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Joined: Jun 2004
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I don't need no stinkin box to save money on my 'lectric! All I gotta do is plug these here orange cords in my neighbor's house when he ain't lookin!

Seriously, I don't know how these things work, but even IF they did reduce power, it wouldn't be worth the price of the special box. Also, I don't trust this thing, I just hate plugging into cheap plastic boxes, unless it's a lamp on a timer... that's about it.

If you want to save money, the best thing to do is stop using electricity. Do your washing by hand, don't watch tv, don't listen to the radio.....
No thank you, I'd rather pay for my 'lectric and watch TV.

Of course, I bet the inventor of this thing doesn't even use it. He can pay his electric bill with the money he makes when foolish or uneducated people buy these little boxes. (uneducated meaning they are uneducated on the truth of products like these)

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Greg Fretwell
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Quote

Power Save Device improves the power factor by reducing the amount of electricity that is used from our utility company. This is accomplished by supplying electricity locally at the load by the use of specially designed capacitor. These advanced capacitor store the additional electricity needed for stabilizing electric current within an inductive load.

Therefore, the amount of electricity used through power factor optimization will be greatly reduced and resulting in power savings.

It's a capacitor.
It MAY help correct your power factor, but it will not lower your bill unless you are billed with a KVAH meter. Since 99.9999% of you have a WATT hour meter (which couldn't care less about the P.F.), it won't affect your bill other than the miniscule amount of line loss in your wiring.
It will only make you money if you have stock in the company selling it.

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If this is the NASA circuit it will save you money, assuming you have a lot of motors idling without a load. That is not likely in a home but it could make a difference in some industrial applications. That was what this was designed to help.


Greg Fretwell
Joined: Jul 2002
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Every house I've ever been in has a power saving device, its called a switch, use it and save [Linked Image]

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very house I've ever been in has a power saving device, its called a switch, use it and save

This is the best advice (and the least expensive) you'll ever hear.

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These things are not even as sophisticated as a Nola device (not that they work in resi applications either). These cheap Chinese boxes are flooding the market with wild claims, but are nothing more than a capacitor. They do NOTHING to reduce the power bill. They appear to reduce current, but only because they improve power factor. In China, maybe they charge all users for poor power factor, but in the US and most other Western industrialized nations, they do not. So even though the amps will go down, the kW, and thereby the kWh as read by the revenue meter, will NOT change. Most homeowners have no clue however, so they buy it and think that it works. By the time they figure out that it doesn't, the snake-oil seller they bought it from is long gone, and the manufacturer is untouchable in China.


JRaef
Joined: Jul 2002
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OK,
So it plugs into the wall.
How does that help my permanently connected Hot Water Cylinder and my permanently connected Range?.
The first being rated at 3kW and the latter rated at 12kW.
Having a thing like that plugged into a wall socket is going to do not a great deal for all of my loads.
I have to agree Paul, it sounds like the good (snake) oil to me!. [Linked Image]

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I wonder... if you put the entire house on a dimmer, how much money could you save? Dropping from 120V to 100V would theoretically reduce instaneous power by about 30%- light bulbs would dim, TVs would dim, etc. Of course, heating elements putting out 30% less heat would have to run 30% longer and it would be a wash with that respect. Would a homeowner see much real-world savings from this? I'd imagine some, just from lower lighting costs, but those can be cut even more by using flourescent bulbs. I don't think a whole house dimmer would work out too well...

[This message has been edited by SteveFehr (edited 01-05-2007).]

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Steve,
Quote
I wonder... if you put the entire house on a dimmer, how much money could you save?
Would that be a large rheostat or a Triac/Diac based thing?.
One thing I do know is that motors do not like being under-voltaged.
Anyone with AirCon will tell you that any under-voltage will trip out an A/C unit just like that.
While the voltage may drop, the current rises in sympathy.
It is also harder to start an A/C unit with a lower voltage, without tripping breakers.

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