Power perfector - I'm sceptical

[matthew.larkin]

Anyone come across this in their professional lives?

seems straightforward enough, and great - if it works. Can it?

Matt

[meow2222]

> It seems straightforward enough, and great - if it works. Can it? >

it works by reducing the ac voltage to the lower end of the 230v tolerance limits. This has several effects:

Filament lightbulbs - these will drop in efficacy as well as output. Higher power bulbs are needed to restore the light output, so this wastes energy.

Fridges/freezers - lots are designed for 240v, not 230. This will be liable to overheat and fry. Newer 230v units wont save energy.

Cookers - thermostat means same energy use while cooking. Slower heatup means more energy use during heatup.

Tools - will run at reduced power.

In short, bit of a gimmick. There are ways to save power with boxes that apply to specific loads, but there isnt really anything that will work for all a house's loads.

NT

[Matty F]

> It seems straightforward enough, and great - if it works. Can it? I looks like it may be an ordinary constant-voltage transformer. The output voltage from a CVT remains constant within a volt or so even though the input voltage may vary from say 170 to 270 volts. These work by becoming increasingly more inefficient as the primary voltage increases. So at 230 volts a CVT is not very efficient. However a CVT is great for a a device that doesn't like a supply voltage that changes often, e.g. a laser connected to a power supply running lifts or heavy machinery.

[matthew.larkin]

rperfector.com/

That all chimes with what I had expected - but the list of references etc does add an air of credibility to the proposal.

The reason I ask is that I help to run a large residential site; our annual electricity spend is c. =A3160k pa, so if we can save 13% as many of the other users claim I can bank close to =A320k savings - well worth having!

I guess it depends on the nature of the electricity usage - we don't run a manufacturing plant, so most of our usage is "domestic" in nature - lighting, cookers, washing machines, PCs etc.

Our maintenance manager is keen to investigate as he came across them at a trade show.

Matt

[Dave Plowman (News)]

The large power users in most domestic type premises are the heating ones. And since pretty well all of the energy which goes into this is used efficiently, I doubt you'd see any savings there. After all reduce the energy to a cooker etc and it will just take longer to heat up and the thermostat kick in.

As regards lighting, if you're already using efficient sources like CFLs or modern fluorescents, better ones of these aren't voltage dependant since their internal power supply will compensate for voltage variation.

I can see them being worthwhile in some factories etc where industrial processes might be more efficient with a tightly controlled supply.

[Lobster]

>>> It seems straightforward enough, and great - if it works. Can it? >>

To be fair they do say you need to have a bespoke analysis done on your premises (see

(and AFAICS they are claiming it's appropriate for a domesticv setup); and they do say "We guarantee to save you money in line with our ROI predictions on your first installation or you can have all you expenditure back provided the decision is made within 3 months"

David

[Man at B&Q]

werperfector.com/

So, tell the supplier you'll buy one if they will deposit the purchase price in escrow for 12 months until it proves it's worth. Don't accept a written guarantee since you can't be sure they'll still be trading in 12 months.

MBQ

[Appelation Controlee]

Unimpressive - for proper magic take a look at this:

[Bob Mannix]

As the "technical area" describes it as a three phase device, I can't see how one would use it effectively/efficiently in a domestic environment. There may be some power factor stuff and the movement of motor cores away from/out of saturation, which could deliver some benefits but, as others have said, in the case of makng your heaters less hot and your lights less bright you are better off just turning down the thermostat and fitting dimmer bulbs!

[Dave Liquorice]

no snake oil there. The prices are a bit steep but I bet they don't sell many to the UK anymore. They used to be fairly common but since mains water is now almost everywhere they aren't required.

I'm not so convinced about the powerperfector though.

[Tim Downie]

Perhaps he meant "magic" as in seeming to do the impossible but actually working rather than claiming to do the seemingly impossible and but not really doing it?

Tim

[meow2222]

Well, there are several known ways to save energy. Usually some of them are worthwhile, some not. But its not going to be as simple as wiring a box in.

NT

[Appelation Controlee]

Credit where it's due, but not to me in this case. ;-)

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember [e-mail] saying something like:

>It seems straightforward enough, and great - if it works. Can it? I have something along similar lines from Claude Lyons - a Stabilac LVC

500, which is a line voltage condtioner, but makes no claims to do other than stabilise and filter line voltage.

Actually, the latest incarnation of the website does make those kind of claims, and to an extent they are true, but they're still not the main reason I would buy one.

an LVC it works very well, and I'm happy enough with it, but I wouldn't say it's saved me any money directly. Indirectly, it probably has, for in conjunction with the UPS it feeds it's prevented electronic hardware failure several times in the past few years.

[john hughes]

How much would it all cost to install.. im not convinced as i own an 150 yr old hotel but it is expensive to buy/install..

Thanks

url:

[Harry Bloomfield]

john hughes explained on 03/08/2009 :

save electricity' from the 29th July.

[NT]

[carl myers]

Yes, I think they are a good company, and have heard them commended by Jonathan Porrit too. simple idea but it does seem to work

url:

[Tabby]

energy, but he never came back on it. If I were spending 160kpa I'd certainly be doing an energy audit and looking at a few options.

NT

[Peter Parry]

You probably would as they seem to sponsor some "awards" you dole out via eddie.net (and of course awarded one to them) . They also seem to advertise with you.

Anything commended by Mr Porridge is probably fairly dubious but by "heard them" I presume you mean "read the press release I wrote" (or was it Kimberley Webster Marketing & P.R. for Power Protector?).

Took you a long time to reply - the message you quoted dated from January.