"John A. Weeks III" writes:

I don't like spam any more than you do, but I think you need
to go back and read more about the difference between resistive
loads and reactive loads in electrical engineering, and then
consider the difference between true power and apparent power.
By putting in the right combination of inductors and capacitors,
one can trick an electrical meter into showing a lower usage of
power than what it otherwise might indicate.

Hi John,

Okay, I'll bite.

Real vs reactive power -- been there, done that, got the BSEE with
honors, and worked at an electric utility for a few years (albeit not
in distribution engineering, or metering). It's been a few years
though.

But before I jump onto the "bull****" chorus regarding the possible
efficacy of such devices, I'm going to invite a more detailed
explanation to see if I'm missing something.

We know inductive motor loads do pull more power (VA) than they use
(Watts), and that the elctrical system must supply the full reactive
power in VA. However, residential electric meters only measure real
power usage (Watts), hence the consumer actually ends up ahead in this
situation, getting to use the energy expended in reactive power for
free. Balancing the power factor, therefore is something that's only
in the electric utility's best interest. This is why you'll see
capactitor banks on long feeder runs, or at substations to balance out
the typically inductive load of the distribution system due to line
inductance, motor loads, and transformer loads.

Commercial power customers, unlike residential customers, do get hit
with surcharges by many utilities for presenting a load with a poor
power factor, but residential customers don't.

I invite someone with the proper depth of electrical knowledge to talk
me out of my opinion that these devices are nothing but snakeoil
though.

Best Regards,
--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/