Energy saving device

[hockeyoligist2]

Just curiuos, what is the price?

 

[audiocableguy]

Not sure yet, will get a quote on Friday. I don't think they are cheap. My scope was stolen so I can't get a visual on the output . It is a cap bank from my understanding. The unit installs in the AC unit on the compressor side only and not on the fan motors. You turn on the AC and wait for a long term average on the bill.

Very few companys offer this "technology". My gut feeling tells me to back away.

 

[charlie b]

They are (accurately) describing the impact of a (properly sized) capacitor on the operation of a motor. Yes, a capacitor will bring the power factor of the motor closer to one. Yes that means that the motor will be exchanging energy with the capacitor, instead of with the utility. Yes that means less energy costs, lower heating, and the other benefits they describe.

Snake Oil? No.

Do they have something special? No. It's quite ordinary.

Is their product worth the price they will be asking? I don't know, but I doubt it. You can find a hundred other products that will do the same thing.

More importantly, you might not need any such product at all. The cost of buying, installing, maintaining, and occasionally replacing their device might be more than the cost of the energy it would save you. Also, as motors go up and down in load, and as they are turned on and off, the need for capacitive compensation varies. I have no idea (and I don't plan to read their literature to find out) whether their device can automatically compensate for changes in motor loads. I also have no idea (but I strongly suspect it is true) whether their product creates a harmonics problem as the motor load varies.

 

[charlie b]

Not sure yet, will get a quote on Friday.

WARNING, WARNING:

If by any chance their proposed price is based on a projection of energy savings, and if they need to take before and after measurements in order to come up with that projection, then call security and have them physically escorted off the property.

 

[petersonra]

Maybe 25 years ago there were some little drop-in buttons being sold for light bulbs that claimed to save energy and extend the life of bulbs dramatically. Looked like a little rectifier bridge to run the bulb on a choppy DC waveform.

thats exactly what they were. worked great for increasing bulb life.

 

[petersonra]

Not sure yet, will get a quote on Friday. I don't think they are cheap. My scope was stolen so I can't get a visual on the output . It is a cap bank from my understanding. The unit installs in the AC unit on the compressor side only and not on the fan motors. You turn on the AC and wait for a long term average on the bill.

Very few companys offer this "technology". My gut feeling tells me to back away.

my guess is that the reason very few comapnies offer this technology is that it is a tough sell.

it is true that improving your power factor can reduce your energy usage but for the typical residential user it does not matter much. residential users don't pay for poor power factor like big industrial users do.

if you really wanted to imrpove your power factor, a VFD set at 60 Hz would make it near to unity. probably cost about what the capacitor bank does.

problem with VFDs is that when a motor is lightly loaded the semiconductors only conduct for part of the cycle. this results in some very strange current waveforms that can strain distribution systems.

 

[ty]

Not sure yet, will get a quote on Friday. I don't think they are cheap. My scope was stolen so I can't get a visual on the output . It is a cap bank from my understanding. The unit installs in the AC unit on the compressor side only and not on the fan motors. You turn on the AC and wait for a long term average on the bill.

Very few companys offer this "technology". My gut feeling tells me to back away.

You're not in Delaware, are you??