recovering electricity with caps

[hawktrucks]

I hope I'am in the right area and if not please move it to the correct one .I have been reading about saving electricity and reducing cost by installing a set of capacitors on each side of a normal house service.My question does this really work I know they are used in industrial apps but I don't recall seeing them in residental use , ideas anyone thanks mike

[Aaron]

Power Factor Correction

Mike,

It sounds like you're talking about bulk power factor correcting in a home.

It works for sure in concept but if it saves you money or not depends on
how many inductive loads you have switching off/on.

I think most homeowners wouldn't see much of a savings in their electric
bill but the concept does work. It will save but the pay off in savings will
take a while but everyone's home is different.

I was surprised to find that my refrigerator is already power factor corrected
at about 0.98 - that is nearly perfect.

Someone close to me works for the largest independent electric bill service
company that manages the billing for most big grocery, department and
other stores. Some companies have PF as low as 0.6 and the power
company will fine them big time and/or cut off their power until they
correct it because it causes too much surge on the line and makes their
side work harder. For something like that, it saves them a fortune to
power factor correct but they have complicated ones that switch the right
capacitance in and out perfectly for each load.

[everwiser]

I've been in the electrical/controls field for over 20 years. Every place I've worked had to add capacitor banks for each increase in inductive loads for the reasons Aaron gives. Correcting for power factor does work BUT you have to correct for each inductive load (in residences) so that when the load is off, no power is going through the capacitors otherwise you're still using electricity and killing any gains you made. This is one reason you don't see a lot of "whole house" power factor corrections because most of the inductive loads in homes are constantly switching or may go days without being used. Most whole house cap bank systems end up costing more unless they are expensively complex enough to "sense" inductive loads and vary the amount of correction to match that load.

Cap banks for pf correction work great in factories where just about everything is "on" all the time but they're not that efficient in home use.

You'll gain more by balancing your breaker box so that each "leg" of the incoming power is drawing the same amount of current. You pay for whichever leg is pulling the most current. Let's say you've got 60 amps worth of 110VAC loads in a 220VAC breaker box (USA). If you've got 50 amps on one leg and 10 amps on the other, you'll be paying for 50 amps of 220VAC. If you split the loads up to where there's 30 amps on each leg, you're only paying for 30 amps of 220VAC. Clear as mud isn't it?

[Aaron]

balancing

You'll gain more by balancing your breaker box so that each "leg" of the incoming power is drawing the same amount of current. You pay for whichever leg is pulling the most current. Let's say you've got 60 amps worth of 110VAC loads in a 220VAC breaker box (USA). If you've got 50 amps on one leg and 10 amps on the other, you'll be paying for 50 amps of 220VAC. If you split the loads up to where there's 30 amps on each leg, you're only paying for 30 amps of 220VAC. Clear as mud isn't it?

Now that's interesting!

Is it standard for electrical contractors to balance this as they're wiring
new homes or is it usually not even considered?

[nilrehob]

I guess this is a unit that sense and corrects the power factor:
Directory:sEnergy Solution Technologies - PESWiki

On this video it gets interesting (if i remember correctly):
YouTube - sEnergy Technologies Video Interview -- Part 3: Motor Controllers (2 of 2)

/Hob

[everwiser]

Now that's interesting!

Is it standard for electrical contractors to balance this as they're wiring
new homes or is it usually not even considered?

Most times, No. They do not.

The contractor will generally arrange the breakers so the additive amperage of the installed breakers is split equally (or as close to it as you can get) between the two sides however this is rarely how the box ends up being actually "loaded". The contractor installing the breakers and wiring the circuits really has no way of knowing what circuits will be used the majority of the time as each residence is "unique" in its power demands. It really has to be determined by we "do it yourselfers".

[nvisser]

Most times, No. They do not.

The contractor will generally arrange the breakers so the additive amperage of the installed breakers is split equally (or as close to it as you can get) between the two sides however this is rarely how the box ends up being actually "loaded". The contractor installing the breakers and wiring the circuits really has no way of knowing what circuits will be used the majority of the time as each residence is "unique" in its power demands. It really has to be determined by we "do it yourselfers".

I suppose this does not apply to single phase supply?

[everwiser]

I'm not sure I understand your statement/question. I'm in the U.S. and virtually all residential power is single phase. Whether you're using 220VAC or 110VAC, they're both single phase.

[hawktrucks]

thanks

Thanks to every one who replyed,What I was refering to were ads I had seen for a simple plug in devices called a WattsDog claming to use capacitors to to save 15 to 35% in energy cost ,another was called Electricity Saver Nitro claiming to reduce energy costs by 50% both were priced at 200$ for a limited time . As I stated I was familiar with industrial high voltage cap systems but had never heard of use in a residental single phase system.The one ad even claimed to reduce costs on lighting systems.I do have a bunch of large caps and was thinking on connecting a set to see if there was any truth to it. But what I coudn't understand at all was how it would do anything when connected to one leg only . thanks to all who replyed ,Mike

[Aaron]

home bulk power factor correction

Sterling at Peswiki posted his testimonial on use a powerfactor box on
his home and didn't really see a difference.

I think not too long from now, it will be obsolete for homes anyway, because
more things are being power factor corrected. CFL's in Europe are already
power factor correct but the ones in the states are not... but there is one
company that is going to make pf corrected ones. My fridge is 0.98
according to my Kill-A-Watt meter and I would imagine most other appliances
will be soon too.

[vallentin]

Hi guys!
How about this? Energy Saver / FreeEnergyLT
Video here:
обман счетчика.mpg - YouTube
Google Translate fails, but you'll get around for the bigger picture.
I'm working on a translation for the "readme.pdf" - with the constuction details and I will make it available if anyone needs it.
I think I'll better hire a professional translator, because of the "tricky" bits of information hidden inside.
The archive is here: Deposit Files
Thanks, Antanas for it!
It will be great to have your feedback on this device.
And more info on this one too:
Maybe a translation? Or better yet, any russian natives around here to help?
Cheers!