Worth £14.95 or just a Gimmick?

[Chrisoldinho]

http://www.windtrap.co.uk/energy-saving-devices/power-factor-reducers/power-factor-reducer/

What do you think?

Should I buy one?

 

[johntheexpat]

http://www.windtrap.co.uk/energy-saving-devices/power-factor-reducers/power-factor-reducer/

What do you think?

Should I buy one?

Con.
No explanation of how it works or what it does. You plug it in and two green LEDs light up. And then?

Of course it may be a brilliant leap forward in high tech energy saving which I just don't understand.

 

[Sonic67]

Power factor correction is something needed for fluorescent lamps to stop them being inefficient.

This might explain it:

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/industry/bestpractices/pdfs/mc60405.pdf

(The explanation with the horse is pretty good. At college it was explained as being like ordering a pint of beer. If it had a large head on it it was still a pint but was less real beer.)

From what I can remember both current and voltage follow a sine wave. If the two are together it's efficient. If not inefficient. A capacitor added can sort it out. A factory with a lot of motors might have a bank of capacitors to sort it out. In the home the only real thing is a fluorescent lamp and a capacitor in the fitting does the correction anyway.

So I'm not aware of anything else you might have in the home that would be particularly bad and if an appliance was, then the problem would be solved by adding a capacitor to the unit by the manufacturer anyway.

 

[robh2002]

Power factor correction is something needed for fluorescent lamps to stop them being inefficient.

This might explain it:

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/industry/bestpractices/pdfs/mc60405.pdf

(The explanation with the horse is pretty good. At college it was explained as being like ordering a pint of beer. If it had a large head on it it was still a pint but was less real beer.)

From what I can remember both current and voltage follow a sine wave. If the two are together it's efficient. If not inefficient. A capacitor added can sort it out. A factory with a lot of motors might have a bank of capacitors to sort it out. In the home the only real thing is a fluorescent lamp and a capacitor in the fitting does the correction anyway.

So I'm not aware of anything else you might have in the home that would be particularly bad and if an appliance was, then the problem would be solved by adding a capacitor to the unit by the manufacturer anyway.

Some time ago I measured the power factor on 5 or 6 different manufacturers of CFLs and found them all to be above 98%.

 

[Bio Man]

Scam, if the component was inserted into the electricity supply before it got used and some how transformed a lower voltage into a highter one then yes it could work, but by pluggin it into the mains electricity at the end of the circuit makes no sense. Other than a typical fake re-assurance that it is in it's self a magic box... Doubt it! Have a good day all

 

[visitor22]

Power Factor Energy Saver - £14.95

What do you think?

Should I buy one?

Yes you should, they do save energy.. How much though will depend on how much energy you are using...

One thing though, if you switch one off, wait a while before you unlpug it, or tutch the plug

The price is good, many others around cost a lot more