Incredible Power Saver Actually Saves Power!

I just tested one of the many "power savers" on the market, this one called a "Micro Plug." This press release makes the device sound like the real deal, but of course the press release is written by the vendor. It was not until just now that I realized that this device is $69.95 (at a supposed 50% discount!!). One would need to save a lot of electricity to pay for one of these.

These devices (search for "power saver" "energy saver" etc.) have the potential for working on small, old, inefficient, very lightly-loaded motors. For instance, in their video, the promoter shows this one in use on a motor with absolutely nothing connected to it. Before buying one of these, ask yourself: "Just how many motors do I have in my appliances that are connected to nothing at all??"

In another thread, JRaef provides a good analysis of such devices, and further down in that thread, (posts 41 and 44) I provide test results that square just about perfectly with his analysis. The device could save a very small amount of energy if used with my lathe motor (about 50 years old): about $0.21 per year, I suppose. When I wrote up my test results, I assumed that this thing cost about $19.95, so figured that in 100 years, it could pay for itself. Turns out it would take 350 years or so -- and that's with the perfect motor to respond to these devices... and of course ignores the cost of money. I'd be far ahead to put the money in a bank: $69.95 invested at 5% for 350 years is about 1.8 million dollars.

A more typical appliance (of the type these things are supposedly designed for) is my dehumidifier, which, like most sold today, is fairly efficient. In my test, the dehumidifier used more energy with the device connected, although the difference was small enough to attribute to experimental error.

So... if your house has a lot of electric motors sitting around running for no apparent reason and doing no useful work, then one of these devices will never actually pay for itself, but you might reduce your electric bill by a couple cents a month. Of course, you could save far more money, far more quickly, by just unplugging all these motors. You'd also get rid of that annoying whirring noise you've been wondering about.

$69.95!!! Holy cow! They really are born every minute, aren't they!