You are correct.
It is a con.

It might be a similar device to the one describedhere:



http://yarchive.net/electr/green_plug.html

Baldor,

What a cracking link!

Breaker,

I agree with the above - I can't imagine how it could possibly work, and even if it did, to what end? It is probably targeted at domestic users because it would be shown up as a fraud quite quickly by the industrial users who would see that it caused no improvement in their reactive power usage when they received their bill. Domestic bills don't show kVA, so the manufacturer can claim whatever he wants, as few will have the means to prove otherwise.

Can you get hold of one and test it? Send the results to the BBC's Watchdog programme and see if they'll feature it. Might make you a TV star too - more money and less aggravation than being an engineer!

This is the same thing as "energy savers" touted in industrial circles as well. There are lots of threads devoted to this in the Electric Motors and Controls forum, most of which will show up under a keyword search of "energy saver". Here is one of the latest.

Thread237-74129

The upshot is that although they work in theory, they are highly impractical. The only electric motor in a common household that could possibly be effective would be the refrigerator, but being a sealed intetgrally lubricated motor there are inherant dangers associated with using them there.  The link above is a good testament as to the likely result (although I disagree with some specifics of his conclusions).

Just to help you understand the terminology, by saying they are PF controllers does not mean they controll PF, they measure PF and USE it as the determining criteria for deciding that it is OK to reduce voltage to the motor. This saves a small, and I mean very small, amount of energy losses IF the motor is unloaded. The problem is, not only are the savings a small percentage of a small percentage, but when do motors run unloaded for long periods of time?

Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati

ScottyUK

I thought i would send details of the company and the product to the Trading Standards Agency. The company claims they have sold millions worldwide, and they have a fairly decent website which looks professional, and they have been putting leaflets in our local paper. So I wouldn't be surprised if they have put similar advertising material in other local newspapers around the UK.

I don't think i can mention the name of the company here, unless the site administrator will let me. Otherwise you could all see what a scam it is.

The unit costs £49.99 so i don't really want to spend that on testing.  They also claim that there is a money back guarantee if it doesn't save you up to 25% of your electricity bill. But i have looked at their terms and conditions, and it is a real hassle, with you needing to produce previous bills, and the money back period is only 3 months, which is hardly enough time for a thorough test.

Hi jraef,

The units you're talking about serve individual loads and 'improve' their characteristics, but the item Breaker is referring to seems to claim to do this for the whole house, without any CT or similar to sense load current. My initial reaction was that it might be using principles similar to the active harmonic filters which draw reactive current in antiphase to the load, but this doesn't work without any current measurement, and wouldn't be available for £50.

Breaker,

Can you post the weblink? I think Dave (Staff) would let us make our own judgement. This has happened with a number of these 'power savers' in the past, although they seem mainly confined to the US up until now.

www.ep-systems.co.uk

Suggestion: The questionable power saver should be analyzed what is its principle of operation, circuitry, and application intent. It is often seen that advertised products do not deliver what promised or some additional measures must be taken for the product to deliver what is advertised.

"You will reduce your electricity bill by up to 25%"

Anywhere from negative infinity to 25%. No lies there.

"Fully compliant with all major safety standards...The device can store energy for up to 10 seconds after it is switched off, therefore wait for at least 10 seconds between switching off the mains and un-plugging the device."

Guess those standards need some work.

Is this thing a box of capacitors, relying on most loads being inductive?

The whole thing sounds like bull5h1t as far as I can see. How on earth does it measure the current in the whole installation in order to correct the PF?

Also amusing!!

On the advertising leaflet they distributed, the following words were printed "Fully Complaint with Safety Standards"

I have wrote to the company with similar queries as above. Below is the reply i got back. I think they are still talking rubbish!!

Thanks for your email and your questions. Here are the answers to your questions.

1. Reducing KvAr means that your devices will work more efficiently and that they will not waste energy in the form of heat and other losses etc. KVAr has an impact on the total KWH which can be worked out from the vector diagram. Also please note that just because most of the electricity meters say KWh on the front, it doesn't actually mean that you are charged for KWh only.

2. Our device uses filters and capacitor banks. As all the rings and nodes in the house share a common neutral line from the distribution point onwards, our product with its unique patented technology automatically senses and reduces the reactive power consumed by various appliances. Please note that the power factor should ideally be close to unity.

To show our confidence in this technology and to offer our customers full peace of mind, we offer a unique 'buy with confidence' 3 month money back guarantee. You can purchase the unit and use it for 3 months. If after 3 months, you feel that our product has not saved you money on your electricity bills, you can return the product to us and we will refund you your money.

If capacitors are placed on a branch that has no inductive load, the losses will be increased because the current on that branch will increase I_total²=I_resistive²+I_capacitor².  The only loss reduction would be in the wire between the service panel and the meter, a large, short wire with little losses to reduce.  Even if placed ideally on the outlet where an inductive load like a refrigerator is plugged in, the loss reduction will only occur when the refrigerator compressor is cycled on; there will be a loss increase when the compressor is cycled off.

The bit about "please note that just because most of the electricity meters say KWh on the front, it doesn't actually mean that you are charged for KWh only." is total bull sh**.

It gets better. From the legal section:
 "all warranties, conditions or other terms whether express or implied by statute or common law or otherwise are excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law.In particular We make no representation or warranty that the Goods are either of satisfactory or merchantable quality or fit for any purpose or that they conform to any description."

"In particular We make no representation or warranty that the Goods are either of satisfactory or merchantable quality or fit for any purpose or that they conform to any description."

WOW! That is the biggest disclaimer I have ever seen! Basically, it is saying "Everything we say can be total hooey and becasue we told you that now, we are not responsible for you believing it."

What planet are these guys on?

Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati

Poor Frank. (Nola)
  

Suggestion: Visit
http://www.thomasregister.com
and type Energy Saver under Product or Service, which will return categories of energy savings with associated number of companies offering their products.

busbar,
I agree, he must be spinning in his grave. It just goes to show you that even with the best of intentions, there is always a way for someone to make your contribution into a detriment to society.

This subject has prompted me to change my sig line.

"Venditori de oleum-vipera non vigere excordis populi"

jraef,

It's a long time since I did Latin.

Snake-oil salesmen do not << ??? >> the people?

Snake-oil sellers can't thrive without ignorance (of the) populace.

"Venditori de oleum-vipera non vigere excordis populi"

Drats!  My computer translated it as Fry floor tiles on both sides and serve with dressing.
  

Announcing a NEW PRODUCT!

The amazing "Power Squeezer" (TM) is so effective at reducing energy that it will save 100% of the power consumed by your machinery. Thats right, not 10%...not 25%... not even 75% savings. When activated, it will COMPLETELY ELIMINATE YOUR POWER BILL !!!

Power Squeezer (TM) is sold exclusively by Oleum-Vipera Industries. Click on the link below for descriptive information.

Act Now! Energy is Wasting!
http://www.asi-interconnect.com/products_and_solutions/...

"Venditori de oleum-vipera non vigere excordis populi"

Thought I'd take a stab before checking the link. I know it's "new" and "exclusively sold," but does it look anything like a switch? Now I'll look.

Suggestion: There is one more thing that has to be noticed. There are salespersons who do not understand much technical aspects of a product; however, they sell it successfully. Perhaps, a little rhetorics in the product commercial can do the trick.

Sounds like a Flux capacitor to me!

I think that you guys are unfair!

The main objection to this device seems to be: "How on earth does it measure the current in the whole installation in order to correct the PF?"

The answer is that it is done exactly the same way as PFC circuits in PC power supplies does it. There are similar products from reputable companies like Vicor and they work with an active front end with a switcher that makes the input current follow the input voltage so that the current drawn is a pure sinewave with zero degree phase-shift. This makes the PF (both distortion PF and displacement PF) equal to 1, which we (I hope) all know is a better situation than consuming short chunks of current, which most "normal" PSUs do. I have measured PC and automation PSU that have PF down to 0.55. VFDs are also known to have very low PF - especiely when idling.

I did look at their home-page and the "box" seems to be a "half shoe-box" unit, which implies that there is room for DC link capacitors and some power electronics. So I do not think that this is a scam at all. Most Power Factor Correction units need that kind of space.

It is very well possible that other companies are in snake oil business, but I do not think that these guys are. Their claim about 25 % saving might be on the high side, though.

skogsgurra

I think you have missed the point and similar to many people would be tricked by this. Would you buy this device, now that you think it will save you money?

If you read the previous posts carefully you will realise that the device cannot measure current for the whole house from an empty socket and thus correct PF.  Also, even if it could correct PF, UK homes are charged in kWh and not kVAh so correcting PF will not save on your electricity bill.  I am not sure how electricity is charged for residential users in other countries, but I assume it is likely to be charged on kWh.  Industrial users are charged on kVAh so PFC works for them.

I have given the details of this product and company to the trading standards agency to investigate, but they seem very slow, and have not yet looked at it in detail. I might try BBC watchdog if nothing comes of it, soon.

Answer to Breaker.

No, I do not think that I would buy one of those devices. I am not plagued by bad PF.

Of course it cannot measure the whole house, only the load after the device. Is that the point that you think I missed?

I am not saying that this is a super product, and I agree that the marketing is a bit exaggerated. But - and this is important - I do not think that it is a scam. It is one among other PFCs that probably does a decent job if you have lots of non-linnear loads in your home.

Do you have other informations?

Hi skogsgurra,

I know what you are talking about, but from the http://www.ep-systems.co.uk website I'm not sure that their product is what you think it is. Have a look at the Power saver -> Installation & Size page on the website.

This is a verbatim quote from the website:
All the circuits are connected in parallel at the distribution point. Installing the EPS power saver unit at any point (anywhere within the premises) within these loops will reduce the power loss and therefore reduce the electricity bill.

In a typical house, connecting capacitors across the supply would probably improve the PF, but since the domestic user isn't billed for reactive load this is probably not relevant. Without some sensor at the service entry I don't see how it could be controlling anything or be acting as an active filter.

The quote also mentions 'loss' although it doesn't specify which losses. The claimed benefits of the unit are seen at the service entry, so the I^2R losses within the building wiring could actually increase if the unit increases the current flow in a previously unladen circuit. The losses could drop if the circuit the unit is connected to also served an inductive load.

I wonder if it is a clever ruse by the distribution network operators to improve power factor on their network at the expense of their customers .

-----------------------------------

Start each new day with a smile.

Get it over with.

Breaker, just to do all your homework on this, it may be a good idea to review the applicable residential electric tariff/rate schedule.  [On the North American continent, almost every utility has this information posted at their web sites.]  Having documentation assuring that residential customers in your area are billed for kWh (only) can only help your case.
  

Hi busbar,

UK domestic users don't give a damn about power factor 'cos we don't get charged for it. As Breaker is considering approaching the BBC, and the manufacturer has a .co.uk website, I think he's very likely UK-based.

Do some US utilities charge domestic users for reactive load? It is a totally alien concept to a Brit.

-----------------------------------

Start each new day with a smile.

Get it over with.

Scotty, in the US, I know of no utility [although there are bunches of ‘em] that charges residential customers for any kind of reactive-power use.  In some cases North American utilities do install meters that can be programmed to measure reactive {or apparent} energy and power, but are used simply to minimize their meter inventory.  Time-of-use watthour [and possibly watt-demand for the odd large home] is the most complex residential tariff I know of.
  
The point of suggesting digging up tarriffs was to cover all bases {making no assumptions} should it become a legal or widely publicized matter
  

RESULT!!!
I finally got a reply from the Trading Standard Agency, here it is.

Croydon Trading Standards have held a meeting at their offices with representatives from Efficient Power Systems.
The implications of a wide range of legislation was discussed with them, including descriptions and safety of products;  unfair contract terms and distance selling obligations in connection with their products.
At the moment their energy saving device is not being sold and in future the company does not intend to sell directly to individuals.  The company was advised to modify their website in this respect.
Test certificates from a Singapore test house for various components were examined, together with other tests made by the Company.   The company was advised to have the product independently tested by an accredited test house in the UK.  The company have agreed to look into this.
 The company was advised that when stating savings, to state a typical saving and to qualify the type of appliances being used.  The company will be monitored.

Excellent work Breaker. More people should get involved in holding back the flood of misinformation coming through the internet. I voted you another star. Take it to your boss when it is time for review!

"Venditori de oleum-vipera non vigere excordis populi"