Products promising amazing energy savings
are probably snake oil (or snakes) in disguiseCutting the energy bill is on the minds of millions of Americans these days. Electric bills are rising due to pressure on wholesale rates from environmental regulations, the need for additional baseload generation capacity and the rising cost of fuel. It’s easy to see why marketers have targeted consumers who are searching for the proverbial silver bullet of energy savings.
This is why electric cooperative members are cautioned to look before they leap when responding to print, broadcast, or Internet ads promising electric bill savings from plug-in or wire-in power conditioning devices. When the ads also promote do-it-yourself installation involving exposure to dangerous high voltage and possible electric meter tampering, it’s time to use common sense and seek advice.
Clever ad campaigns play on consumer misunderstanding of electricity and electrical devices. Sales pitches full of technical-sounding explanations and rosy testimonials overwhelm skepticism and convince buyers to sign on the bottom line. They forget to ask important questions: Have reputable, independent test labs certified the products? How can guarantees of 20- to 50-percent savings be true?
An example is the often-quoted ad claim: “Surge suppressors save electricity.” Surge suppressors are protective devices only. The Federal Trade Commission and consumer agencies have issued warnings about transient voltage surge suppressors hawked as energy-saving tools.
There’s been a recent proliferation of advertising for residential power conditioning equipment based on the claim that metered electricity from a utility can be improved to help home appliances and HVAC systems operate more efficiently.
One to achieve significant notoriety is the XPower Energy Saver, a $200 cylinder consumers plug into a wall outlet. The sales pitch touts its ability to trim electricity consumption by 25 percent and extend the life of household appliances.
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott issued a temporary restraining order halting Texas-based Forum’s sales of the device last spring, and the case is scheduled to go to trial later this year.
Engineers at the University of Texas at Austin concluded that the XPower could produce no more than a 0.06 percent reduction in electric use in an average house. Laboratory tests revealed that the product uses an ordinary capacitor, which sells for a few dollars.
Capacitors to improve something called “power factor” are used by commercial and industrial consumers which operate a large number of electric motors and use large electric loads at higher voltages. But at the household level, power factor is more dubious as a means of saving energy.
Increasing power factor improves the alignment of current and voltage wave forms, so less current is required for a motor to do its job. But a household appliance’s power draw is completely unaffected. Also, industrial and commercial customers often pay a fee to their utility for having low power factor. Avoiding such fees can make power factor correction economically attractive for them. Those penalties do not apply to residential consumers.
Unfortunately, it’s a buyer beware world with all of these devices, said Dan Greenberg, an associate director at E Source. The Boulder, Colo.-based organization provides independent research to utilities, major energy users, and others in the retail energy marketplace.
“A lot of these salespeople make unrealistic claims for energy savings,” Greenberg said. “They might not even know their claims are unrealistic because the distributor or vendor believes claims from the manufacturer that aren’t true.
“It’s so important for consumers to be skeptical,” Greenberg emphasized. “They really should check in with their co-op before making any purchase.”
Some of these products, then, are like the snake oil elixirs hawked by traveling medicine shows of old. Greenberg noted they’re generally legal and won’t harm anything, but they’re ineffective and won’t save a consumer noticeable amounts of money. Other products, though, making claims of double-digit energy savings are more like venomous snakes in the grass.
Many of these devices must be wired into the home’s electrical system. Unfortunately, several companies are marketing products with unsafe and potentially illegal installation advice. Do-it-yourself installers are instructed to open their meter bases and pull their own electric meters. Across the nation, electric cooperative managers and safety supervisors are aghast that consumers would be encouraged to risk electrocution.
Meters are sealed for safety and to prevent tampering. Removing a meter seal without notifying your co-op and being granted permission (usually only allowed when certified electricians will do the work) is contrary to policy, operating procedures and safety regulations. Such action could put the account holder at risk of charges for meter tampering and attempt to steal service. Electric cooperatives routinely prosecute for power theft.
One such product is the RPU-190 or “Electric Hero.” Engineers agree that there’s no doubt that, as promised, this $200 piece of copper wire will cut a homeowner’s electricity bills. The catch is that attorneys and municipal and state authorities nationwide also agree that installing such a device is against the law because it requires tampering with a meter.
“The safety aspect jumped out at me immediately,” said Thomas Suggs, vice president of engineering for Middle Tennessee EMC in Murfreesboro.
Power surging through a compromised meter can cause an electrical catastrophe. A short circuit could produce an arc flash bright enough to cause temporary blindness, hot enough to melt metal and powerful enough to launch fragments of shrapnel-like debris. “Anytime you get into those meter bases, you’re running a risk,” Suggs said. “With an arc flash, somebody could get hurt or killed.”
John Ohlhausen, manager of engineering services for Medina Electric Cooperative in Hondo, Texas, ordered an RPU-190, just in case co-op members had questions. He described it as a poorly-constructed copper shunt coated with black insulated paint worth between $15 and $20, at most. The package also included a hand-labeled amateurish CD with vague installation instructions with regards to safety.
The “Frequently Asked Questions” section of the Electric Hero Web site offers visitors advice such as: “Will the electric company fine me for use of this product? No, the only way the electric company can determine the use of this product is if you stop paying your electric bills or install it improperly, damaging their equipment.”
If the meter seal is broken, your electric cooperative will discover it sooner or later. A large number of co-ops have adopted automated meter reading systems. Several co-ops are deploying the second generation of these “intelligent” electric meters, which include tamper alarms that can send a signal back to co-op headquarters.
So, don’t fall victim to claims of electric bill savings that seem too good to be true. Contact your electric cooperative for information and advice before investing in residential power quality equipment or installing such devices.
Here is a YouTube link to a TV news report on one of these items:
This article combines articles by Steve Oden, editor of the Ohio statewide electric cooperative publication, and Elizabeth McGowan, an energy journalist, writing for the Cooperative Research Network, which is a division of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.