Energy Wizard

rdwarf12

I came across this gadget while surfing the web for green related tech.

I cannot post a link for you but you can google Energy Wizard and look for the energybulbs co uk website.

10% saving a year seems a very good ""moneysaving"" return for the outlay. Anybody got any experience or opnions on this device.

ormus

if it looks to good to be true, then it usually is.

cybergibbons

It's independently tested, yet they can't be bothered showing you the report.

There's three ways you can save 10% of your bill:

• Use 10% less power
• Use a device that changes the power factor so drastically your meter misreads down by 10%
• Bypass the meter 10% of the time.

If this device causes you to use 10% less power, your fridge will be less cold, your oven less hot, your bulbs less bright.

If it changes the power factor, all that happens is you are being charged less, not using less.

But it doesn't do either, so don't worry about it.

basmic

Link to what the OP is talking about:- http://www.energybulbs.co.uk/products/Energy+Saving+Products/Energy+Wizard+/Energy+Wizard+Plug+-+Save+%A360+Per+Year/1806473927

The Energy Wizard saves you over £60 per year. This is based on 10% Electricty Saving with an average annual UK electricity bill of £600.

This brand new Ecotek Energy Wizard is used to help reduce your electricity consumption and improve the efficiency of various appliances and circuits for the home and industry. Energy Wizard is easy to use; you just simply plug-in to any socket and start making continuous savings.

The Energy Wizard plug works by optimizing the voltage and current demands by using a combination of filtration and correction techniques, as a result reducing your electricity consumption and achieving over 10% savings off your electricity bill guaranteed. These savings have been verified by an Independent Regulatory Compliance Laboratory and results showed that when the Energy Wizard was used 12.6% was saved in energy consumption.

brig001

A few of us at work were curious about a similar device, so all put a pound in and bought one. They do not work - not even a little bit. For the technically minded, all that is inside is a capacitor across the mains and a small circuit to drive an LED. The capacitor is too small to affect the power factor for any demand over a couple of watts, so will not change the meter reading on any normal house - especially if you are using £600 per year in electricity as they suggest.

Owain_Moneysaver

brig001 wrote: »

A few of us at work were curious about a similar device, so all put a pound in and bought one. They do not work - not even a little bit. For the technically minded, all that is inside is a capacitor across the mains and a small circuit to drive an LED.

Here's one taken to bits.

brig001

Thanks for that - looks like ours was the luxury version then :rotfl:

strooth

brig001 wrote: »

A few of us at work were curious about a similar device, so all put a pound in and bought one. They do not work - not even a little bit. For the technically minded, all that is inside is a capacitor across the mains and a small circuit to drive an LED. The capacitor is too small to affect the power factor for any demand over a couple of watts, so will not change the meter reading on any normal house - especially if you are using £600 per year in electricity as they suggest.

I see this device is being aggressively marketed through "blue chip" distributors, retailers and now through comparison websites. There is no evidence that these channels have independently verified the savings claimed. Invisible clothing syndrome :mad:(and easy profits) springs to mind. If this device did actually work then surely the Government should be endorsing it and handing them out to everyone to help save the planet. If the product can't save money shouldn't trading standards be stopping distribution? Who is protecting the consumer in this situation?

keith969

These devices don't benefit the home consumer.

Your electricity meter measures real power in watts. Messing with the power factor doesn't change what the meter reads.

Macnab

Just had an email via uswitch re this device. Thought it sounded too good to be true, so popped on here to see if the forumites had heard of it as surely it was such a good money saving device? Glad to find this thread and have decided to not bother with the energy wizard. They are saying though tha it was featured on dragons den - was a product that was endorsed or failed to get funding?

keith969

The same company makes something called Standby Saver which is basically an extension lead that can be used to turn off devices on standby. It was this that was on Dragon's Den.

If you really want to save electricity, get an Owl wireless electricity monitor, then you can find out just how much electricity you are using at any moment, and see the effect of turning on or off different appliances.