Comments on: Electricity Saver

By: Myth Buster

Myth Buster — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 08:32:22 +0000

Vince,
Have you done any tests on actual residential installations using plug in Power Correction Devices? As far as I now – Power correction can only reduce electricity costs in industrial situations.
This post was put up to inform consumers of SCAM electricity saving plug in adaptors which promise outrageous discounts off consumer electricity bills. Out of the 3 consumer devices tested – this has not been the case. With proof from electronics enthusiast magazine Silicon Chip.

By: Vince

Vince — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 23:10:36 +0000

Just a note for Sparky. I totally disagree with you. From ALL the tests and actual installations we have done, POWER FACTOR CORRECTION REDUCES KILOWATTS AND KILOWATT HOURS.

By: sattvfan

sattvfan — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:56:52 +0000

Does anybody please educate me on how to calculate the energy consumption..
Say I have a 300 W television, which to my understanding is 300 W per hour (Please correct me if I am wrong) and that for me to consume 1.2 kwh, the tv has to be turned on for 4 hours straight, right ?
(Because 300 W x 4 = 1200 W, which is 1.2 kW).
If this is correct then the cost of watching TV for 4 hours is only about 7 cents (~6 cents per kwh in where I live)
Thanks
Cheers

By: JG

JG — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 10:09:08 +0000

I have noticed a similar device has turned up on graysonline.com for on line auction. it guarantees 10% money saving for a comparable period or your money back! Big claim but I wonder how you prove it?
I agree that absolutely these things do not save you money for the reasons already stated.

By: Sparky

Sparky — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 08:58:33 +0000

Edwin tan – i think it is your electrical engineering that needs refreshing. Correcting power factor will not reduce the real power (kW) it will only reduce the reactive power (kVA) which (through the sum of the vectors) reduces the apparent power (also measured in kVA).
There is no, and will never be, a device that you can plug in to an outlet that can reduce your kWh power consumption. That being said, an energy monitor can help you identify which devices are using the most energy (kWh) and help you to reduce your consumption by turning off energy hungry devices when not in use. For example ~25% of an average homes energy consumption is due to standby power.

By: Ed Ratican

Ed Ratican — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 12:37:47 +0000

Thanks for all of this info. Its a great help. How can I reduce my electric bill.

By: How To Spot A Psychopath :: Useless "power savers": The saga continues :: June :: 2009

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 18:30:57 +0000

[...] Electricitysaver.com.au used to sell plug-in power savers, until they realised they were a scam, apologised to their customers, and handed out refunds. Now they sell one of those things that just turns off “vampire” devices. [...]

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 27 May 2009 02:07:52 +0000

Well I was sucked in with a quick click now button – I actually thought it was a monitor that informed you of power through appliances ie: plug saver in and the appliance into saver. When I opened it and started reading the brochure it was immediately apparant that is was all rubbish and so the Power Saver and brochure were filed under rubbish in the WPB. At the same time I unsubsccribed from TopBuy the people who peddled this garbage to me. BTW- I have signed up for 4KW solar system

By: Myth Buster

Myth Buster — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 22:12:34 +0000

Edwin,
The point is power factor correction will not save you money in residential installations.
We’re not claiming that these products do not fix the power factor, we are claiming that it will not REDUCE YOUR ELECTRICITY BILL as customers are only billed in KWHs.
For some expert reviews on these products, contact Silicon Chip magazine from the links above who have done REAL labratory tests on these types of products and have proven that these products DO NOT WORK!
If you want to save electricity – look at renewable energy options – Solar & Wind..

By: edwin tan

edwin tan — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 17:08:37 +0000

Your understanding and electrical engineering experience is really limited. Perhaps you have not even graduate from any university. If power factor is corrected, the real power will decrease accordingly. This is common sense as the phase angle reduces.

So you website better do more homework before disclaiming that it is a fraud.

Edwin