Energy saving devices for the home. Energy-saving device: reviews. How to use an energy-saving device. The advertised capabilities of devices to save electricity

Due to the rapidly rising cost electrical energy the question of saving it comes to the fore. Cunning entrepreneurs did not fail to take advantage of this. Not very long ago, devices came onto the market that allegedly allow you to save almost 50% of electricity at home.

You just need to plug them into a power outlet. These devices have various names— SmartBox, Powersave, Energy Saver, Economic, etc. Using the example of one of them (more specifically Smart-Boy), we will figure out whether it meets the declared qualities and whether it is possible to assemble such a device with your own hands.

The advertised capabilities of devices to save electricity

The manufacturers of the Smart-Boy device claim that it is a unique device that:

• allows you to compensate for reactive power in the electrical network;
• filters interference;
• protects the electrical network from phase imbalance, as well as from lightning strikes.

The simplest version of this device is designed for a load power of 15 kW for a single-phase network. But there is also a version of the device for three-phase networks with a load power of up to 48 kW.

The most shocking declared property of the device is its ability to convert the reactive component of power into an active one, which is counted by the meter in houses. This capability would be indispensable for large industrial plants.

Price of this device ranges from 20 to 80 dollars, which is incomparably lower than the cost of bulky devices such as capacitor units, stabilizers for equalizing phase voltages, harmonic filters, etc.

However, before praising the manufacturers, let’s check what the Smart-Boy device actually consists of and whether it allows for all the declared functions.

Internal diagram of the Smart-Boy device

Not a single advertising video about energy-saving appliances contains photographs of their interior. However, this is not surprising, because the composition of the Smart-Boy device is rather poor. The most luxurious part of it is the body with two LEDs on the front. Inside are:

• fixed strong electronic board;
• diode bridge;
• film capacitor;
• power supply for LEDs.

The cost of components for this device is unlikely to exceed $4. Its design is so primitive that you can assemble it yourself. But everything would be fine if this scheme worked as the manufacturer claims.

How does Smart-Boy work?

Before we analyze the operation of the electricity saving device, let’s dive a little into the theory. So, full power, which consumers consume, consists of active as well as reactive components.

Active power is useful, it is what the meter in our houses and apartments counts, and we pay money for it. Reactive power is useless (it is not taken into account by the meter), it creates interference and reduces the efficiency of the entire energy system. We don't pay for it.

And large industries (plants, factories) pay for it, since it is they who, having a lot of equipment with a huge inductive component, create it, additionally loading electrical network. A special meter installed at enterprises reads the reactive component of power.

To reduce the production of reactive power, complex and bulky devices called reactive power compensators (RPC) are used. These KRM are initially designed for a certain load, which on an industrial scale is relatively constant.

Electricity savers, if they are able to save something, do so at an initially determined constant load. But in reality, it is not possible to calculate this load.
Nowadays, many devices (for example, computer power supplies) are initially equipped with reactive power compensators, which can actually save up to 10% of electricity.

But in these cases, the ratings of the inductor, capacitance and other hardware are carefully calculated in advance. This leads to successful savings.
In Smart-Boy, the film capacitor has too low power in order to be able to compensate for the current consumed by large electrical appliances (boilers, refrigerators, washing machines, etc.).

The given capacitance of a film capacitor is suitable only for lamps, charger phone and other small things. In addition, the process of charging the film capacitor occurs using high-frequency pulses. A regular meter and an electronic meter have low sensitivity to current passing through high frequencies.

The energy consumption through pulses will still be taken into account by the home meter, even if it has a large negative error. It follows from this that using Smart-Boy it is unlikely that it will be possible to achieve energy savings, rather the opposite.

Converting reactive power into active power in Smart-Boy

In electrical engineering, the very possibility of converting reactive power into active power is rather elusive.

There is no theoretical or practical data for such a transformation.

Dealers selling electricity-saving devices do not have technical description this opportunity. Therefore, whether to accept this statement on faith or not is up to consumers.

How to make such a device with your own hands

From all that has been said, we can conclude that advertised energy savers do not save anything, but experiments have shown that with the help of such products it is possible to reduce interference in home wiring and effectively protect it from thunderstorms.

However, purchasing such a product at such an inflated price is not justified.

It’s safer and better to do it yourself.
To do this you will need the following components:

1. a small microcircuit as the main element;
2. film capacitor;
3. power rectifier;
4. plastic case;
5. screw;
6. 2 LEDs;
7. button;
8. a power mechanism that plugs into a socket.

It is worth noting that when assembling any electrical diagram you need to be extremely careful with your hands. Can not use metal case even for such a small product.

How can you still save energy?

Whether or not to purchase the products described above is your choice. However, to really save electricity with your own hands, you just need to use less household electrical appliances. Nobody is talking about completely abandoning them.

But make sure that the lights are turned off where they are not needed. this moment, unplugging devices plugged in unnecessarily and electronics when we are not using them are very real things.

And you will immediately notice that when faithful observance such simple rules the electricity meter will show a smaller increase in values ​​than before.

Everyone good day, I decided to write a short article. About a new campaign to deceive the people! These are devices for saving Electra energy, called Power Saver. In Russia, the price of these toys starts from 1000 rubles and reaches 20,000 TR, abroad the price starts from $3-$300. So what is the working principle? This toy or, as it is called, the device is placed near the meter at the input, swing close to it, based on the shortest length of the wire from the meter to the consumer. And supposedly this toy should reduce Electra energy consumption from 10% - you won’t believe it - to 50%. And with this scam, these devices can be offered for fabulous money everywhere!

Just out of curiosity, I bought such a device Power Energy Saver Electricity Save up to 35% EU 18KW,HOT! Free Shipping! . And lo and behold, after a bunk of weeks of waiting, I have it in my hands along with a brand new watt meter. I couldn’t take a video so I could give this toy to the village to confirm my fears. Which in the end was confirmed! At home the test went like this:

testing time 1 hour / halogen lamp 150 Watt / breeze heater 1000 Watt / breeze heater 2000 Watt / oil heater 3000 Watt / computer without load 250-300 Watt

Halogen lamp 130 watts - with a toy 131 watts (when warming up the lamp consumes less power, but consumes about 150 watts at start-up)

Breeze heater 1000 Watt - 890 Watt - with toy 870 Watt - (same situation)

Breeze heater 2000 Watt -1790 Watt - with toy 1790 Watt

Oil heater heater 3000 Watt - 2800 Watt - with a toy 2700 Watt (most likely it did not cool down well)

Computer 220-300 Watt - 280 Watt - with toy 275 Watt

During a long-term test of about 2 weeks, the difference was about +\- 5%, with such a small error the device can be said with confidence that it does not work!

The design of the device is so simple that the most expensive of these devices is the plastic case!

Please be vigilant and do not waste money on such Know-How that can be spent from 1 cake to 20 cakes :) better life sweeten it for yourself rather than for someone else's wallet!

Oh yes, in the case there is a container into which 2 thin wires go, which, even if desired, cannot reduce the power by 35% from 18 kW! The container is filled with black epoxy, the circuit consists of 2 capacitors, one electrolyte connected through a diode, the second non-electrolyte connected through a resistance and a resistance.

And this is in the best case like mine, another person simply had 2 wires filled with epoxy and after the break there was nothing but resin there was not a single part there :) maybe resin is a material that saves electricity?!

There were a lot of working systems in Soviet times, for example stabilizers that actually maintained voltage! There were also all kinds of surge filters that smoothed out ripples from our networks. Schemes can be found in various sources. But there is not a word about saving, these are simply devices that remove incoming interference and impulses, producing a clean signal from the input from the panel. And devices, especially digital ones, easily convert a clean signal into the desired output signal, while consuming the same power, and not in jumps! which leads to energy savings of up to 15%.

Yes, I’ll add more for information. We live in the age of information, where electricity becomes more expensive every year, and appliances consume less and less, and people pay more and more! How is this possible, you ask!?! It’s very simple, there are jammers that are installed at substations, either dead or counterfeit, I’m not sure that anyone is looking at it. They are installed after the step-down transformer, if they are not working properly or they are not installed at all to reduce the cost of the network, this leads to strong voltage surges from minimum to maximum input voltage. They play the role of a smoothing filter and also remove ripples in the network, which Power Saver supposedly also removes. But there the unit weighs from 300-1600 kg and here it’s 100 grams. just funny!

One of the most pressing and pressing issues facing Russian citizens is the issue of increasing tariffs for housing and communal services, among which constant increases in electricity prices are no exception. To solve the question of how to save money, how to “freely” use an extra kilowatt and not pay for it, forces you to literally grasp at any straw that can help with this.

One of such devices designed to save energy is considered to be an energy-saving device connected to Russian market Intelliworks, however, there are other devices with similar functions, for example, SmartBoySP001, SP-002, Power Saver, etc. What is it?

Operating principle of an energy-saving device

Energy-saving Intelliworks and other similar devices connect to the network alternating current parallel to the load, to a socket located after the electric energy meter, but it is advisable to do this as close as possible to the entry point into the apartment so that there is real opportunity detection of the entire electrical load by the device.

Inductive current produces oscillatory movements between windings with inductive reactance and a static converter. With the help of devices for adjusting and measuring the current load in the network, active power goes to the network, and in turn, the reactive load moves to that part of the network where it is needed. The power factor increases and stabilizes, it becomes equal to 1.

What does the device consist of?

Before testing, the SmartBoySP001 device was opened , in order to find out what components it consists of.

Parallel electrical plug, a 5 µF capacitor is connected through the fuse, designed for operating voltage 450 V. The capacitor is the main component of the device; in the circuit it is listed as C3; a discharge resistor R1 and a varistor YVR are connected in parallel to it. Capacitor C2 performs a limiting function for the diode bridge D1 - D4. C1 serves as a power filter capacitor; a limiting resistor R2 is installed in the LED power circuit.

Device testing

For testing, it is advisable to use the Circutor AR.5 series power quality analyzer. Also used for testing are a current clamp meter and a multimeter to measure voltage.

The energy-saving device SmartBoySP001 is connected to the network; the network load should be no more than 50 kW. The device turns on every half hour, measurements taken by AP5 every 30 seconds did not show any significant changes. Achieving the main savings when using this energy-saving device is planned through reactive power compensation. With a decrease in the influx of reactive power from the network, there is a reduction in active energy losses for the transmission of this reactive power through the network and, accordingly, active energy is saved. Electricity measurements in the network showed that the power factor in the room is 0.96. That is, there is practically nothing to compensate for in residential premises.

A detailed examination of the experiment when using an energy saving device

Experiment 1. All household appliances in the room are turned off and the voltage is measured - 223 V. The device is plugged into the nearest outlet, the voltage is measured again, and its increase by 2 V is recorded.

Experiment 2. Without a connected appliance, the electric burner turns on hob with a power of 2 kW, the load is measured using a current clamp; it is equal to 8.92 A. Connecting the device to the network did not produce any changes.

Experiment 3. When you turn on the washing machine, when using the “spin” mode, an inductive load is used, the current measured in the circuit is 3.12 A, connecting an energy-saving device to the network gives a load change of up to 1.65 A. The counter disk rotates at a constant speed , this suggests that no energy savings occur.

IN last years many people try to save money on utility bills. People install meters in the hope that they will have to pay less. Some people save money in everyday life.

A device called a “statistical converter” appeared on the Internet not long ago. Manufacturers advertise it as an energy-saving device. They say that thanks to the installation it is possible to reduce meter readings by 30% to 40%.

Energy saving device

It is believed that the unique technology is capable of stabilizing the power efficiency of the network and eliminating voltage surges. This results in a longer service life for electrical appliances.

The principle of operation of the device is as follows: parallel to the current current, the network is switched on. Inductive currents will oscillate between the converter and the windings, rather than walking between the load and the transformer. Alternating current passes power to the equipment, and reactive current goes where it is needed at a certain moment. Thanks to the transformation of reactive power into active power, the latter increases.

Should you believe in a miracle or understand the device?

The prospect of paying less, of course, arouses interest among many. But I want to figure out whether the device really works miracles.

Even the description “intelligent technology” raises doubts. It immediately becomes clear that advertisers did a good job on the project. Compensation does happen. But how much does it save money?

It was decided to conduct experiments with one of the devices. Below is an analysis of one of them.

Experiments and measurements

The energy-saving device is called Electricity Saving Box. In China the device is quite cheap. But for Russia, enterprising businessmen sell it at a much higher price. Both this and other similar devices have similar characteristics:

• voltage - from 90 to 250 V;
• network frequency - from 50 to 60 Hz.

For the experiment, a wattmeter and several electrical appliances, which will create the necessary load. Instead of a wattmeter, you can use any one. An incandescent lamp and a convection heater were used for the load.

Readings were taken from the device when it was turned on and from when it was turned off.

In the off state, measurements showed an active power of 1944 W.

The switched on energy-saving device Saving Box showed the same 1944 W at the output. From this it follows that there were no savings.

Another experiment can be carried out: a wattmeter is installed on the power cable. A vacuum cleaner is plugged into the outlet and the active power consumption is measured without an energy-saving device, and then the readings are recorded. The specialist conducting the experiment noted the following results:

• active power - 1053 W;
• power factor - 0.97;
• voltage - 221.3 V;
• total current - 4.899 A.

After this, with the device turned on, the same measurements were repeated. Happened:

• active power - 1053 W;
• power factor - 0.99;
• voltage - 221.8 V;
• total current - 4.791 A.

You can see how the value has decreased apparent current. However, the power factor increased by 0.2, and it is clear that the active current remained at the same level.

Electrical diagram of the device

If you look at this “unique” technology, you will discover a completely unexpected picture for such a serious device:

• fuse FU;
• 4.7 µF capacitor;
• diode bridge for voltage rectification;
• varistor

The capacitor is compensating. The same type is installed in throttling lamps to increase power. Nothing original.

Experts explain that the energy-saving device Electricity is an unregulated compensating type device with a power of up to 78.5 V Ar. It is not difficult to come to this value on your own. Enough to divide mains voltage, taken squared, by the capacitor reactance. The resulting value is strikingly different from the declared 15,000 W. Passport data is indicated in watts, apparently so that buyers do not understand anything.

A simple advertising gimmick

“How can this be?” many people will be surprised. After all, we saw with our own eyes in advertising videos how the readings actually changed when the devices were turned on. In advertising they connected Electrical engine and took readings without installing the device. Then the same was done with the device turned on. And the measurements showed completely different results!

However, this is nothing more than a trick, and it can be explained very simply, as experts say. The fact is that measurements are made in the usual way. But this way you can get the value of the total current in the network, which, naturally, is different.

But to calculate the active current, the total current value is multiplied by the load factor. Then the results will show different meaning: The apparent current value changes, but the active current value remains the same. This is proven by real measurement of active power using a wattmeter. And this, of course, is not done in advertising videos.

Accounting for active and reactive power

Individual meters take into account active power.

Energy-saving devices should reduce the reactive part of the current by connecting a compensating capacitor. But even if they perform their functions, this does not reduce payment costs, since household meters, in principle, are able to take into account only active energy consumption. Therefore, people who bought the device say that they do not observe any positive effect.

When it comes to industrial production, then energy-saving technology may come in handy. After all, the meters here take into account both parts of the power: both active and reactive. Therefore, if energy costs reach a significant level, then capacitor banks help reduce losses. Such devices still operate today, reducing reactive power. But these are completely different devices that have nothing in common with the product being offered.

So it turns out that manufacturers are misleading consumers by selling a useless energy-saving device. Reviews with positive ratings are becoming less common online today. Apparently, the number of people who understand exactly how advertising calculations are made is increasing.

Today another parcel arrived with the energy-saving digital device “Intelliworks SD-001” (19 kW). I’ll note right away that I don’t know how effective it will be. Below is a description --- Real savings in real life! More acute than ever modern world issues of energy saving... And with the constant increase in housing and communal services tariffs, the issues of their payment are acute...

Therefore, any Energy Saving Technologies. New product will bring real savings to your budget modern technologies- energy-saving device “Intelliworks”!
Really saves from 15 to 45% of consumed electricity!

The energy saving device uses modern electrical technology, actively monitors and improves the power factor of your electrical appliances. In addition, intelligent technology optimizes voltage and current, thus reducing active power, which allows you to save up to 35% on energy bills!
The device also acts as a voltage stabilizer, storing energy for up to 10 seconds during an instantaneous power surge. This in turn leads to more for a long time Electrical Appliance Services!
Operating principle of the devices:

The energy-saving device “Intelliworks” is included in the circuit parallel to the load after the meter. Then the inductive currents oscillate between the windings (which have inductive reactance) and the static converter, rather than circulating through the AC network, between the transformer and the load. AC control and measurement elements pass active power from the network to work equipment, and the reactive current is directed to the load phase where it is required. The power factor is automatically stabilized at a level close to “1”.
Useful power will increase due to the transformation of reactive power into additional, active power!

A little physics...

Losses are caused by a delay in the AC phase to the voltage phase in the presence of an inductive load, since loads in household networks are usually actively inductive (electric kettles, coffee makers, washing machines etc.). Active energy is converted into useful energy, and inductive (reactive) energy creates magnetic fields, which form an additional load on the power line. Spreading throughout the network, this energy makes oscillatory movements from the load to the generator and back. The share of reactive power (depending on the type of payload) in the network can range from 15 to 45% of the total power.
The full power is taken into account by meters and payable - which means that if you exclude reactive power, you can save 15 - 45% of electricity, which is what the “smart intelligent” energy-saving device does!
What do we get?

Simplicity and ease of use and energy saving
power supply is improving,
heating of electrical wiring is reduced,
noise and vibration levels are reduced,
no harmful substances are formed electromagnetic radiation,
deadlines are increasing equipment operation,
protection of electrical appliances from voltage surges,
uniform current distribution without surges and drops

Recommendations for connection and use:
For optimal performance device, it should be installed as close as possible to the mains input point, so as to detect all loads and adjust the power factor accordingly.
The model and power of the device can be determined based on the maximum total power consumption household appliances presented in the table >>> (pdf format, 139.61 kb)
Most effective when used with inductive receivers (e.g. motors, transformers, fluorescent lamps etc.)

USE EFFECTIVELY - in apartments, country houses.
Just connect your device to the network and start saving!---- Full description you can look here http://s017.radikal.ru/i400/1111/9f/8f0fb61921cbt.jpg and it’s true that mine is 19 kW Well, my photos are here and and