Electricity Usage Reduction... any electrician-types have any input on this product?

I edited out the brand name to avoid this post looking like an advertisement. But any electrically knowledgeable folks have any feedback on these claims:

The [name removed] Single Phase unit is custom designed for residential applications. The [name removed] unit reduces peak demand, kW demand charges and kWh usage by an average of 18-25%. The unit stores and recycles electrical energy and reduces line loss resistance by increasing the capacity of your electrical system.

The [name removed] unit works by reducing the amount of power that you draw from your utility company. Electric motors draw much more power than they consume. This extra power creates the electromagnetic field that allows the motor to run. It is then dissipated in the form of line loss. This power is sent back through your breaker box and meter until it reaches a transformer. The process repeats itself 60 times every second. The [name removed] unit intercepts this once wasted power and recycles it back into the system. As all of your motors operate this power is “pulled” and “pushed” to and from the [name removed] unit by the motors, therefore the amount of power required from the utility company is greatly reduced. You’re A/C unit, refrigerator, freezer, washer, dryer, chillers, fans and pumps will use substantially less electricity and run 10 degrees cooler.

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• • 
    [*=left]Single Phase
    [*=left]Utilizes Self-Healing Low Loss Capacitors
    [*=left]25 Year Design Life
    [*=left]20 Year Warranty
    [*=left]Surge Suppression - 2000 Joules
    [*=left]Typical Protection From: Electrical Storms, Lightning Activity and Power Utility Spikes
    [*=left]Let Through Voltage - 150V line-to-neutral
    [*=left]Load Rating - 200 Amp
    [*=left]Six-Way Electrical Protection
    [*=left]EMI / RFI Noise Reduction 0-40 dB
    [*=left]UL, and CSA Listed
    [*=left]LEED Certified
    [*=left]ROHS Compliant

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If it truly can reduce kWh usage by even 15% it would pay for itself pretty quickly @ a cost of $400...


Edit to add: If I'm reading the claims correctly, it sounds like it is basically a battery or capacitor(?) that reduces line loss to resistance/heat by simply by being in close proximity to the devices drawing power?

Complete fantasy.

Figures, and was what I was expecting to hear, thought I'd at least ask.

it works by removing your money from your wallet. if it was possible to store electricity until it's needed. we would have some really awesome solar units.

SableZen said:

I edited out the brand name to avoid this post looking like an advertisement. But any electrically knowledgeable folks have any feedback on these claims:




If it truly can reduce kWh usage by even 15% it would pay for itself pretty quickly @ a cost of $400...


Edit to add: If I'm reading the claims correctly, it sounds like it is basically a battery or capacitor(?) that reduces line loss to resistance/heat by simply by being in close proximity to the devices drawing power?

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missed one edit,lol grosave!!!

art of our goal with the Mapawatt Blog is to review the best products that can save energy and water in your home. Product developers know that as energy costs rise, consumer’s budgets get tightened, and people start to care more about their environment (the trifecta of sustainable drivers), those consumers are going to want products that help them save energy. But do all these products live up to their claims?One of these products is a power factor correction device and can be seen here. This product claims:However, I’m not buying it. There are two great resources on-line that address this same issue. One is Energy Star (page no longer available) and the other is a blogger I’ve been reading for 4 years and has a great section on electricity, Michael Bluejay. Both of these resources say power factor correction really won't help on your residential bill. It can make a difference for certain industrial users who may be billed by the Utility for peak demand, but this is another story (and it is addressed in the Bluejay article).To go a little deeper, the formula for Power Factor (PF) is below:The power factor correction devices are said to improve the second half of the above equation, the Apparent Power. However you don’t pay your utility for Apparent Power. You pay them for Real Power (Watts). Apparent Power is defined as the total power in an AC circuit, both dissipated AND returned! (Scroll to the bottom of this link to view the power triangle and description of Apparent, Real and Reactive power). This means that if you currently have a poor power factor, your Apparent Power is higher, but all this means is that you are returning more unused electrons to the utility! But since they only charge you for used electrons (dissipated electrons = Real Power = Watts) you don’t give a hoot about your Apparent Power!Let’s take an example of 2 completely identical motors sitting side by side. Both of these motors have the exact same efficiency and operate at 1.2 kW. The first motor doesn’t have a power correcting device. The second motors does have PF correcting device.

• Motor 1: 1.2 kW motor, connected to a 120 V circuit, PF = .7
• Motor 2: 1.2 kW motor, connected to a 120 V circuit, PF = .999 (this has the Power Factor correction device, thus the excellent PF!)

Using the equation above we can show the amps (current) that will be dissipated in motor 1:
And we can do the same thing for motor 2:
But this doesn’t mean you’ll pay less to the utility! All this shows as that your power factor increases (gets better) your amperage decreases, but the Real Power (Watts = what the utility charges you) stays the same! Therefore no matter your power factor, in residential settings the utility is still going to show that you took the same amount of Real Power off of the power lines, so that is what you pay.
I’m not the only site questioning the validity of Power Factor correction devices. Open4Energy has a great review of Open4Energy: Power factor correction Scam. I should note that it is in their “scam” section!

Hello. I happen to be a registered electrician. I'll try to explain my thoughts in clear language (English isn't my primary language).
When using AC power, inductance and capacitance of different elements in the circuit cause minor, temporary reversals in the direction of the energy flow. The "right" direction flow of energy is called - Real power. The "wrong" direction, which returns energy to the source is called Reactive power. Real power is usually the printed, nominal power of different devices. It is measured in Watts. Reactive power is almost of no significance to the home user - it is measured in "reactive Volt-Amperes". The square root of the sum of squares of both powers results with the Apparent power - this is what generators produce. The proportion between Real power and Apparent power should be high (because the electric company wouldn't want to produce power that goes to waste, would they?). It is called Power Factor or Cos(theta). Capacitors are usually used to correct the inductive power factor and bring it as close as possible to a ratio of around 1.0. Industrial consumers are forced to correct their PF by the electric company. Where I live, a consumer with PF lower than 0.92 pays 4 (!!) times larger electric fee. This applies only to large scale consumers. Since household electric devices come with a very good PF>0.8, our local electric company does not demand any specific PF. Installing such a device would save a little energy, to the electric company. Your power meter is probably only resistive, and as such measures only Real power consumed.

In a nutshell - I believe the discussed product is BS ...
Hope I helped.

CAPSLOCK said:

Installing such a device would save a little energy, to the electric company. Your power meter is probably only resistive, and as such measures only Real power consumed.

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Thanks for the detailed responses. That sentence above says everything I need to know to avoid those products. Such scammy marketing.

chuck estevez said:

missed one edit,lol [name removed]!!!

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Oops, missed it. =P