Capacitor effective for homeowner?

[mccoach]

Can anyone tell me if capacitors sold to homeowners are truly effective in saving money on the resident's electric bill?

Moderators note; manufacturer and model number of particular device removed

 

[charlie b]

This has been discussed on this forum before. Feel free to do a search, and you will find as much discussion as you could wish.

The short answer is that this product will not save the typical homeowner any money. That is because the typical homeowner is not charged an extra fee, by the serving utility, for having a low power factor. Look at your own electricity bill, and you can confirm my statement. The HO is charged for kilowatt-hours only. These types of products (and there are several out there) cannot change the amount of kw-hr a home draws in a month. So it is a waste of the HO's money to invest in one.

 

[Jraef]

This has been discussed on this forum before. Feel free to do a search, and you will find as much discussion as you could wish.

The short answer is that this product will not save the typical homeowner any money. That is because the typical homeowner is not charged an extra fee, by the serving utility, for having a low power factor. Look at your own electricity bill, and you can confirm my statement. The HO is charged for kilowatt-hours only. These types of products (and there are several out there) cannot change the amount of kw-hr a home draws in a month. So it is a waste of the HO's money to invest in one.

And yet, these scam artists persist in peddling their wares... it's amazing to me. I understand that the concept of power factor is difficult for a lot of people to fully grasp, but what gets me is that the FTC cannot seem to stop these people from making false claims of energy savings and allow people, who most likely can least afford to waste money, to be fleeced, yet they can seem to be able to stop someone from making false claims about wrinkle cream or sexual enhancers, where the "victims" are likely people who are not going to be too worried about money.

 

[weressl]

And yet, these scam artists persist in peddling their wares... it's amazing to me. I understand that the concept of power factor is difficult for a lot of people to fully grasp, but what gets me is that the FTC cannot seem to stop these people from making false claims of energy savings and allow people, who most likely can least afford to waste money, to be fleeced, yet they can seem to be able to stop someone from making false claims about wrinkle cream or sexual enhancers, where the "victims" are likely people who are not going to be too worried about money.

The power of words.

I read one of the site's description and amazingly theynever told a lie. They even had a Universtity study verifying their claims, and it was legitimate. They acurately described what will happen with the addition of the 'energy saving' device. They NEVER talked about how much is it expected to save the customer.(Approx. 0.1% per monthly bill.) They overwhelm the laymen with 'fascinating' data and at the end the guy has so much to digest that he winds up unable to focus on the key issue: M-O-N-E-Y.

Typical 'Rainbow' vacuum cleaner sales tactic, the oldest trick in a snake-oil salesman's repertoire.

 

[Jraef]

The power of words.

I read one of the site's description and amazingly theynever told a lie. They even had a Universtity study verifying their claims, and it was legitimate. They acurately described what will happen with the addition of the 'energy saving' device. They NEVER talked about how much is it expected to save the customer.(Approx. 0.1% per monthly bill.) They overwhelm the laymen with 'fascinating' data and at the end the guy has so much to digest that he winds up unable to focus on the key issue: M-O-N-E-Y.

Typical 'Rainbow' vacuum cleaner sales tactic, the oldest trick in a snake-oil salesman's repertoire.

I know what you mean. I read one study done on the other big "energy saver" scam of resurrecting Nola Power Factor Controllers. Some legitimate engineering firm did a very thorough study, came to the correct conclusions that there were no appreciable energy savings and EVEN STATED THAT THE THING ACTUALLY USED MORE ENERGY IN ONE CASE! But it was a very complex report with real engineering data that would be difficult for the average layman to understand. The scam purveyors published the report with such flourish that I think most people never actually read it, assuming that if it contradicted their claims, they wouldn't have provided it! But it DID contradict their claims. Funny as heck to me.

 

[weressl]

I know what you mean. I read one study done on the other big "energy saver" scam of resurrecting Nola Power Factor Controllers. Some legitimate engineering firm did a very thorough study, came to the correct conclusions that there were no appreciable energy savings and EVEN STATED THAT THE THING ACTUALLY USED MORE ENERGY IN ONE CASE! But it was a very complex report with real engineering data that would be difficult for the average layman to understand. The scam purveyors published the report with such flourish that I think most people never actually read it, assuming that if it contradicted their claims, they wouldn't have provided it! But it DID contradict their claims. Funny as heck to me.

I just don't know how do people like that get up in the morning and look into the mirror. Or maybe they all have long-long beards.....

 

[fjrivera]

The short answer is that this product will not save the typical homeowner any money. That is because the typical homeowner is not charged an extra fee, by the serving utility, for having a low power factor. Look at your own electricity bill, and you can confirm my statement. The HO is charged for kilowatt-hours only. These types of products (and there are several out there) cannot change the amount of kw-hr a home draws in a month. So it is a waste of the HO's money to invest in one.

Just a quick qustion regarding this topic. I know the power authority do not charge homeowners for low power factor and that capacitors for a house is not recomended and may not be needed. But, maybe you can clarify this to me.

Does power authority charge you using new digital meters by measuring the consumed current and supplied voltage? Like VA instead of KW?

I'm traying to understand the difference between old meters (where you will have a metal wheel) and new digital meters (using current transformers?).

I know that for a house the pf is almost one and capacitos are not recomended but what you are really charged for KVA or KW?

 

[rattus]

Neither:

Neither:

I know that for a house the pf is almost one and capacitos are not recomended but what you are really charged for KVA or KW?

You are charged for energy used which is measured in kilowatt-hours, (KWH).
You are confusing power and energy. Power is the time rate of energy usage.

The unit of real power is the watt.

The POCO meter integrates real power over time to obtain energy which reads out in KWH.

The unit of apparent power is the volt-ampere.

 

[Jraef]

And just to clarify, both types of meters use CTs. The difference is in how the information is processed; wheels and gears or A/D converters and a mP. The net results are the same. The only real widespread change coming with the new electronic meters is what is called TOU metering, for Time of Use. They will have the right to charge you more during peak usage hours. That and the ability for the meter to send its information directly to the utility without a reader coming out to your property.