Saving $$ on Electricity

[Dedicated_Dad]

Hi all. One for the engineers, here...

Furnace tech-guy came out to follow up on the installers. While here we were talking about electric bill - mine is highest because of pool-pump and hot-tub, both running year-round, and the AC compressor.

He showed me this unit called a "KVAR". (http://www.kvarenergysavings.com/) It's basically a capacitor bank that plugs into the breaker panel. He had a little demo with a 6-amp motor, showing how with the unit on the motor only pulled 1.4A from the supply though ~5.5 was still going to the motor.

I noted the motor had no load - which would certainly change its draw - but also know that capacitors only store and release electricity - therefore I'm not sure what would happen when they were drained...

They claim it normalizes the "power factor" and thus causes the motors to pull less juice. Here's a DOE report on the subject, though the unit THIS site sells is different... http://power-save1200.com/dofe_report.pdf

So... Is this snake-oil or...?

Then.. While researching the above, I find this thing called a "RPU-190" (http://www.reducepowerusage.com/) I'm not sure exactly what it does, but various vids online showing elec. bills without question show a major - MAJOR - drop in power usage. This thing smacks of illegality - the disclaimers on the site say in a backhanded way that it may be illegal where you live...

Thoughts???

DD

[FelixEstrella]

Capacitors could help with startup-spikes, but in steady state I have my doubt there would be long-term savings.

[Dedicated_Dad]

Both things I thought of too...

Looking at the links, especially the DOE thing,(http://power-save1200.com/dofe_report.pdf) it seems like they are saying that the caps catch the power rejected (my word) when motors are out-of-phase and then return the juice to the line, on the house-side of the meter so it doesn't pull from the grid... Check out the DOE doc... (http://power-save1200.com/dofe_report.pdf)

If it could cut the power drawn by my AC, pool and hot-tub by half, it would reduce my bill ~1/3...

Here's a vid of exactly the demo the guy did - same case and all...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B-rOk2bW3s

My thoughts: No load on motor, short demo.

Your Thoughts??

DD

[Aglifter]

What about timers for your pool and hot tub. Is there a reason for them to run all the time?

[Precision]

or if your power company has the power sharing plan in place for brown out prevention. I forget what it is really called but it is where they can interrupt / cycle power out for very short bursts. My parents are part of it and have never noticed, but get a reduced bill for being part of the program. Something like 5% off.

[Dedicated_Dad]

Again, you aren't changing your draw. ...

This is what I don't understand...

In the demo/video I linked, at arounf 1:40 when the k-var device turned on, the current between the meter and the kvar dropped from 5 amps to 1.4. That's not changing the draw?

This (supposedly) meant that utility costs would drop by 2/3 for THAT application with this device installed. Like I said, they're using a 5A motor with no load, so it's not exactly a real-world test, but even a 14% drop on my pool pump would save me enough to pay for the unit in under a year...

There are numerous vids online where folks have shown their electric bills... One vid showed 5 consecutive months side-by-side with the same period from the previous year and KwH usage is down ~9 to ~55%, with the max being times when their pool was open but the AC not yet running. This seems to support the premise...

My meter is an analog unit, if that matters -- we're not real high-tech here in BFE...

They say pretty clearly that it only helps with inductive loads - like motors and compressors - and won't do anything for resistive loads... This too seems to make sense.

Last thing: This unit hangs on the wall by the breaker box and attaches to the bus with a 20A breaker. Whatever it does, it supposedly does it for the whole house. They recommend a separate unit for any sub-panels... Supposedly it also helps to cut power spikes as well - I assume by absorbing them into the CAPs ...

Aglifter: I have timers on the pool pump and hot-tub, and have carefully tuned both so they're only on when they need to be.

I dial-back the hot-tub so it's only heated when it's being used, though that requires me to manipulate some valves and kick up the heat with the pool heater - meaning prep time - it was worth it for the $$ savings - no point heating water when it's not being used. It only turns over the water 15-mins max every 4 hours or when the temp drops too far (to prevent freezing.)

The pool pump likewise runs only a few hours per day (to prevent stagnation) plus whatever is necessary to keep the pipes from freezing. I have managed to get both of these down to a minimum and walk the fine-line between letting them stagnate and avoiding wasting $$.

EDIT: Precision: No such program here in BFE. I get slammed for using so much juice (higher rate) and no elec. heat...

Thanks so much for input!!

DD