you multiply voltage by current by power factor.
Berapa harganya, apa ada garansi apabila alat tdk berfungsi
Berpa de Silvio et atul! Etta de juta be poplicotly.
Danka tulli et joppa, juan
Good day sir.. do you have a review about this scalar energy sticker? I try to search it here if you have a post but no result.. They claim that it will save you 30% to 60% electric bill. I’m hopping that you make a review about it if you haven’t one yet.. Thank you…
As the device saves bill where high power equipments are used, is it recommendable to use at places like factories, cinema halls, malls etc?
The establishments you mentioned requires more powerfull design or product. A customized and designed specific power factor circuit will be needed, not just this plug ang play. I’ve been in the power electronics more than a decade and we design power factors corrections. No such PFC circuit that is universal to all. Well you can still use a working PFC to another circuit but dont expect the same performance.
No, PF correction must be done right, at the right place.
Done wrong or impromptu at the wrong place in the electrical network can even make it worse.
If you visit most of the blogs that advertise these products, you see testimonies from users who claim that the product works for them.
As an engineer, are you willing to dismiss these claims as placebo effect? Remember it’s money we are discussing here, and I do believe a full grown adult should be able to tell when they are paying less than usual in a bill.
Your theories are centered on the fact that electricity companies use the formular V x I x PF to calculate the power consumed.
You did not consider that this might not be the case world over.
What if in some countries, the power companies put the burden of power loses on ignorant consumers by charging them with Apparent Power (V x I), then this device will definitely cut their electricity bill significantly.
Thanks for your effort though, much respect.
But there are so many testimonies from my country that I would love to conduct my own experiment before I dismiss the product.
ThomasAquinas,
Thanks for your comments. My review here is based on the actual observations how the advertisers in our country did to convinced people to buy their products. These advertisers not even know what is power factor. For them, once the current decreases, the electric bill will then decrease. This is clearly a lie.
In my comments above, I did agree that these power savers will have a help in some way in a huge building or factory with inductive loads. In a large building, wires are longer and thus the resistance are higher. If there is no power factor correction installed, the current is very nasty and this will generate loss of I square R. However, a sophisticated power saving device not just the plug and play one is needed to realize the savings. If these persons you mentioned really saved money from their bills in using this product, then it is good and they should start using it. You yourself as well you can try if these power savers are really effective.
I don’t think if there is a country that charging electricity from the apparent power.
You may proceed on conducting your own study regarding the product. There was already a published article in the newspaper in my country the study result of 4 kinds of power saving device. It was conducted by one of the largest electric utilities in the country. According to them, the alleged power saver none of them are reducing energy consumption but adds load based on the meter reading. This is the link: http://www.philstar.com/cebu-business/2013/10/30/1250952/veco-warns-public-against-power-saving-devices.
Good luck on your own studies!
Electronicsbeliever – I support your findings but think you need to improve your presentation. I too am an engineer and understand the power factor. But most readers will either accept what you say without understanding it or just be more confused.
Here’s what I suggest – talk to customers about inductive devices, those which use motors. The bigger the motor, the more the inductive effect which increases the power factor. Resistive devices such as ovens, electric heaters, and the heating elements in clothes dryers will have no effect. There are only a few capacitive devices in the average home and they will be found in the control circuitry of your air conditioning unit, here’s why: this is likely the highest HP motor in your home, it is constantly turning on and off as the heat load changes throughout the day. Every time it starts up, it creates a large inductive surge in your power circuit, so they placed some capacitors inline to charge just before the motor starts and they are discharged every time the motor starts to reduce that surge.
I don’t know where else in your home you’ll find capacitors except in electronic circuits. Since these have been getting smaller and use less energy, I thik we can ignore them as a useful source of capacitance. But the modern home contains likely 100 motors from the water pump in a dishwasher or washing machine to the tiny motor that rotates the plate in your microwave oven and the fans that cool your PC. The second largest motor you’ll find is the pool pump which runs most of the time. Modern pool pumps have 2 speeds so the load is decreased whenever possible, saving you more money than this phony little capacitive device.
BTW, in engineering classes they told a story about an engineer who had a lot of heavy tools in his garage. So he built a rather large capacitor into one wall of his garage and he would activate it whenever he was using these tools. He saved a lot of money too, until the power company technicians figured out what he was doing and forced him to remove it. Not certain about the legalities of that, or maybe it was just a story.
Those testimonies are just fakes man. Try adding a testimony there saying it doesn’t work, most blogs you won’t be even able to post, if you do, your post will never get to the site. Simple as that, all fake, not real people, not real testimonies, try and see for yourself.
The “testimonials” are all fake.
this helps 🙂
thank you
HI,
Thank you so much for sharing such a nice article. Its really help a lot.
please keep sharing these types of articles in future as well. Thumbs up for a great work.
power factor saver , how much
GOOD WORKING & VERY GOOD IDEA.
Hi,
Nice article you’ve shared, indeed most of us do not got the basic idea of how’s this device actually works on saving the bills.
Perhaps you actually could give us some advice on how to really save the power consumption.
Thanks again for the explanation.
I knew a guy who saved on his power bill using four nails and two lengths of car jumper cable. The two years he served for power fraud meant his power bill was zero during that time!
Hello,
I saw videos on YouTube showing the electric meter slowing down with power saver switched on. How do you describe that? Is it also a scam?
Thank you
I didn’t see in your calculations any thing about imaginary power measured in VAR. the power dissipated in a purely capacitive circuit and being a capacitor is defined as 2 plates separated by an insulator is virtually impossible to pass current through it. Whereas Inductive circuits have wire coiled around a core which has a measurable amount of resistance. I taught College Electronics for 21 yrs. and to explain just one math function takes about 1/3 of a quarter to explain. That math function is called the vectorial summation. So the real concern is what does a power meter measure? On the meter It states it is measuring Watt hours a measure of P=IV times the number of hours it has measured which is what is displayed on the meter.
If you’re serious about reducing your electricity bill, get your home professionally insulated, including double glazed argon gas filled window panes, doors and window seals, sprayed polyurethane foam (SPF) on walls and ceilings, or R19 fiberglass ceiling batts or rockwool thermal blankets; install energy efficient LED lighting; install air conditioning compressor waste-heat recovery system, or solar heater for hot water. Air conditioning compressor heat pump to supplement home heating. And if you’re in a single family house, install solar panels on your roof.
people are looking for an easy fix not spending thousands. lol thats how scammers get us.
Undoubtedly true, but all of which undoubtedly costs much more than “wasting” a little electricity which should be one of our rights thus nobody is entitled to criticize.
If you’re heating water with electricity you can reduce the electric bill substantially by switching to an oil fired heater, or natural gas or propane depending upon which is available. I’m assuming that anthropogenic global warming does not exist and any warming that can be proven is part of a natural cycle. It has happened multiple times before.
Wish i had read this article beforehand!
Wish in had read this article beforehand. If something sounds too good to be true…
Thanks for your article.
I know it is a long time since it was posted but anyway I want to share my comments here.
I did the measurements myself. I have bought three types of this magic power saver. All of them are scam. I uploaded the measurements video in my youtube page but the language is not English. There are many many videos in the youtube explainig and proofing that this is a scam.
What I have concluded from the measurements I have done:
1. This power saver cannot reduce the power at all.
2. It may improve the power factor for only some devices. These devices are only the ones that use magnetic field to operate like flourscent lamps and some old air conditioners and washing machines (inductive loads). This is why we all noticed that the advertizers demonstrations videos are only applied on some flourscent lamps or induction motors. I didn’t see any video on using this saver with resistive loads or other electronic loads like PCs, TVs and phone chargers.
3. For resistive loads, the power factor is already unity. Connecting this power saver increases the consumption by less than one watt because the green LED lamp and the electronic components inside it.
4. For appliances like TV, laptop, CFL lamps… etc, the power factor becomes lower and the current increases which make the situation even worse. (The watt is of course constant in this case).
The conclusion is:
Don’t buy it
The voltage goes up and so does a fan run faster and when it does run faster due to pressure pushing amps then you use more watts and more cost but if the voltage is lowered then the watts will not be as high. Just try and see if 90 volts saves money over 125 volts and then you will know.
Why not reduce the voltage to 45, or better yet 0? You will notice that the power consumption is reduced to zero in the latter case. Of course then the fan no longer works. Is saving money more sacred than gaining the benefits of electricity?
I’m not using any power saver device. Just doing basic energy saving measures such as maximum use of daylight, practice energy management, etc. This save about 64%.
A few years later, Installed solar PV. And now my house is 100% save energy… Zero energy home
If you Really want to try one…they are about $5 on Amazon!
Hi,
I’m curious with this another electric saving device that this filipino inventor is promoting.
Could you please try to check on this too? thanks!
JL-Electic Saver : 20% to 30%
Also came here because of a facebook sponsored ad about JL E-saver that claims to save energy… it has a different concept from the previous power saving boxes but wanted to know it it’s real pr not.
@ Bill: THIS is the best comment I have read! Turn off what you do not need. It will indeed save the most money!
I got one recently.First 2 days green lights are on but on the 3rd day the green light automatically went off. I tried to chat with them but no replyThen yesterday , Meralco made an advisory not to buy that product because everything they are saying about it are not true.Now i realize that what i did is just a waste of money.The proper authority must do something to stop this bad doing.
pls show again the required fields. thank you.
I’m glad I checked here, but I am still seeking answers to my home’s high power consumption issues. No local electrician I have found seems to have the want or expertise to help me chase this problem down. 15 yo home, 3,300 sf, 2 combo heat/AC units, good insulation, Anderson windows, family of 4. Our power bills are stupid high, and I periodically hear a short lived buzz coming from my electric panel. Last June, the lower floor combo AC unit died. I have not yet replaced it. We haven’t worked the upstairs unit any harder and kept it nailed at 78 degrees. Upstairs about 1,200 sf, downstairs about 2,100 sf. Power bill didn’t drop as it should have. There has to be some power leak or loss somewhere in this wiring.
I know electrical problems are difficult to chase. Any suggestions?
Why don’t you put a meter on the main, start shedding loads to find where the current draw is. Electricity needs a path to get some where. It doesn’t leak out from the wires. I’d guess you have old appliances (refrigerator, freezer, dishwasher, washing machine, dryer or hot water heater) that consume the majority of your electricity.
I am just a recently retired electrician who’s worked in commercial settings doing power and HVAC work for over 40 years. In commercial and residential settings. First thing is have your utility check to make sure all their connections are good from the service back. This would include their grounding from the meter.
2) from your meter to your panel check all your panel connections make sure these are in good condition no discolored wires loose Terminals and such. Also check your ground at your breaker panel.
3) Turning off your Breakers and seeing where your current is the first things you should do. The other thing is Phase imbalance. By having an electrician read the actual current on each phase ( each leg of a Service is 120v reading both legs equals 240 volts approximately when measured across both phases) in the house or building this can give you an idea of imbalance. The closer you bring your power into balance the less excess current is going back on your neutral. In some cases this can save you up to 10% on your electric. This is usually for severely imbalanced panels. Then it’s a matter of moving your loads on to different phases. To do it more accurately you probably need a recorder to measure the amperage overtime. Whenever current goes back onto the neutral between the two phases is a percentage of wasted energy. Say your current load in a house at certain times could be drawing on one phase 50 amps and on the other phase you only be drawing drawing 30 the difference would be 20 amps showing up on your neutral. Ideally you try to get this down to the minimum, you can never truly balance a panel up because different things go on at different times. When you’re air conditioning is running the compressor is at 220 volts so the amperage is the same on both phases. The fan motor on the furnace though is 120 V which can put an imbalance but this could be offset by say your refrigerator running on the other phase. Now the savings you think would be more but as stated before the power meters in your house are looking at KWh and they are compensated for power factor but when there is a large imbalance this will show up as wasted power and you will get charged for some percentage of that.
If you want to reduce your power bill then solar panel are the biggest source in saving your electricty and reducing your electricty bill. Solar panel is a very important energy source in the move to clean energy production.
The effect of the current lagging the voltage is the increase in the “imaginary” current which increases the I^2R losses and generates additional heat in the windings of an electric motor. I have worked at power plants for 32 years and all sites have huge banks of capacitors that can be adjusted to keep the power factor close to 1 (current and voltage in phase). There is a meter in the control room that indicates the relative phase of voltage and current. The imaginary currents do heat up the stator and rotor and are a big concern for the longevity of the turbine generator.
Home AC units have capacitors built into the circuit to align current and voltage since the largest loads are motors for the compressor and fans and are highly inductive. Frequently these capacitors (AKA phase shifters) fail (the dielectric degrades) and the motor will draw excessive current which overheats the motor and degrades the insulation between the windings which then destroys the motor.
When I saw this device, I thought it is was just a controller for a much larger capacitor stored elsewhere. There is no way that little device could hold a capacitor that would have any appreciable effect on the loads in a house. While the results published showed a change for load of 145 watts or so, that is trivial compared to the 1000s of watts for a home. Capacitors for an AC unit are the size of a beer can.
Has anyone every measured the capacitance of this device?
Thank you for the education. I was brought to this site to determine if the advertised devices would be effective in reducing our business electric bill (livestock producers), which is calculated by # of days in billing period x kWh x 80 (multiplier) + demand charge, measured in kilowatts (KW) included on large power accounts and reflects the highest average 15-minute flow of current during the billing period.
We cannot change the power company’s formula for billing, nor the surge of the fans, motors, and radiant ceiling heaters, used. We have caulked (400+ 11 oz tubes per 50′ x 400′), spray foamed, and sealed every crack, crevice, doorway, b/w cinder block and wood walls, which made improvement in drafts but no significant reduction in consumption.
What credentials do we look for in exploring an electrical engineer for guidance and upgrade? Such as a larger capacitor, as Joe discussed. Suggestions greatly appreciated.
Is this the same type of scam? https://buytrustpower.com/
Excellent article! To be honest I didn’t know the concept of power factor before this but I somehow knew that there is no ‘magic device’ that will help you to save electricity and money on electricity bills so never really believed them. We, however, use a device called Ohm Assistant to ‘monitor’ the power consumption of our devices. This comes with a smart meter that they fit in home meter and once the set up is complete, you can see the electric usage of individual devices in real-time on your smartphone. I think this is a great alternative which can actually make you realize your consumption and then You can take steps to correct the faulty devices either by repairing or replacing them. It’s UI on phone is decent as well. If you want, you can learn more about this product here: https://ohmassistant.com/
We purchased a powersaver devise. Within a couple days our cell phones started getting very poor or no connection in our home. At first we chalked it up to Covid-19, thinking everyone was at home on their phones and the airways were over loaded. After a couple weeks of frustration we decided to do a test and unplug the two devices. Within 24 hours our cell phones had four bars and full reception. Anyone else experience this problem?
This so called money saving electrical unit does not work period. So Im requesting a refund for this unit. Please send me instructions for a return item. You have a lot of unhappy customers so get off the program and refund our money.
Another sucker they had lifetime warranty and result guaranteed . I got this phone no. 18558060893 this line has been busy every time I have called. Is their away to talk to someone about refund Thanks
Have the people post copies of their electric bills that show before and after the device was installed.
Bud
I just got my electric bill after using these pieces of s___ and my electric bill has DOUBLED!
i bought 4 got bill it incresed by 100 bucks scam wtf
So glad i read these comment’s before ordering!
I am getting ads for a power saving device called Voltex that costs a whopping $78 as i am reading this article
I am getting ads for a power saving device called Voltex that costs a whopping $78 as I am reading this article!
Let me break this down: When your fridge or microwave or washer (any large appliance) kicks-on, they draw a heavy load from the circuit. In older homes, you’ll see the ‘light dim for a moment’. You plug in capacitor(s) and they will draw a slower current of power in to “charge up”…which increases your usage/bill momentarily. When they are fully charged, power draw minimizes to almost nothing. So now that charge in the capacitor(s) is sitting there, waiting to discharge in to the circuit when there’s a sudden power draw (like the microwave coming on). What they call “clean” power is just really a more robust voltage ready and waiting to serve a spike in usage. Savings occur when the ‘sudden demand’ for electricity from the circuit is supplemented by this device’s existing charge. And it’s slower recharge rate (compared to when the fridge’s compressor kicks in, for example, which is a hard, fast consumption of electric) helps lower the stress of electricity moving back in to the lines from the power company. Energy Star appliances generally have this capacitors in them already; and if you have robust voltage flowing thru all your lines (copper wire is way better than aluminum wire; appropriate gauge wire that’s not too large or small)…the savings won’t be noticeable. However in MY CASE, I’m 500 feet from the power company’s transformer and all my incoming power is running thru too-small gauge wire…and everything is old and inefficient, I DO BELIEVE in the benefit by having these things plugged in! So in conclusion, it’s a scam when they make you think it’ll help everybody’s electric bill! And you MUST compare same-months from past years, not compare month-to-month in the same year! I want to hear you comments on my opinion!!
Scam!!! Do not buy this! I bought and when I plugged in, no lights, no anything, this is sample plug in.
Why are comments clearly promoting fraud published on this site??
Soon as I saw this ad, I new it was fake.. I was cracking up……. BUT look at all the money they or he/ she is making. Scam n real people… it should be a crime…. Person/people should get into trouble!!!!!… just say n
I bought 4 of these and only 2 of the 4 lite up/worked.
Frank, did you observe significant savings from your electricity bill?
This device worked for me and it maintained my bill the same after it reduced it dramatically within 3 months. I noticed the device works very well on appliances that has a heating filament like stove, curling iron, hair dryers. It has no effect on most modern appliances that labeled energy saving compliance and LED devices that doesn’t dissipates heat.
This is interesting Joe. Good for you.
This was/ is good info. Thank you! Now could you do some web pages to clear up this whole Santa Claus thing?
awesome
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN REAL LOAD(S) AND REACTIVE (LOADS) !
BEWARE AND DONT BE A VICTIM OF “SNAKE OIL” ADVERTISERS AND MARKETEERS