No...it may save trivial amounts of energy, but it's basically a scam.

Here is a link that might be useful: Nitro saver

ALL these power saver devices are scams.

word

Spammer trying to advertise his scam device. This post should be deleted or at least his link removed.

These guys are worse than dandelions in the lawn.

NOTHING seems to kill them off.

Maybe the FTC is busy ...

I can assure you I am not a spammer trying to sell anything. I was considering purchasing the device but I wanted to find out from people in the know if the device did what it was promoted as doing.

Some people, like myself, who don't really know about these devices are HONESTLY looking for advice from others who KNOW better. Isn't that what HELP forums are for, asking others who KNOW so those of us who DON'T know won't make mistakes?

I've seen many a spammer on here, but just from reading the op and clicking on his profile, it's obviously a legit question. lol @ joed and brickeye's responses. Makes me want to go out and rent "Grumpy Old Men." I didn't even click the link, but anything that says nitro saver is probably a scam. Point is, a lot of people on this forum see an op and automatically think it's an ad. Trim your eyebrows and try not to think everyone is not out to get you.

For only about the tenth time ...

Residential power is NOT billed based on power factor.

Adjusting power factor will do NOTHING for your residential electric bill.

This device will do only one thing, take money out of your wallet.

aceh,

Try not to get offended. There are so many times, spammers posting in the forums with a link to their junk. They usually ask a question and then link to a site and it can sometimes get suspicious looking. The folks that thought you might be a spammer know you're not now and will surely help you understand these devices and techniques that do very little for you and yet, a whole lot to get your money.

Brickeye, Where do you get your electric billing info?

Electricity is billed based on Killowatt, regardless of whether you are a business or residential customer. You can negotiate a lower price per kilowatt which would affect your monthly bill, but the cost is always based on kilowatts used. The nitro, and devices like it are used to capture and recycle unused energy flowing thru your house which would result in a savings because the kilowat usage would be lowered. There are other products that do what the nitro does. The website you listed claimed that The nitro would result in a 50 percent deduction in your electric costs, I believe that is a very enthusiastic percentage. Typically these devices show a savings of 10-20 percent, so it will take some time before you recoup your investment. I would recommend to you to search for more devices so you can comapre price and product. But yes, They will help you save money!

Sheilamb, you are mistaken.

I will start by telling you that you are questioning a very knowledgable member of this forum. Brick knows his stuff.

But that's OK. What's important here are three things.

First, let's get one thing straight. Energy is measured by and billed on the basis of kilowatt HOURS, not kilowatts. The latter is a measure of power, not energy. They are not the same.

Second, the devices in question claim to improve power factor. Improving power factor requires proper configuration for a particular combination of loads. It can't be done effectively by a simple pre-configured factory-made gadget.

Finally, even if these gadgets really DID improve power factor, it wouldn't make a whit of difference in your measured energy use or your electric bill. While improving power factor really is a good thing, reducing the effective current required to produce a given amount of power for your house, it's not something you get rewarded financially for.

This is because residential electric meters don't respond to power factor! Only in commercial installations does power factor matter for billing purposes.

Because your electric meter doesn't measure power factor, IF one of these gadgets did by coincidence work for your particular combination of loads, it would benefit the utility company without actually lowering your bill. Thus, if they DID work, it would be in your utility company's best interest to install one on your house for free. But do you see them doing that? I didn't think so.

Bottom line: as has been written here and elsewhere many times, residential power factor correction devices are pricey gadgets which don't deliver the promised savings.

If one of these gadgets saves you money, it's because it makes you more aware of your energy usage and reminds you to turn off lights and appliances you don't need. You don't need to spend hundreds of dollars on an overpriced black box to accomplish that. Just write a note to yourself.

"davidr" - well said.

"Electricity is billed based on Killowatt, regardless of whether you are a business or residential customer."

The unit is killowatt-hours.

Depending on the size of your business usage there are many rate schedules, including rates based on peak power used and power factor penalties (increased rates for actual power when the power factor is poor).

The POCO has to size the system based on Volt-Amps (V-A) but the real power used is kW-hours.
Poor power factor increases the V-A demands without using kW-hrs.

Most loads look inductive, and large factorizes with many electric motors can look very inductive.
The POCO will increase the rate charged per kW-hr based on the poor power factor.
By correcting the power factor the unbilled V-A load is decreased, but there is no actual change in the kW-hr power use.
It saves the POCO money since they can decrease the size of everything from generators to transformers and distribution wiring.

Residential power is NOT billed based on power factor.
Adjusting the power factor will NOT save you any money.

"The nitro, and devices like it are used to capture and recycle unused energy flowing thru your house..."

HUH?????

It may depend on what "improve power factor" means. I would like to think that it improves the power factor in MY favor, not the utility's. Hence I would like to see it lower the PF towards 0, or at least significantly away from 1.

I understand full well that residential power is measured in kW. But it might be noted that the new so-called 'smart' meters also measure kVA. It would not surprise me if a POCO switched to kVA once the newer meters were rolled out to homes.

Why would a lower power factor be in your favor? How could you benefit?

these devices save so much money that three power companies have been bankrupted and others are joining forces to seek to ban the devices. better get yours quickly!

in other news the toothfairy has been arrested on charges of breaking and entering. can someone answer this for me? why does my perpetual motion device keep stopping???

This just in... Lightbulbs do not actually emit light. They suck dark and when full they obtain a darker color and stop working. That is why some of the newer cfls do not last as long as the little coil wasn't designed to capture enough and they are so efficient they fill up quicker than planned and stop working. The scare of mercury is of course a threat to the environment but the really scary thing is what if you broke one.. how long would it take before you could actually see with all the unleashed darkness.

These power factor gizmos on the other hand... they just suck... period.

"Why would a lower power factor be in your favor? How could you benefit?"

Power (watts) = (PF) * Power (VA)

So if the PF is low, or 0, power in watts is low or 0. If your wattmeter measures only watts and not VA, then your measured watts will be 0.

Now, whether these devices do as they claim and whether your meter measures strictly watts is a different story.

With a power factor of zero, no usable (real) power would be delivered to your premises. Only reactive power would exist. The same practical effect could be accomplished right now by having the service disconnected. Would that benefit you?

"So if the PF is low, or 0, power in watts is low or 0. If your wattmeter measures only watts and not VA, then your measured watts will be 0. "

You cannot adjust the PF to zero if you are actually dissipating kW-hrs.

No lights can be running, no motors doing any work, etc.

It is not a simple addition, but the vector sum of the real and reactive power.
You can make the reactive as large as you want, but the real power will not go away.

At some point the losses in the wires after the meter will become significant and increase the real power being used.

I have discovered CFL's give off less heat due to lower wattage causing my heating system to have to work harder to keep the house warm. So I bought double sets of all bulbs and change them twice a year from incandesant to CFL and back to save lots of money in both heating cost in winter and cooling cost in the summer!

I also unplug all my appliances, TV's when done watching, to save cash, but do you think it's wasted in the time it takes me to reprogram everything?

Is there anything on the internet I can spend cash on to do all the above for me?

I just looked, $400 for a box, cord and capacitor??

Zowey!

"I just looked, $400 for a box, cord and capacitor??

Zowey!"

And the capacitor is not even matched to the load, meaning it is unlikely to be the correct value.

When actually adjusting power factor for large motors we used to put the caps in the contactor box on the load (motor) side.

After measuring the power factor and calculating the needed capacitor value for the motor turned on and under its most common load condition we installed the capacitor(s) and then checked the power factor again.

That way the caps are only powered when the motor is also powered.

There is equipment that can automatically adjust power factor for an entire facility, but it is expensive for less than huge installations.

Zl, keep in mind that unless you have resistive electric heat (usually baseboard heating), the heat you're adding with your incandescents in the winter is probably more expensive than the heat from your furnace. I use CFs and linear fluorescents everywhere, and don't bother to switch in the winter.

As for unplugging electronics, I suggest you get an energy meter such as the Kill-a-watt and measure how much you'll save with each item. The ones which are extra effort to reprogram might be worth leaving plugged in.

Most folks who want to eliminate standby consumption from electronic gear do so with plugstrips and / or plug-in switch adapters. Much easier and possibly even safer.

Here is a link that might be useful: Plug in switch

And in cooling season, incandescents add to the cooling load. 50 years ago I built an air compressor using an old (even then) belt-driven refrigeration compressor from a beer cooler. The compressor-condensor unit was mounted outside to keep the heat out of the occupied area.