Anyone heard of the Powergard? - Page 2

Hi RoyAW, Welcome to the Huddle!

As regards the power factor improvement devices what they propose to do makes no difference to your bill anyway as you pay for kWh, the reading for which even a real power factor improvement system wouldn't change. 

Most new devices and in particular Energy Star devices have PF correction built in as applies to that single item.

If you have several industrial sized motors of a few hundred kW each in full time operation in your home and you are being billed for kVAR then PF correction would save you some money. For the other 99.9999% of us it is a complete, total waste of money. 

Like I mentioned in a previous post, industrially I have used this type of device but in those plants we used much more power in an hour than most people consume in a lifetime.

This is just a huckster thing - if you want to make a thief or a fool happy then OK buy one but don't expect any bill reduction or improvement of any kind. 

A bit of additional information on power factor improvement. One from a blog http://www.splatco.com/tips/pwrfact/pfarticl.htm

Power factor: Dissipating the Myths

By David Stonier-Gibson, SPLat Controls

This article was first posted in 1996. We have deliberately left the "retro look" in place

Power factor is one of those subjects about which there seems to be a great deal of confusion and many misconceptions. The culprit is the the assertion that power factor = cos(Phi), Phi being the phase shift between voltage and current. While this is true under certain ideal conditions, there are many real-world instances where it is quite incorrect. This article will give you a basic introduction into power factor, and explain why cos(Phi) is not the whole answer.
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The second is from NİST (National İnstitute of Standards and Technology). NİST officially defines measurements and methods for the US government and is certainly very much more reliable than anyone's neighbor or a salesman. This is a PDF explaining in somewhat normal language why the power factor improvement devices do not serve any purpose in a redidential setting.     http://www.nist.gov/cgi-bin//get_pdf.cgi?pub_id=903669

 

        Everybody here that says it's a scam...Eli, yes it is. Powergard is just a power factor correcting device. Some utility companies normally asks/requires their big consumers (industrial and commercial) to improve their power factor to minimize the amount of current the former has to deliver to the latter for its required power. Needless increase in current is the utility company's main concern as it contributes to their line loss in the form of heat. Now, these big consumers are rewarded in return through discounts on their bills (and sadly, residential units are not included since their individual effect on their system is insignificant).

       They only showed that the current reading dropped during demos...and that's true. But they never bothered to show you the real power measurement, which is the kw in this case. Power (real) is the product of voltage, current and power factor in an ac system. As the power factor is corrected (increased) the current decreases in a way, resulting to an unchanged power consumption. Hope this helps! 

       

Powergard (http://www.homeenergysaver.net/) this is actually a covert listening device that monitors RF signals, cell phone transmissions, ambient audio, and other data for use in determining household consumer data.

I realize this is an old thread, and sorry to stir up an old chain - however, for the benefit of others reading in the future:

 

I was advised to have a similar unit installed - not for the claims of saving electricity, however, cleaning (conditioning) the electricity.  Reason being, that some electrical components are sensitive to energy that may pulsate (for lack of a more simple term).  

 

I was experiencing abnormal hard drive failures, and it was explained that the dirty electricity was overworking the coil that powered the hard drive.

 

However - I never took the time to purchase one or install one, as a universal backup supply (between the outlet and my computer) was to do the same thing.  Many products serve many purposes beyond what they may be marketed to perform ... just food for thought ... 
 

 

I have one in my home. My family has them too. If you are interested in more information about it, just let me know.