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| - UPDATE: from the April- May 2010 APS newsletter: "The EPA has seen no data to support the claims these devices improve energy efficiency and reduce residential energy bills." and "These devices do not meet the manufacturer's promises."
Let me tell you what the KVAR unit is going to do for you. It will probably not lower your electric costs or ever pay for itself, but it will change how you feel about how much you pay monthly for your electricity. That's it, nothing more.
Large commercial factories I have worked in that operated many 480volt 3-phase machines (drawing up to a hundred amps) would use banks of capacitors to reduce harmonics fed back onto the power lines, for which they were billed by the power utility. In all my training and experience it was NEVER expressed that a power line capacitor would reduce operating cost. (except for the billing of harmonics by the utility) There is also a filtering effect that has a small benefit on large residential electric motors.
A capacitor is a device that stores potential energy. It is made of 2 metal plates separated by an insulator. A capacitor cannot store AC power only DC power. In an AC circuit, a capacitor acts like a filter or coupler, on a DC circuit they act as a temporary storage device.
It is possible that using a capacitor on a residential power line may reduce harmonics created by electric motors, this could have a slight impact on the cost of energy, but there is no storage or recycling impact on electricity.
Electricity (AC power) must be used as created. It cannot be stored for later use. When the power plant creates the energy potential onto the power lines, if it is not used then it disappears. Electricity (electro motor force) cannot be recycled.
The actual beneficiary of using a capacitor on your home power line would be your neighbors and the power utility. Any savings from this $400 device would be likely in the realm of less than 10 cents per month.
Use of capacitors on your power line could prevent you from using devices that communicate over the power wires, like some security systems, remote control systems, remote sound systems, etc.
It is not possible to recycle electro motor force, this is the same rule of physics that makes a perpetual motion machine impossible. Once the power plant applies EMF to the power lines, it vanishes within a fraction of a second if not used. It cannot be re-used or recycled.
If you believe the claims for this device, then you would also believe in fuel line magnets and putting tape over outlets to keep the electricity from escaping. May I refer you to other devices that promise performance improvements but rely heavily on placebo and suggestion but offer no real change: powerbalance.com or fueldoctorusa.com
This review is about the device marketed on the radio, not about the company that installs them. I have never had any contact with the company.
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