Power Saver: Does it work? Is it safe?

[lolex]

Hi there, 

 

I bought this a few years ago ... Please see attahed pics. 

 

It's a Power Saver device and the demo I saw was quite convincincing. Havinv got it home, I put it in the cupboard and forgot about it. But with power prices rocketing I thought I might give it a try.

 

But I don't want to burn the house down! :

 

Does it work? Is it safe? 

 

Thanks! 

[janclaes47]

Those "things" pictured in the OP definitely work and are great at electric savings, especially when the power is turned off.

 

 

Oh yes, and Santa Claus also really flies through the sky on a sleigh at the end of December.

[Crossy]

Snake oil I'm afraid.

 

The theory is that you can improve your Power Factor by adding capacitance (the square black things). But, unless your PF is really, really bad, your meter will read your consumption just fine.

 

I seem to say this a lot, "not condoning illegal activity" but :-

 

Some older meters do get confused by heavily capacitive PFs and can slow down or even run backwards (equally they could run at double speed)

 

By all means try it (on an extension lead, outside the house), you may get lucky.

[lolex]

13 minutes ago, Crossy said:

Snake oil I'm afraid.

 

The theory is that you can improve your Power Factor by adding capacitance (the square black things). But, unless your PF is really, really bad, your meter will read your consumption just fine.

 

I seem to say this a lot, "not condoning illegal activity" but :-

 

Some older meters do get confused by heavily capacitive PFs and can slow down or even run backwards (equally they could run at double speed)

 

By all means try it (on an extension lead, outside the house), you may get lucky.

Thanks Crossy.... that explains why it worked at the demo I saw (in the market)  555... I checked all the power connections and there was no dodgy gizmo involved. 

 

You say "By all means try it (on an extension lead, outside the house), you may get lucky." 

You mean it really might catch on fire?? 

 

Yikes!! 

[Crossy]

Well it does have a fuse (assuming it's not got a nail in there).

 

Actually, I meant that you may have a meter that it affects.

 

Personally I wouldn't give it house room but in reality I doubt anything nasty will happen.

[lolex]

Thanks Crossy.... I checked... no nail... a bit of foil, so she'll be good! 

 

I might give it a try next weekend  then. I guess run the meter with and without -  for a set number of hours and a known,  steady draw.... 

 

It'll be interesting.... I'll report back.... 

[RichCor]

3 hours ago, lolex said:

Thanks Crossy.... I checked... no nail... a bit of foil, so she'll be good! 

555

I'm hoping the foil you found was a bit inside the glass tube, not "wrapped around it ".

[Wirejerker]

WARNING ..sorry about the capitals but i needed your attention....that is a storage device and it can hold a charge big enough to kill you. It does have a resistor to discharge it but whether it takes 5 seconds or 5 minutes I don't know. When you unplug it the prongs on the plug will be live for that time.. the resister is probably not rated for 220v so it can burn out making the discharge time longer.
Stay Safe
Cheers


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[Jdietz]

If those are actual capacitors and not stone bricks they may indeed affect the power factor of a single incandescent bulb used for demo purposes significantly enough to confuse a cheap meter.

Won't do anything with a bit higher load though.

 

[Artisi]

The greatest power saving device is an on/off switch, in the off position the power saving is fantastic.