Power Saver -- Reloaded

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SC1959

SC1959

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Alabama
I have read many posts here on the Power Saver product. Over the weekend a friend dropped by that does residential. Well he gave me a power saver and asked me to check it out because he did not want to sell snake oil and thought I might be able to help. I told him that we are not penalized for power factor, so the only way I thought it may help is increase the efficiency of inductive loads on a home,

My Test:
I mounted and connected the power saver to my service distribution panel.

I connected HIOKI 3197 power quality analyzer and recorded adding the power saver unit to the circuit and removing it from the circuit.

It was 97.7 DEG so both my Ac Units are running which gave me a significant load to measure.
(Before - A=38.3 I / 120.9 V / 4.0K W / 4.6k VA)
(After - A=35.6 I / 121.3V / 4.0K W / 4.3k VA)

Personally I don’t see a money tree of power bill saving here.

Screen Shots and pictures below. Also I wanted to say thank you to all the posters on this forum. I can always learn something reading this forum. Thanks to all. I hope this helps shed a little light on the power saver issue.

screenshot with psaver off
1H3197_1.jpg


screenshot with psaver on
2H3197_2.jpg


Screenshot of PC software looking at some of the recorded data
3PS-061609.jpg


The Hookup on my home.
4HPIM1729.jpg
 
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Can you monitor it for a longer period than what you posted? It would be good to see what happens over 24 hours (or longer). Even better to capture both weekday and weekend day periods, assuming the home's occupancy changes.
 
090617-1928 EST

catchtwentytwo:

A longer test period is not needed. The power measured did not change yet there was a substantial VA change.

If the power measurement had higher resolution I might expect the power reading to increase slightly with the Power Saver connected because of the resistive losses in the Power Saver capacitors.

In another post somewhere on this site I showed the losses of a small oil filled capacitor.

.
 
Thank you

Thank you

There have been words a plenty stating that capacitors may improve power factor but will not reduce energy consumption, and as a result, will not reduce a customer's bill. Your test helps make that case. Though, I am sure "true believers" are not swayed by facts.
 
Standard kwh meters do not register what capacitors correct, so the meter won't slow down because of them.
 
gar said:
090617-1928 EST

catchtwentytwo:

A longer test period is not needed. The power measured did not change yet there was a substantial VA change.

If the power measurement had higher resolution I might expect the power reading to increase slightly with the Power Saver connected because of the resistive losses in the Power Saver capacitors.

In another post somewhere on this site I showed the losses of a small oil filled capacitor.

.
Click to expand...

I'm just curious if the amperage drop is sustained over time. I've heard that some of these "savers" initially show some value drop on power-up, albeit usually VA.

Wouldn't it be ironic if the darn thing actually wound up using more power as time goes on?
 
At the request of the OP, I have removed the off-topic replies and am reopening this thread.
 
Your KW stayed exactly the same 7.6kw with, 7.6kw without. Same utility cost with and without.

When your house doesn't have two compressors on and you are drawing 10A of resistive load you should test the unit. You will probably get a capacitive power factor which will increase your kva. If you have inductive load then the capacitors help to cancel it out, but if the inductive load isn't there then you are paying to charge and discharge the capacitors.

Plus if you put the capacitive bank right at your panel there is 10' of wire between your panel and the meter where you would get your I^2R savings. You wouldn't see any benefits in savings between the panel and a/c units.
 
Unfortunately, probably for the same cost of purchasing one of those gimmicy items, one could make an actual intellegent decision and install some low-E windows, better insulation, compact fluorescents,or roof vents that would probably make more difference on their electric bill than such a total waste of engineering product. They might as well have created another perpetual motion machine.
 
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