Energy saver BOX. Does it really works ?

[asking]

Hello,

I have seen many electric box saying..its saves your energy by 25% for your inductive loads....what actually inside it ? Because some companies charge it $120 and ebay.com chinese are selling for just 5-7$. Whats actually inside the box ? i think a Capacitor ? which can really change your Power Factor of Inductive loads like Refregerator, AC or PUMP. does this really works ?

 

[tpetar]

Capacitor, and works on inductive loads as motors to correct power factor.

Also active power factor correction can be good at small and strong inverter welding devices on single phase.

Rest is bad marketing.

Search EDABoard threads, there is topics about this, I post some materials and circuits for this.


:wink:

 

[ZASto]

Snake Oil :lol:

 

[Centmo]

Yes, it would be capacitors.

This would most likely increase your power factor and decrease your peak apparent (kVA) power. This is because a low power factor, due to inductive loads (usually motors, such as the compressor in an A/C unit or your fridge, or in any fans, even CFL lamps) puts extra strain on the electrical distribution system, even though the customer doesn't consume any more energy than if their power factor was a perfect 1. Picture it as capacitance and inductance interacting with each other, passing energy back and forth without actually consuming any of it. So, energy is going into and out of your house, inductive loads interacting with the transformer outside. All the wiring and transformers have to handle this extra current. Now, if you put a capacitor bank inside your house, then you will have less energy bouncing into and out of your house, and some now bouncing between your little box and your inductive loads. You can think of it as a mass on the end of a spring, bouncing back and forth. When the mass is moving, it has kinetic energy, like electrical current flowing through an inductor. When all of that energy is converted into potential energy in the spring, the mass stops moving. The equivalent is that the voltage on the capacitor has increased and the current through the inductor has stopped. It then reverses direction, and the stored energy is put back into motion in the other direction and so forth. Energy moving back and forth but not being consumed. This is the reactive component (kVAR) of apparent power (kVA). The other components is real power (kW), which actually does get consumed. If you draw a right triangle, the base would be real power, the height would be reactive power, and the hypotenuse would be apparent power.

Now, industrial customers are billed for (real) energy usage (kWh) AND peak apparent power (kVA) because they are such large consumers of energy, and the power company's equipment outside must be sized to handle peak apparent power. Therefore, industrial customers often have large capacitor banks to improve their power factor, reducing their energy bill.

Residential customers, however, are billed only for real energy usage (kWh), so as far as I know, this box wouldn't save you money.