Kevin,
Thank you for revealing that some "power-saving" TV ads are nothing more
than snake-oil pitches. What is never explained clearly is that these
"green machines" simply lower the voltage until the motor (usually in a
washing machine- which spends a lot of time lightly loaded) is drawing its
current nearly in phase with the applied voltage- bringing its power factor
close to unity. However, that does not save any money, because the work of
sloshing the water around has not changed, and therefore the kWh has not
changed. The snake-oil pitchmen hope that the "unwashed multitudes" will be
so blown away with the smoke and mirrors act that they will part with their
hard-earned money. Not only will these devices not save any money, but they
will never provide any return on the investment of the purchase price.
My former next-door neighbor was the stereotypical patsy for every such "as
seen on TV!" scam, and he must have spent thousands of dollars on so-called
"Fire Injectors" ("Run your car without spark plugs!") to magnetic water
softeners ("Get infinite soft water without using any salt!"). It never
ceases to amaze me that there are so many naive people in the world!
I will now reveal to the Repeater-Builder list members the sure-fire way to
reduce electric bills: Get rid of that clunker refrigerator or freezer in
the garage! Case in point: A co-worker remarked that his electric bill was
about $120 per month, while mine was about $55. When I learned that he had
an old (1955 vintage) Norge freezer in his garage, I lent him a portable kWh
meter for a couple of weeks, to measure that freezer's power consumption.
It turned out that the one Norge freezer was responsible for just over 1/3
of his power bill! On my urging, he turned it in to PG&E for a rebate and
bought a new "Energy Star" freezer. In less than four months, he saved
enough on his electric bill to pay for the appliance. A word to the wise...
73, Eric Lemmon WB6FLY
-----Original Message-----
From: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:repeater-buil...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Kevin Custer
Sent: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 4:54 PM
To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Repeater-Builder] OT Power Factor
I took the time to view their short video.
http://www.power-save.com/1200.html <http://www.power-save.com/1200.html>
They show the "Amperage" to the load (a motor) is changed with and
without the Power Saver. Notice I said Amperage not KiloWatt Hours.
KWH's are not referenced in the video, and is what you actually pay for
for most residences.
I wasn't sure exactly what the meter they were using was reading, so I
downloaded the manual and read through it to see what was being displayed:
http://www.tequipment.net/pdf/LEM/2050_man.pdf
<http://www.tequipment.net/pdf/LEM/2050_man.pdf>
Page 14 tells the story here...
If you look closely, the hand-held meter is simultaneously reading kW
(the upper most reading). In the first demonstration, the kWh reading
does not change with the unit on or off. In the latter two
demonstrations, the kW reading GOES UP. I'm uncertain why the kWh
reading (the reading closest to the bottom) doesn't show the change,
maybe the meter takes a while to recalculate .... Smoke - Mirrors...
So, you pay $300 (plus installation) to benefit the power company;
which you get nothing in return, other than it possibly costing YOU more
money on your electric bill.
Kevin Custer
List Owner
