Inside a whole-house energy saver.

[@Tom_Losh]

Clive, your ENERGY SAVER 3000+ needs to have tamper-proof screws on the outer case, and a good sized masonry brick, sealed in opaque resin, inside with a number of wires leading in and out of it, simply to give it reasonable mass for the consumer to judge it by...

[@imark7777777]

the think the whole thing should be encased in resin on the inside and a big sticker that says no user serviceable parts

[@steingat]

I'm assuming that sticker would be right next to the Apple logo?

[@danhard8440]

OMG hilarious I just watched a vid about what they were trying to do

[@bumboclat]

Uh like those USB hard drives that have a tiny thumbdrive and a large bolt glued inside

[@davelowets]

@@bumboclat No, those actually work...

[@iangarrity3030]

I purchased an Energy Saver 3000+ not just more or less than 2 hours ago and it's already saved me a fortune in energy bills. And I've also seen a drop in my water bill too. Thank you Big Clive, You're our hero.

[@zamkhirah6963]

🤔🤔🤔

[@guywilkinson]

This is very interesting to me because the first version and production run was done by a company I was engineering manager for in Derbyshire. We did a great job of designing, proving and testing for our customer and it is an elaborate design. A cpld was used to drive the MOSFETs and control the what I maybe remember was a totem pole drive stage. There is s microcontroller to monitor things and really does flag up if it develops a fault. Really, my feelings on it at the time were mixed. I could see it working in areas with poorly regulated mains volt at 240v when appliances were coming out rated for the new harmonised 230v. Many products at the time were using transformers and dissipated excess energy as heat...but my concern was that new products had smps and eup directive was forcing appliance manufacturers to design in efficiency. Oh....and if you had electric heating it did nothing. Amazing post, a trip down memory lane and the engineering that went into it. It is so complicated and confusing, don't even think about trying to fix it.....but I know a man who can 😎

[@thisjt]

5:00 "Made of plastic for maximum combustibility." Give this man a hug.

[@dresnyd]

6:00*

[@jeff-xy7qp]

I laughed so hard when he said that :)

[@timbocolorado5389]

Love his sense of humor :)

[@tapankumarbarua7651]

please give in Hindi to under stand in easy to for stand electricity easy advice for the electricity to advice stand the easy for correcting our elecricity energy witch is giving execise bill please. advise easy methord to control our electricity bill thanku

[@YodaWhat]

+TAPAN KUMAR BARUA ... You are joking, right?

[@XOIIOXOIIO]

God the last bit of this video is perfect.

[@JJayzX]

+Jesse Levesque He must be hitting that carbonated wine hard tonight, lol.

[@KamAbbott]

+Jesse Levesque Coffee shot out my nose..

[@jeffstamand3978]

Kam Abbott 🦊

[@jamespilcher5287]

Channeling the ghost of Kenny Everett

[@zamkhirah6963]

@@JJayzX 😆😆😆

[@soupflood]

There is no better energy saver than the mechanical switch.

[@Spector_NS5_RD]

i burn a pile tires in my backyard that sit underneath a vat of liquid mercury. the mercury vapor is then piped to a turbine that generates power for my meth lab. turbine's exhaust is then piped/filtered into neighbor's open kitchen window. gotta reduce your carbon footprint and all.

[@Enclave.]

Spector NS5 RD, indeed. Using those humans as waste sponges is a very innovative approach.

[@renzevenir4853]

Do you think it's possible?

[@renzevenir4853]

Do you think a 80 ish watt laptop adaptor is a small thing?

[@renzevenir4853]

Charging mobile phones using phone line does works, but I'm unsure it will works with laptop chargers. Even though it may draw less than the rated power, it's still way too much for a phone line to power it.

[@bridgendesar]

That reminds me, I must get those fuel line magnets for my car!

[@Mrpurple75]

bridgendesar my first car had two aluminum covered magnets attached to the fuel line when it got it. Still have one of them after all these years

[@reprapmlp]

Thank you, Big Clive, for making this incredible technology available to people like us.

[@spdwebdotnet]

You have intrigued me sir. I work at a power company here in the US. Our electric panels or "breaker boxes" look nothing like that here. We also only supply to the meter. The meter pan, main breaker, and any breakers past that are the home owners responsibility. We come plop the meter in and leave, once proper inspections are passed of course. You also mention the 'RCD's trip on a no power state? So if your power goes out, and you are not home, it doesn't come back on? When we close in at one of our subs everyone is coming on at once, cold load or not. We back feed and sectionalize to restore power if its a major outage to keep the load down. Now I will have to spend the next few hours researching this.

[@JimWhitaker]

He is not correct in saying that (in the UK) the breaker opens on no volts.

[@bjtaudio]

Reducing the voltage is actually less efficient, as if things run longer such as heaters there is more time for heat to be lost during the heat up period. Because most appliances require the same amount of energy to run, they will just draw more current which in most cases is less efficient, so it will end up costing you more not less, then you add the power losses in the unit itself. Also the 8 amp rating is far far too small, but the real killer is all the electricians cost to install it, plus the cost to purchase the unit itself. Also the device is very complicated and reliability will be poor.

[@danhard8440]

ya that's what he was saying its fish oil salesman type thing lol

[@Tore_Lund]

@@danhard8440 Another approach would be to put a Boost+buck converter in the box to always have perfect 0.99 power factor. Then run your whole house on 325V DC! Would mess up the use of AC motors but would save the acclaimed 10-15% on your power bill.

[@knusern666]

Calling an elechikken for instalation of such a device is like holding a sign saying, im an idiot! charge me doble

[@hvachacker586]

Only thing i can see atleast with space heating is modulation of heat to 80% might lead to less over and under setpoint. If power factor is maintained and minimal controling device draw maybe you could see some minmal savings. 300+ pounds and short life cycle Nope. In the states i was at a home show and a booth had a small PFC for single phase power. I asked if i could see the inside. He said it was sealed from factory with a aluminum rivit. My guess is the demo unit with two amp probes had a similar device buck transformer to drop voltage and it was a tungsten lamp. I know when i set up dim modules you can some times cut max to as low as 70% and not see much notable light difference. But the extra heat from led is notable.

[@a64738]

And the is why the ban UK has on powerful water heaters and similar is incredibly stupid...

[@factsdontcareaboutyourfeel7568]

At 5:00 there is a big fisted dinosaur eating a doughnut. Splendid.

[@bigclivedotcom]

+Nerdy McNerdlington Mmmmm. Doughnuts.

[@JJ_ExMachina]

+Nerdy McNerdlington HA HA I see it ... that is funny

[@MrWeedWacky]

+bigclivedotcom so, how much Ih does it save in relation to its self-use? my guess will be nothing it is gonna in fact cost money to have going. - it will be put in AFTER the meter (that is the law) so the meter will get the full flow, and this apparatus will then lower it AFTER the meter read it... (written while you were drawing the dinosaur eating a doughnut :P)

[@OvhanDevos]

+bigclivedotcom Hey Clive, do these units actually save you money or energy?

[@JJ_ExMachina]

Sean Anderson He explains it is the video.. it is snake oil... has no benefit at all, and can actually be rather unsafe, if too much load is pulled through the unit, possibly causing a fire.

[@supersilve]

Once I came across a company who was selling these supposely energy saving device which you hook up to your consumer unit. Came the time and got one of them at hand and opened it. I just found out it only consisted of a capacitor or around 50uf and a piece of steel plate riveted to the inside of the box to add some more weight to it. Displaying the unit back at the store this device was hooked up to 4 of the old energy saving lamps that each had an iron core ballast. These where hooked with a clamp meter and the energy saving box was switched in and out displaying that with the box attached the current was less. It tends to fool you at first but I learned that POWER FACTOR IS NOT READABLE IN THE HOUSE WATT METER, and although that more current is visibly passing through you will not be paying for it. This would trick any average person that this thing really works.

[@gtoger]

If you're reducing voltage but adding current, will you not also then be pushing the wiring (etc) harder, resulting in resistance, heat loss and possibly risk of fire? (I'm just a humble tow truck video maker, not an electrician.)

[@skittermckitter05]

If this is powering resistive loads, the current will drop with the voltage. If its feeding more complex loads, like a power supply, the efficiency of the system plummets and you're better off without it

[@funkyironman69]

That's true if you are powering something with a switched-mode power supply but not something resistive like a kettle. Except the kettle will take longer to boil, so there is no energy saving.

[@mikecawood]

Your redesign of the unit is absolutely BRILLIANT :)

[@graemepinnock]

A few years ago I was cold called by a company (Sorry, can't remember the name) selling a similar but far simpler device. It was based on an Autotransformer. It's was basically a single winding transformer with taps for various voltages. The mains (in my case 246v) was connected across the entire winding and the taps allowed a lower voltage to be supplied to the consumer unit. If I remember correctly, they were aiming to reduce my mains voltage to 230v which would have resulted in around a 7% saving I was told. The advantage of this unit was there was no additional circuitry, the disadvantage is that the thing was enormous and expensive due in part to the amount of copper required for the 100A rating. I didn't get one in the end for all the reasons Clive mentioned in the video. IE anything that heats will just heat longer. Any tungsten light is much dimmer (and if you use dimmers - then you will just compensate by having them set higher - and save nothing), plus just about any modern electronic device is going to have a switch mode power supply which doesn't really care what the input voltage is (from 100v to 250v) it will just take more current to compensate for a lower voltage. The only advantage I could see from any sort of mains dropper would be that some devices might actually live longer if the voltage was lower. IE anything designed for the European Market that would dearly love to be supplied with only 230v. I would recommend that anyone who is still making a lot of use tungsten lamps considers replacing them with Warm White LED lamps. I think the technology has finally come of age. The only gotcha is that you may have to replace your dimmers with LED compatible ones.

[@seanmacattram9320]

Call

[@jamesgrimwood1285]

That device would really piss off the UPS connected to my computer rack, it'd constantly trip the "supply under voltage" system that kicks in a boost transformer and the batteries to push the voltage back up to 240v :-)

[@davidharper4289]

You are a "gem". Keep it coming. You are both informative AND entertaining. Thank you, thank you, thank you. David (from Down Under)

[@hmartinspliff]

22:50 Don't forget to add VAT on top of the cost of the unit and installation cost......don't forget, it's always *_PLUS VAT._*

[@GGigabiteM]

The only country in the world that uses 100 V mains is Japan, but it gets more strange when the east side of the country uses 50 Hz switching frequency while the west side uses 60 Hz.

[@GGigabiteM]

+Ollyweg 0 The grids would have to be isolated because mixing 50 and 60 Hz would most definitely cause nasty problems.

[@GluteMaximuz]

Hmmm?

[@katrinabryce]

@@GGigabiteM Two completely separate grids with some DC links between them, much like the DC links between Scotland & Northern Ireland, and between England & France.

[@johnsalmons9222]

@@katrinabryce DC links between countries respective grids?? Are you using a euphemism?

[@johncrowerdoe5527]

@@johnsalmons9222 Those are real. But not at all borders, only borders between the big fully phase synchronized grids. In Europe, those are the big continental grid and the Scandinavian grid. I don't know if the British isles are on the continental grid or their own grid. Before 1989, much of the East block had their own grid too, with short DC links at a few border points.

[@reallybigshoe40]

I have seen well over 1 home energy saving tip videos, and this is by far the most logical, cost effective and safe method online. On the whole internet. Fact

[@Slider68]

At 15:05 you state that the current is constant through the entire system from input to output - But - transformers (even toroidal buck transformers) still have to conform to conservation of energy laws. If the current was truly constant then configuring the transformer to bump the voltage up would be able to create "free energy" (and really save on your power bill). Unfortunately that isn't possible. Basically if a transformer is used to lower the voltage, VAin equals VAout so in this case the output current is increased compared to the input current. Discounting losses the input power and output power are essentially the same. As far as using this thing to save energy I fully agree with you. There are very few modern devices that running on a lower voltage than designed are able to save energy while still functioning well.

[@Kris_M]

+Slider68 At least one other noticed that slight mistake... Anyway, the device will probably waste more energy itself than it could ever save.

[@musicinspire1745]

Good for you, Clive. Dropping voltage only forces loads to draw more current in order to achieve the same POWER necessary for operation. P=VI. Then voltage (V) drops, in order to power (P) to remain the same, current (I) must increase. For those who are mathematically challenged, plug in some numbers, and do not allow P to change, and you will see what's happening.

[@Lazy_Tim]

Takes 4 years to become a qualified electrician in Australia. Some of the stuff I've seen installed by people who think they know what they are doing in shocking!!

[@lordi2009k]

over here in the uk we have a saying that if you want something done properly then do it yourself even more of a good idea if your land lord for example the council all ways sends out someone that blatantly has no idea of what to do when trying to fix any problem (i should have become a gassy at least the combie boiler wouldn't be failing every other month or so )

[@bjtaudio]

No licensing system however guarantees quality work, it depends on the individual doing the work. Not all electricians do the job right either, some make short cuts to save time. Others just knowing flout the rules because they couldn't be bothered, and then when there is an incident and they lose their license they continue to work unlicensed anyway often never get caught.

[@bjtaudio]

According to an Electrician working at a Bunnings hardware store In Brisbane, he said there has been a large number of customers from Europe moving here to live coming into the store and buying full 100m rolls of 3 core 1mm2 flex, and are using it to illegally install GPO's on new extensions to house and daisy chaining from the existing GPO's in house. Some even run new circuits from board with 1mm2 flex with 20A C Curve mcb on it. Unlicensed, unqualified, should be using 2.5mm2 building cable, in-adequate mechanical protection of cable, failure to install RCD, placing GPO'S in Zone 1 and 2, a GPO inside a shower for example, active and neutral reversed on plate, no earth connected left hanging. No problem until there is an incident, easy just leave the country to avoid prosecution.

[@brucepeter2007]

That was great and learnt a lot. A company I used to work for makes a big thing out of them now and their product is installed in a load of housing association properties and are supposed to save a bomb but as you clearly show you never get something for nothing. Great video and thanks for posting it in such detail. Regards Peter

[@craignehring]

I like it, but I think greater market penetration could be achieved IF there was a USB 3.0 charging port? Perhaps that could be the energy saver 3003+

[@Elfnetdesigns]

+Craig Nehring Dont forget iPhone compatible because you know. Apple products are the "best" in the world (lol)

[@gorillaau]

It needs an mobile phone to allow you to monitor the performace of the device and how much power you are saving. It's a greenwash!

[@rich1051414]

Add RGB lighting as well. Might as well waste as much power as possible, why the hell not, since you are using an Energy Saver 3000+

[@BoB-Dobbs_leaning-left]

It should have a built in web server that constantly updates its Facebook page so that all your friends can see how much power you are saving. Otherwise, I won't buy one.

[@gladyszryan]

USB 3.0 Charging port had me dead. (Someones going to ask: Because 3.0/2.0 have no difference as a charging port, the extra pins are useless, only 2 electric pins in the same place for each)

[@jamesgrimwood1285]

look at your fancy consumer unit with its circuit breakers and RCD protection. we've still got the old 1980s style fuse box in cream with actual wire wound fuses. the only concession to modern wiring is the retro fitted breaker on the ringmain circuit. next to it is a disused single fuse, single switch fusebox made from metal that must have been the house's original supply. we also still have round Bakelite light switches :-)

[@DantalionNl]

Not to mention reducing the voltage of the mains would make higher currents if the device has its own switch mode power supply. Then because of the high currents your mains wiring gets hot when. when copper wire gets hot its resistance increases causing even more loss.

[@guywilkinson]

This was designed at a time when nearly everything was a transformer and mains supply was 240v and most new appliances were rated at 230v.

[@benmooe]

I know this is a bit of an old video but just thought you'd like to know. VPhase and Energetix is now wholly owned by FlowGroup who are now an energy distributor in the UK called Flow Energy. They don't sell energy saving devices by the looks of it but there is mention on the corporate site that they are planning to have "Ambassadors" up and down the country selling energy saving "solutions" to it's customer base. They've also jumped on the smart home market so, hopefully that answers that one.

[@shepd3]

Also I never realized UK breaker panels were so complicated! In North America, home breaker panels are almost always steel. Mains, after leaving the meter, connects to a main breaker typically matched to the ampacity of your connection to the power company (lower is legal, of course). This breaker also serves as a shutoff for all power in the home. From there normally the breaker directly feeds four rails (two per side of the service, which is fed by a center tapped transformer on a pole or on the ground--despite what you may have heard, homes here do not have two phase service). Those rails connect to the breakers stabbed onto them. And from those breakers you connect your loads. I have never seen a panel offering such a limited number of breakers, typical panels here allow installation of 40 breakers. All connection points on the breakers offer 120 volts. When you use two connection points side by side on a full size breaker you get 240 volts (you must then tie the two handles together, electricians normally just buy breakers with this already done). GFCIs are normally installed at the outlets where required by code (wet environments), though for special circuits (kitchen splits, if anyone does that anymore... and hot tubs) the GFCI is built into the breaker. A tripped GFCI only affects that circuit. AFCIs are required for bedroom circuits and part of the breaker supplying the circuit. Central Air-Conditioners (big units which cool an entire house with forced air) must have a separate shutoff panel installed. Neutral is directly tied to a single neutral bus supplying all attached circuits, which at the main panel is also bonded to both the case of the panel and ground. And that's pretty much it... The homeowner only has access to the main breaker, and the breakers attached to the circuits and would have to open the panel (very easy, just 4 screws for each side) to get at the wiring.

[@chkohl1919]

@Dave Micolichek I've installed scores of 40+ space panels in homes.

[@chkohl1919]

@Dave Micolichek Oh, yeah okay. I'm just making it up. You got me. That Square D QO 200amp 42 Space Neutral Ready panel I installed last week in a new 3,000 square foot home that will be pretty much filled with breakers doesn't exist. I'm actually a little worried that I should have installed two panels, since there were some electric floor heat, extra cooking appliances and a few other things added after I trenched in the secondary.

[@chkohl1919]

​@Dave Micolichek I would suggest you just admit you're wrong and move on. In 2019, a 40 space panel is bare minimum in new construction. Frankly, it has been for as long as I've been an electrician, 15+ years. Take for example the current 3000 sq foot house I"m doing. The kitchen has 2 countertop receptacle circuits. A fridge circuit. A microwave circuit. A dishwasher circuit. There will be two 240V cooking appliances. A dining room circuit. Three bedroom circuits. A living room receptacle circuit. Four general lighting/receptacle circuits. Two bathroom circuits. There's also one, maybe two 240V circuits for floor heat in the bathrooms. Washing machine circuit. 240V dryer circuit. Two garage receptacle circuits and one garage lighting circuit. The garage alone is 1600 square feet. So, that should cover the main floor. The basement will have at least a couple circuits for bedrooms and lights. The furnace always gets a dedicated circuit. Water heater is 240V and AC unit is 240V. Sump pump circuit. I'm pushing 40 spaces already and that's not including the 240V welder and air compressor outlets he wanted. Ha. Don't know if they're getting hooked up without bringing in another service. Keep in mind this is a fairly normal sized new house. Also, from my wholesaler at least, a 200A 20 space panel is more expensive than a 40 because they don't sell nearly as many.

[@chkohl1919]

​@Dave Micolichek Golly, I'm getting pretty embarrassed for you. You have no idea what you're talking about. The load on a service has nothing to do with breaker values. You just don't add up the numbers on the breakers. As far as your supply and demand idea, typically a product that sells more is manufactured at a more optimized efficiency, then bought by huge quantities by wholesalers who can sell them easily, so therefore that can drive the price below less demanded products. In other words, if the supply and demand are both there, it means cheaper prices. I can't wrap my mind around the idea of having less than 20 breaker spaces for a brand new house. What, is your entire kitchen on 2 breakers? Does your range, water heater and dryer all run on gas? AC Unit? I mean, that's half of a 20 space panel with just those few items and you want to tell me, an electrician, that any more breaker spaces than 20 is unnecessary? Just a thought, but how many tandem breakers does your panel have in it? I see new trailer houses with 20-24 space panels in them, but they're actually 40 circuit rated, so they're filled with tandem breakers.

[@allhumansarejusthuman.5776]

@Dave Micolichek Dude. It's the same breaker box between 20 breaker and 40 breaker. Just different punchouts being punched out and different front panel. I always bought the box and front panel separately and not punched to save the five bucks and torment whoever was my assistant that year when they pissed me off 😂 Why ya being an ass about it eh? Your favorite dog die or sumthin?

[@kaoshavoc]

I love your videos. You are so down to earth and I love the way you dissect things and make diagrams as you go. And I have to says, I really love your commercial you finished out this video with.

[@bearcat8691]

WOW!! Where can I buy a Energy Saver 3000+?!?! I want the power company to pay ME!! Look!! Blinky lights!!! Great video!

[@drearchon2079]

ur paid by the big electric company

[@antonfloor344]

IT doesn’t work listen to what men says

[@aaronmicalowe]

Duct tape on the wife will save much energy :P

[@zamkhirah6963]

@@aaronmicalowe 🤣🤣🤣

[@trevorvanbremen4718]

The Energy Saver 3000+ does not HAVE 'blinky lights'... That feature is only on the Energy Saver 8000. I can upgrade your Energy Saver 3000+ for only US$350 Edit: 555 timer with capacitor / resistor running on a capacitor dropper bridge etc. Estimate parts cost at about US$5.00... Hmmm, better make it US$500 for the 'upgrade'. Next years upgrade will involve an RGB LED too (MSRP US$2100)

[@toledomerendo]

Sir, you should have been a teacher since you really manage to explain electronics and electricity so well and with easy to understand language.

[@evanwilson4248]

On front cover: "No user serviceable Parts. Do not remove cover." I don't listen to that silly rule.

[@danhard8440]

ya that usually just makes me want to break in it more

[@Berkeloid0]

To be fair though, you're a bit beyond a "user" if you are capable of repairing these devices, so the advice isn't meant for you.

[@RambozoClown]

One of the best explanations of a buck/boost xformer. There is no such thing as a free lunch. But selling snake oil to idiots will let you buy all the posh lunches you want. Out of business? Imagine that.

[@nraynaud]

I think you got an small error in the washing machine motor analysis, the transformer is a constant power device, it doesn't transmit the same current as it absorbs. It doesn't change your whole point that there are too many switching supplies and closed loop system to make a change. I think the low hanging fruits in energy saving are all gone now.

[@sdgelectronics]

+nraynaud1 Yes I think he made an error here. It would still draw the same power plus whatever inefficiencies this device has.

[@mrkv4k]

+nraynaud1 I don't really get what you mean. Modern washing machine motors are driven by switching drivers, even some old ones had some kind of regulation for speed. And it's usually done by changing the duty-cycle, so even if you had tranformer, it's gonna be switched on for longer thus taking the same (or more) ammount of energy.

[@sdgelectronics]

+mrkv4k He's saying the same thing

[@mrkv4k]

SDG Electronics But where's the Clive's mistake then?

[@nraynaud]

he made a short remark using the same logic as for a linear regulator

[@n2n8sda]

Hey Clive, Happy new year. Hope to see you tearing down more stuff in 2016. You mentioned in the video you were not sure if anywhere uses 100v power. Japan does! Japanese domestic homes use either 50 or 60hz (Yes, two sepearate grids in the country, one for the west and one for the east, stemming from the days where early electrical companies either used German or US sourced generators.) split phase 100v AC. 3 wire, centre tapped neutral and two 100v "lives". Half the electrical outputs run on the one split and the rest on the other, since the load is invetiably unbalanced the neutral will typically always be carrying some current. Larger household appliances like Aircon and induction cookers typically use 200v derived from the two lives of the split phase. It's pretty stable too, always around 97v out the sockets.

[@pjortkat]

when will the energy saver 3000+ be available in denmark, and will it be compatible with a danish 230v installation? It sounds like a must have!

[@crocellian2972]

This is the most interesting episode I've ever seen. Please do some more complicated stuff like this. My whooping three month internship with the power company suggests to me that they want to protect their transformers at all cost. It takes a year to get a new one out here in the wilds. They aren't very German about planning in rural America. They want the total load to rise slowly after a major fault because their computers 100 miles away will shutdown any transformer that has sudden load fluctuations.

[@abyssalreclass]

FYI, Japan uses 100v service. Just so you know. Interesting video, I never did put much stock in "energy saving" types of devices

[@abyssalreclass]

IDK about different voltages, but I do know that some areas use 50 Hz and others use 60 Hz

[@martingreen530]

Hello clive, A follow on from your past posts regarding qualified electricians in 2 weeks and a getting a dirty hands on 5 year apprenticeship. Our oldest daughter Rosie was doing an IT course at college when she left school. She came home one day and said “I quite like the course but I much prefer taking them to bit “.....From the top of my head I said “there’s no money to gain as everyone is playing that tune..... Have you thought being an electrician ?”..well chap, about a month later, she came home and said “ I’ve got a job in Burton and an apprenticeship as a maintenance electrician......well, mate, as I thought, she had a flair for it...Lecturers saw it in her, now, It’s hard to believe, 5 ½ years later, She it chief electrical technician maintaining robotics manufacturing bricks etc and last Friday got her licence to operate a “cherry picker” ....... So proud mate..... At 26 years old she is on 43K !!!!!!. I’m a time served machinist as was my dad....My grandfather was an electrician also.... So you are SO SO correct that a good STRONG apprenticeship is unbeatable ...... Love your posts...... I dabble myself and recently completed a 7 transistor shortwave radio...... Take Care Chap.

[@LanternLabs]

Surprised nobody pointed out yet that Japan uses 100v

[@8bits59]

Was about to, then read this comment

[@OrangeCat__]

+8 Bits same lol

[@8bits59]

Don't they also have a 200v system similar to the US's 120/220v system

[@imark7777777]

from what I understand in the areas occupied by US military we were nice enough to improve their system per our compatibility and comfort while we were invading.

[@jonathanfurtado3696]

@@imark7777777 yes on the military bases in Japan the system is upgraded to that of United States system this way service members and their families stationed in Japan don't have to buy any special adapters they also generate most of their power on site.

[@worddunlap]

A friend bought a whole house energy saver, black box edition. They also bought yearly maintenance for $1200. After testing I determined the box was an empty box filled with black epoxy resin. Any money saved was only due to them paying attention to lights and things left on. The salesman had duped a thousand or so people. It all operated as a scheme where if you sold your friends one of the units your monthly maintenance was free. I have the lowest power bill of anyone I know and it is because I do balance circuits, shut shit off that I am not using and dress warm in Winter. My heat is set on 65 F today but in years past never went above 60 in Winter. Save money by not spending it.

[@MrJeffschefke]

Ware do I buy the energy saver 3000+?

[@evanwilson4248]

Make it yourself! You have the schematic!

[@MrJeffschefke]

id rather support the original maker then make my own!

[@readyrepairs]

+Jeff Schefke I suspect that since you are clearly an avid internet user, you may want the 9000+ model.

[@sivalley]

+readyrepairs I heard Big Clive got into a legal dispute with Kerkraft over the 9000 model. Their legal representative, Vageta, served him papers last week.

[@toysareforboys1]

+Jeff Schefke I'd buy one! In Canada so our electrical system is 120v/60hz. Only GFI breakers for the bathrooms :)

[@DataToTheZero]

Big Clive, My I make a suggestion for the 4000XP unit? Included a simple way to check the input voltage against a value set at installation when the house was under low load Or one could get fancy and include a little clamp on remote amp sensor. Either way turn on and off the 'active' LED to indicate high load situations. With this design the energy saver would truly be an idiot light indicating that you obviously weren't using much, err I mean your saving electricity when red led is lite. (compared to when it's off.) Keep the red led on and watch the saving roll in!

[@borisjohnson1944]

You will need to add a few lead weights because if it is heavy it must be good.

[@jansb984]

You nailed it - AWSOME! The bottom line is that you can not save some unless you create some and this costs more than the original consumption. Not to say that cos-coefficient caps can not do the efficient job on inductive loads, but this is another story..

[@PaulphotoeyeVideo]

You have confirmed all my thoughts on these units. The local authority in my area has theses fitted in properties and my concerns were exactly as you said, 220vac for electronic devices. Worrying.

[@BrianG61UK]

Ha ha. What area? I want to make fun of them and use it as an example of how government largely consists of inefficient idiots who are unable to get a proper job and compete in the real world.

[@NeuronalAxon]

Yeah, where's that? You should name and shame them.

[@mattsmedley.onehandedgamin9029]

Always over my head, yet I enjoy watching your videos.

[@lwilton]

My energy company does pay me. But then my energy saver is a 16KW solar array, and I live in a fairly sunny location. :-) No LEDs on it, but there are LCD screens on the inverters.

[@AAAyyyGGG]

I WANT ONE OF THOSE!!! :-))

[@danhard8440]

what is the power bank that your using or is it pipped into the grid?

[@bakonfreek]

THANK U BIG CLIVE FOR MAKING THIS INCREDIBLE TECHNOLOGY AVAILABLE TO PEOPLE LIEK US!

[@derpinbird1180]

So its basically a giant single setting dimmer box. Cool i want one!

[@gantmj]

+Derpin Bird It looks just like a dual 2.4 kW dimmer I use in my line of work.

[@BritishBeachcomber]

Pete Kiryluk it's called a Variac

[@bobweiss8682]

Variac is one trademarked name (General Radio). Superior Electric calls their identical product a "Powerstat". Generically, a variable autotransformer.

[@agvulpine]

I think your circuit broken video from last night is giving this gem a rerun. Clive Classics®

[@ToeCutter454]

after seeing the majority of UK/EU electrical boxes and stuff i rather like them OVER the crap we have here in the US... it feels so much simpler and safer(when done correctly) not to mention the breakers are far more visible to tell when they've tripped instead of the half tripped breakers we end up with that make it hard to tell which one exactly popped... if i ever built a house i would more then likely buy a few of them even if it cost me more to have them inspected and OK'd...

[@ctsnider88]

I'm glad I watched this while at work. I was ROTFL!!!! thank you bigclive for saving me so much money!!

[@ChoppingtonOtter]

Probably when someone fits one they are clearly thinking about saving electricity and on installing it will end up being more conscious of saving energy and then unconsciously do so (turning off unused items/lights etc) and putting the result down to the "energy saver".

[@robottwrecks5236]

Well done good sir! I think the power saving aspect of it the fact that it trips the breakers off. Can't spend as much money on power if it's all turned off. I think that does the trick quite well! (Kidding)

[@thany3]

13:50 About that, yes there is. Japan has 100V. Half the country operates at 50Hz, the other half at 60Hz. They do have the common sense to supply AC :)

[@AAAyyyGGG]

I thought you were going to say "half the country uses 50V and the other half the other 50V"!!!! :-)))

[@BrianG61UK]

That must have added extra complexity to the process of buying an electric clock before everything changed over to quartz crystals for timing.

[@SnelflightVideos]

Hi Clive, you have a very interesting channel! Regarding the energy recorded by the meter when using this device, it is important to note that the load current will be greater than the mains current. This is because the transformer primary current is also drawn from the mains, and it will be 180 degrees out of phase with the load current (work that one out!). It will therefore reduce the overall mains current drawn so that the input power is equal to the output power as it must be in a lossless system (ignoring transformer efficiency). So the meter will read correctly.

[@m1geo]

Needs a fan inside, to give it authentic whurr. Extra points if you use a real cheap Chinese one, with crap bearings. :)

[@trevorvanbremen4718]

Is carborundum powder still considered suitable for bearing material in China, or have they entirely switched over to Alumina now.

[@Sammy-fg4py]

No shit the power companies reviewed this positively, its generating them more money!

[@shlomsi2000]

Don't forget to offer an Audiophile version with audio grade caps and 99.999999% OFC® wiring. Could offer this at £199.95

[@pickleadaykeepsthedoctoraway]

I personally use a $30,000 power cable that has had time to align the electrons flowing through it (3 months in the exact same position, I used well over 300 mounting brackets for the 3 foot cord to make sure it didn't move to be sure not to interrupt the cable burn in). Make sure to burn in your cables properly to avoid slow electron flow. Slow flowing electrons get stuck and you don't want that! I've seen wires BLOW up due to electron blockage, it just gets so clogged the wire explodes from the electrothermalpressurisivity. The electrothermalinductance of the 2 seperate conductors with improper electron flow will result in increased chemtrails exposure too.

[@SproutyPottedPlant]

THIS IS THE GREATEST CHANNEL EVER!!

[@vamp97]

Knuckles the Echidna bruh knuckles?

[@JTLowry]

Needs a blinking circuit!

[@scottmarshall6766]

A little something to make it create a low hum, maybe just a speaker tied into the LED would add to the energy savings... I'd call it the "magnetic resonator" in the adverts. Ie: Caution: the unit may emit a low hum, no need to be concerned, This is normal for a magnetic resonator while working. Not that I'd ever design something like that. Thanks for another good one, Scott

[@waldsteiger]

probably put one or two nice bricks in there too. weight equals quality.

[@8546Ken]

The incredible thing about this product is that it seems unusually complex and sophisticated for a gadget that doesn't really do anything useful. As you pointed out, all it really needs is the LEDs and some dead weight. Nobody else is going to open it up to be impressed by what's inside. I get the impression that whoever designed this really believed that it was worthwhile. It would be interesting if you measured the actual power into a few appliances with and without the "power saver" in the circuit.

[@sevenman9672]

The very best snake oil always fools the maker.

[@mikeworrell1316]

It needs a fan to be complete!

[@deadfreightwest5956]

Power companies hate him for using this one simple trick! LOL, love the redesign. PT Barnum would be proud.

[@PilotPlater]

8 amps? 8 AMPS? what the actual F..... Like that giant complicated mess can only reasonably power one to two circuits, that's ridiculously useless. I'm getting a good batteriser vibe off this thing.

[@DogsBAwesome]

+Andy Plater 8 amps at 240v should be more than enough to run the lighting, not much else.

[@PIXscotland]

+Andy Plater Don't mention the B word. They'll be DDOS'ing Big Dave any time now.

[@PilotPlater]

brian whittle You're right, but no home circuits isolate the lighting from the outlets and other things, so although 8 amps could do all of the lighting in the entire house, it's not going to because the lighting is split on multiple breakers.

[@DogsBAwesome]

Andy Plater The lights are always on their own circuit in the UK usually on a 5 or 6 Amp fuse or breaker and many houses have 2 or more circuits for the sockets.

[@PilotPlater]

+brian whittle oh I see, very different in north america then.

[@buddhaman001]

Also wouldn't neglect the parasitic power usage of the unit itself! The items being powered after this unit may not run 24/7 but I'm sure there are parts of this unit that does, and that will eat into potential power savings as well.

[@noelj62]

Hi Clive, I guess 100V/60Hz is Japan's standard voltage. According to my humble knowledge, the transformer you described is an auto-transformer. We do use this kind of boosters In the part of earth that I'm currently living in. Out of necessity that is; not for energy saving or other fancy purposes ;-|

[@imark7777777]

no it is 100V/60Hz AND 100V/50Hz

[@JohnnyX50]

At my old workplace I was in charge of general maintenance and energy saving ideas along side my normal roll of managing a team of 10 cleaners lol, It was a supermarket and was lathered in fluorescent lighting. The way it was controlled was via contactors and an 8 channel timeclock (25% lighting, 75% lighting, neon signs, car park lighting) I saved the company money just by altering timeclocks so things werent running constantly and only came on at times related to opening and staff starting shifts, anyway long story short, we had 2 Econolite units, one for 25% and the other for 75% lighting and I was told they didnt work. They had massive isolators on them labelled ON and BYPASS, they were always on bypass, so I switched them on one day to see what would happen. Some indicator LED's informed me they had power but the LED's for ECO mode never came on, there was no change in light levels on shop floor and no smoke or smells so I assume they were just a pile of crap to start with. They had Torroids in them too, huge ones. On a side note, the capacitive cosine power factor corrector unit which was in the same switching room caught fire one day, i hope I never had a part in that lol. They said it was too much current draw from the ovens in the bakery that caused it ?? I dont know anything about power factor equipment, but I thought it was for mainly motors in industry, not oven heaters. We had massive Air blowers in the plant room on huge motors so maybe they benefited from that.. any thoughts ??

[@bigclivedotcom]

+JohnnyX50 The capacitive power factor correction is applied in parallel with the mains when needed, so it had nothing to do with the bakery load. The fluorescent lighting controls in supermarkets tend to be bypassed by the night workers and cleaners. I can recall being shown how to do it by an elderly female cleaner who stood on a short pair of steps held the grounded metal door of the panel open and pressed a button on the PCB inside, oblivious to the fact that her fingers were directly in the vicinity of mains voltage connections.

[@mwbgaming28]

The best electricity saving device I've seen was a really long extension lead plugged into my neighbors garden shed going to my house.

[@SteveMayne1]

Recently turned down a 'friends' advice to install one of these. His story didn't add up whatsoever, glad to find vindication in your video. I think the only appliance that would have benefitted would have been our manual low tech tumble dryer ... If the device would have taken the load.

[@bigclivedotcom]

+Steve Mayne The tumble dryer would have run at a lower temperature or run the heaters longer to keep the thermostatically set temperature. So it would have used just as much power to dry the clothes at a lower voltage.

[@meowcula]

"made of plastic for maximum combustibility"

[@MrHabushi]

My parents have one of these in their house, installed as part of their PV solar panel installation several years ago to "save energy and money". Always wondered what the V-Phase actually did, other than make a loud 'clunk' noise whenever the tumble dryer had been on for a while indicating it was past its peak load. You'd usually notice the lights suddenly get brighter as well. Made a mess of their consumer unit too.

[@bigclivedotcom]

+Chris West PV installers. Another area where people are crash-trained in the installation of the panels, a mains grid-tie inverter and in your case one of these. All battered in as quickly as possible on "price work".

[@MrHabushi]

Does seem that way. In fairness the PV install itself was very tidily done (to a complete untrained eye such as myself that is) and used decent hardware for it, just never quite saw the point of the V-Phase. Probably not worth the hassle/expense of having it removed though.

[@bigclivedotcom]

+Chris West Modern PV systems are all modular like double glazing. They're designed to be fast to install and look "neat" with their stylish enclosures.

[@MrJeffschefke]

Japan is 100v (not 120 like the USA)

[@SnelflightVideos]

These devices are intended to save energy in several dubious ways. With tungsten lamps, the idea is that you will simply ignore the fact that they are less bright. You could of course achieve the same result with a dimmer, or by fitting lower wattage bulbs. In the case of a kettle, the increased boil time is supposed to encourage you to fill it with less water when possible, saving energy. Non-thermostatically controlled electric heating will simply leave you less warm when the voltage is reduced, and the hope is that you won't notice. In most other devices the energy or power consumed is regulated by thermostats, switched mode regulators etc. So a reduced mains voltage will make no difference at all.

[@noevilea624]

" Oh it`s LED`s are lit it must be saving power " - LOL

[@ronniepirtlejr2606]

Job is 480 volts 2 amps 1 hr. Or 240 volts 4 amps 1 hr. Or 120 volt 8 amps 1 hr If I follow you, ...it's all the same job, only if you lower the voltage, the workload ( amperage) increases & wires run hotter!

[@nrdesign1991]

This whole thing is a scam. With all the switching power supplies around, they just compensate for the lower voltage by drawing a higher current to achieve the same power output.

[@getcartercarpark8744]

Can I join you in pointing fingers at kitchen fitters, in so much as a friend of mine had an electric shower put in by the guy who fitted their kitchen (after all it is "just" plumbing, is it not). Last year I was asked to take a look at the shower because it was tripping the circuit breaker after the shower was in use for 5 minutes. I found the kitchen fitter had wired the 8 kW shower with 2.5 mm T&E, a run of some 30 feet of 2.5 mm T&E. About halfway along the run of the shower's 2.5 mm mains cable (up in the loft), I found a section of T&E that had melted and the L & N were momentarily touching as the wires warmed up, the insulation liquified/melted, when the shower was in use. The shower had been in use for about 5 years, how on earth my friend survived using that shower that long is pure luck. He wouldn't believe me that the wiring was a problem until I said, just go put the shower on and feel how warm the twin and earth cable coming out of the consumer unit gets after just a couple of minutes. It really was very warm to the touch. I've been retired for some 30 years now, from the trade and I find it shocking you can have a "qualified" electrician after a weekend course, literally shocking in more than one way! Regards, K Watt. And YES that is my name and YES I was a real 5 year time served Electrician.

[@thomasesr]

WOW! Where can I buy an ENERGY SAVER 3000+??

[@pizzablender]

The buck transformer lowers the voltage as drawn. But it also has a 240 volt winding that will deliver current back to the grid. So total energy use should be approximately the same (minus transformer losses). That said, it is a crazy idea. Lower voltage does not equal lower power. The wash cycle will take longer, the lights will be dimmer (get lower power bulbs) and many electronic loads will indeed just compensate. Just say no.

[@DonaldSleightholme]

Remember to write NO SERVICEABLE PARTS & NEVER REMOVE THIS COVER!

[@AmarjeetSingh-ub7qo]

Donald Sleightholme on

[@AmarjeetSingh-ub7qo]

Punjabi

[@circuitsmith]

Regarding comments at 15:00: Maybe this has been covered (don't have time to look through all the comments): With a buck transformer energy flows from the LV winding to the HV winding. So the current in the HV winding is out of phase with the load current and thus reduces the incoming current. This satisfies conservation of energy. In the case of 100V incoming, a 90V 10A load, and a perfectly efficient transformer: The HV winding has a current of 1A which REDUCES the incoming current by 1A, so it's 100V & 9A coming in, 90V & 10A going out.

[@jammin023]

What's the other transformer for? Is that just stepping down mains voltage to something suitable for powering the circuit board? If so, it seems pretty hefty, suggesting that this unit actually draws quite a lot of power for itself, in the process of offering no energy saving whatsoever...

[@BrianG61UK]

Err. Why not watch the video?

[@technodruid]

I was a kitchen fitter. All I ever did was relocate 20 amp split plugs and light fixtures. Everything else we called an electrician

[@paulstubbs7678]

How about a 'D' cell and a LM3909 led flasher. (Or equivalent) Wow - Cordless anergy saver. Then you could also sell them a service contract, to 're-invigerate' it (raplace battery) once a year!

[@bigclivedotcom]

+Paul Stubbs Alas, the LM3909 is a rare beast these days.

[@UCCLdIk6R5ECGtaGm7oqO-TQ]

I'm a bit confused about the power company-installed RCD bit mentioned at 07:30. I don't understand how a consumer-side RCD would trip in the event of a power outage short of there being a load imbalance between Line and Neutral? Seems that, given a TNC supply, for an RCD to trip in the event of say, a supplier-side broken neutral (combined earth - PEN conductor), that the device would need to be installed before the neutral/earth split point takes place? I've never seen anything like this?

[@bigclivedotcom]

+9ff70f96 There are two types of RCD. Active and passive. The active version will trip like a no-volt switch when the power is removed, but the passive type will stay unchanged when power is removed and reapplied.

[@UCCLdIk6R5ECGtaGm7oqO-TQ]

+bigclivedotcom Interesting. I didn't know this. I'll go and look these things up as they're not something I've come across as yet. Thanks for the reply.

[@Mark1024MAK]

+9ff70f96 In the area of the UK where I live, the power company don' supply the consumer unit. So most consumer units are either the old type fuse boxes, or are main switch (isolator) and MCBs, or have one (or more) normal RCDs that don't change state with the removal of the mains supply.

[@carbon1255]

Why are these not illegal???

[@8bpspfreak2]

+Carbon 12 Because the companies went out of business, so there is not much left on the market :D

[@70xlt]

Lower voltage more amps used!!!... At least here in the US and that's a guarantee.. I have to agree about the snake oil BC. As usual good job and appreciate your channel.....

[@1love1heart87]

One of the best videos to date , On another note please can you put EBAY link up for the 3000+ :) .

[@tauttechminusmanagedmusic3778]

I will soon be the proud "owner" of a 100A mains regulator due to frequent power spikes in my area; we often have 290VAC over night. The regulator can cope with maintaining 230VAC plus or minus 5% with a mains voltage of 185VAC to 315VAC. Power Networks told me it has to go after the meter and they would not help with the cost. After some "discussion" they will now fit it at their expense before the meter. Oh the power of social media.

[@bigclivedotcom]

That's a good result. It is entirely their responsibility to maintain your supply voltage within the specified tolerance.

[@StephenTack]

@23:54 BigClive is secretly Strongbad!

[@m8e]

+Stephen Tack My head a splode. ENERY SAVER!

[@jermcrow3408]

bahaha awsome!!

[@JessicaKStark]

On the plus side, even if it's useless, if you take that buck transformer and redo the windings you can make a HELL of a Joule Thief.

[@Roobotics]

Hah, this entire device seems superfluous. Anything that ends up pulling more current at the lower voltage is going to cause higher wire losses and therefore worse efficiency. Maybe.. things with small AC motors could see some benefit.. they would likely use less energy but be more prone to stalling?

[@therealjammit]

Don't forget to use sockets for the LEDs for quick repairs, and maybe solder in some "test" components (semiconductors with no silicon in them).

Japan uses 100V (East 50Hz and West 60Hz).

[@alakani]

What happens if the guy in the middle bridges the 2 grids? :P

[@klocpl]

15:40 so if we pull voltage up to 110v the motor will need less C to get same rpm and meter count 100v so we pay less?