Anyone ever hear of this, thoughts ?

[frayne]

Power-Save Energy Corp.- Save Energy, reduce electric bills, power save, save power, power-save, , low electric bills, lower electric bill, lower, electric, bill, lower heating bill

 

[pfpelican]

I googled power-save 1200 scam and got some hits. Smells like a scam.

 

[pfpelican]

This site has quite a lot of sceptical stuff on it:

Mike Holt Newsletter

 

[JohnP]

Apparently this technology is attempting a come-back. The technology was invented years ago by a NASA scientist; the main application was in large motors used in continuous duty in factories. The brochure mentions huge savings in home applications using 'inductive equipment'. Well, if you or your business has a lot of 1-5 horsepower motors running continuously, then this product is for YOU. For the rest of us it is not really applicable. The biggest motor in my house is the half-horse motor in the heating-air conditioning fan blower unit.

I got a plug-in home unit around 20 years ago. I tried it on my refrigerator, as suggested and couldn't really notice any savings - eventually, it affected the unit so much that the refrigerator stopped cooling. The big fix then was to unhook the plug-in allowing the refrigerator to get full power factor again.

I'd say it is not really a scam but I believe that you would have to have an unusual household for this product to begin to be effective and cost saving.

JohnP

 

[TromboneAl]

The stuff in their video doesn't make sense:

"Ever notice how some of your electrical appliances give off heat [woman seen noticing heat coming off the top of the TV]? The Power Save 1200 supplies you appliances with just the power they need, and no more!"

That doesn't make sense to me. The TV gives off heat because of inefficiencies in the electronics, and changing the power to that TV isn't going to fix that.

They show a toaster in their video. Above explanation not relevant for a toaster, unless you want it to heat the toast less.

Finally, it would be very easy to measure the effect precisely, but I don't see that.

 

[Nords]

Kinda light on the technical details, aren't they?

But it's "As seen on TV!"

The power factor just expresses how much of the power delivered to a load is tied up by the load in capacitive or inductive losses. The PF can be adjusted by adding or removing... uhm... inductors or capacitors, and I bet that this gizmo relies on at least one or the other.

But once you've hooked this load into the circuit, it starts using some amount of power on its own as a resistive heat loss.

If it keeps consumers from wasting the energy they buy from the utility, you'd think the power companies would rather buy this device and store it with the oil industry's 200-mpg carburetor...

Power factor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[chinaco]

I wonder if there is the possibility it could damage the appliance?

I am skeptical!


There are probably other ways to economize by adjusting your behavior in ways that do not affect your comfort.

Wash in cold water... Unless you clothes get really soiled, today's detergents are pretty good in cold water. This alone would save a fair amount. Low volume shower heads.

The washer is more expensive, but a front-loader uses less water (if you need hot water).

 

[Nords]

The washer is more expensive, but a front-loader...

They're starting to show up a lot on Craigslist. I was surprised by how much dryer power the washer saves through spinning the clothes nearly dry.

 

[ERD50]

They're starting to show up a lot on Craigslist. I was surprised by how much dryer power the washer saves through spinning the clothes nearly dry.

I think that is where the real savings come from, esp an electric dryer.

Some people claim big savings because they are supposedly gentler on your clothes, don't know.

-ERD50

 

[Gumby]

This may help to evaluate the claims made by Powersave 1200.

www.energy.ca.gov/reports/2003-09-15_500-03-073C.PDF