No Energy Saving Powerguard
This item claims to help save 10% or more of your homes energy consumption by helping to offset wasted energy due to bad power factor issues with old motors in washing machines, dryers, dishwashers, air conditioners, etc.
The type of power they are claiming to save, is not billed to residential customers in the first place. Some larger version of this device might be helpful in an industrial application, but tests have shown that your savings may be less than 4 cents a year, if there were any real savings at all.
You will not find any costs on your utility bill related to a low power factor in your residential home. Power factor correction may be valid for industrial customers that use large amounts of energy, but it is deceptive when this idea is marketed to home owners as a way to reduce their energy costs and save money.
EdenPURE, iHeater, Amish heaters and other Expensive Electric Heaters
These types of items claim to provide substantially more heat for the dollar than standard electric heaters since they use new space age technology
There is a universal electrical law that says power or wattage is equal to the voltage being used multiplied by the current drawn by the device. The standard formula is stated as P=IxE . If a device that costs $600 says it's 1500 watt device used less current or amps that a standard 1500 watt heater that only costs $60, this is bad math, and a lie. Using the formula Watts = Amperage x Voltage (P=IxE), if you claim to provide 1500 watts of power, but then claim to use half the amperage, the only way this could be true is if you use twice the voltage.
Normally, 1500 watts is equivalent 12.5 amps x 120 volts. This is like saying 12.5 x 120 = 1500, which is true. Some manufacturers of very expensive heaters claim that 1500 watts is equivalent to 6 amps x 120 volts. This is like saying 6 x 120 = 1500. This is not true since that equals 720. The only way to provide 1500 watts while using only 6 amps, is to increase the voltage to 240. Then the formula would be 1500 watts equals 6.25 amps x 240 volts. Since your wall outlets only provide 120 volts, their claims can never be true.
One item stated as a perk is that the devices won't cause fires and are safe around children. So are $60 ceramic heaters by Pelonis. They claim if you place their heater in the room that has your main house thermostat that controls your heat, you will save energy on your whole house energy bill, but this is true for any method you use to increase the temperature of the room that includes your house thermostat.
One heater claimed to be able to heat your room using less energy than your coffee maker. The thing for you to ask yourself is if you think your coffee maker has the capacity to heat your room. You cannot create or destroy energy. You can only transfer it from one form to another. If the fuel is electricity and only electricity, then you can't obtain more power from it, no matter how you display it. You can use electricity to draw heat from the air using a heat pump, but now the air is also a source of energy.
On another thought, it's possible that these energy saving electric heaters might actually use more energy than heaters selling for 10 times less. These expensive heaters use fans that also consume energy. Electric baseboard heaters don't. Many of these expensive heaters convert energy into light as well. Light energy DOES NOT heat, it just lights.
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