Luxury fake power saver plug (with schematic)

[@TsiolkovskySportingLocks]

Well I guess it will save money on your electricity bill in the long term, because when it burns your house down you won't be using the electric any more...

[@mrbyamile6973]

It also blocks an outlet that might be used for a higher amperage appliance so its very effective. 😅

[@dougbrowning82]

@@mrbyamile6973 In N. America, we have blocking caps that you can insert into unused outlets that are effective in that regard. Originally intended to prevent children from sticking foreign objects into the socket. They're just inert pieces of plastic, no internal components that could fail and cause a fire. Cheap, too, usually sold in multi packs.

[@janhumpolicek8373]

​@@dougbrowning82 We have it too

[@Purple431]

LOL!

[@DUB-sential]

​@@dougbrowning82 in the UK we just let the toddlers stick their fingers in.

[@Lizlodude]

The irony of those companies using your videos to sell the products is great.

[@McTroyd]

As someone who runs giant steel stamping machines in his living room, this is a godsend. 👍 /s

[@ScottGrammer]

You too? I thought I was the only one. My neighbors in the next apartment over love the ambience. 🙂

[@samuelfellows6923]

🙃

[@jamesharmer9293]

🤪

[@zyeborm]

​@BreatheScotland he said he loves an ambulance

[@timothymn2]

So you are that neighbour who all that wretched noise!

[@penfold7800]

I love how this deluxe model has fake buttons on the front of the case too, giving the false impression that it may have modes that the standard version doesnt. Thats just class.

[@BritishEngineer]

Mode one: 0.16 Uf in parallel to the mains Mode two: 0.33 Uf in parallel to the mains Mode three: Ooh it seems like I have a unity pf, omg this seems like a resistive load, wtf is that?- oh, that’s only the dielectric insulators breaking down in the cap and almost burning, that’s fine =w=.

[@LagrangePoint0]

how can people fall for this?

[@zh84]

"I wonder if it haaaas...a discharge resistor?" (Experimentally pokes pins that were just in a mains socket and doesn't get a shock) "Yes, it does! That's nice."

[@raycert07]

It wouldn't hurt THAT bad for THAT long.

[@mrbyamile6973]

And he's about to take it apart anyway and could have easily shorted the plugs with a screwdriver.

[@marcogenovesi8570]

it's OK it's just DC from the cap anyway

[@raycert07]

@@marcogenovesi8570 misconception. Does not matter if it's just DC. It's going to hurt a lot still.

[@pauldzim]

He should have wet his fingers first 😅

[@sarkybugger5009]

It's a plug-in socket warmer, with a green light to assure you that it's doing its job. Seems like Clive has the _"Coronation"_ model.

[@theoztreecrasher2647]

No, the Official one would have had plastic ears that flipped out when it was connected! 😜😉😁

[@wisher21uk]

Brilliant I think these are so hilarious along with the fuel savers for cars, I’m surprised people still fall for them thanks Clive

[@gregorythomas333]

But...but...but...the case is GOLD colored!!!!

[@sihamhamda47]

And the shape looks like a fictional device that could spawn a powerful mech in emergency situation Kinda like some Power Rangers reference

[@petergamache5368]

Noting that, the first thing I was wondering: is that metallic paint? That would be hilarious and totally on-brand for this type of device.

[@TopEndSpoonie]

Was hoping for flames and banging noises. Oh well, thanks anyway Clive.

[@frankstone919]

🤣 Well , you can't use the outlet it's plugged into.

[@pglick123]

"I buy all the crap so you don't have to!" I like that you give them points for connecting the crappy capacitor.

[@oldbatwit5102]

I have been using one of these for about a year. It has saved me pounds off my electricity bill, helped me lose nearly a stone in weight, and my complexion is noticeably clearer.

[@amyshaw893]

Some day, there won't be a discharge resistor, and I will probably laugh uproariously at the stream of foul language that results

[@ferrumignis]

With a ~2uF cap that could have given quite a zap.

[@bigclivedotcom]

That video has unfortunately been made and is coming soon.

[@samuelfellows6923]

😠

[@POVwithRC]

See, you gotta poison the well. Print a sheet of paper that says 'This product is utter garbage' and leave it on the desk.

[@bigclivedotcom]

I did consider writing "fake" on the unit.

[@samuelfellows6923]

The fraudsters will steal the video and edit those bits out ~ I watch beaver dam clearing videos and the channel has to put a “wandering” water mark in the video to deter YT money suckers from stealing his videos ~ if the water mark is stationary in a discreet area; it will be edited out by white/black box over it

[@diffmull]

Surely, the short earth pin means you cannot plug it into a standard UK socket as it won't displace the shutter mechanism before the other 2 pins bear down on the shutter, stopping movement?

[@bigclivedotcom]

It depends on the shutter mechanism.

[@tin2001]

Wiggle it at an angle (earth pin first) and it would probably go in. Don't know.

[@robroysyd]

Most common place you'll find power factor correction capacitors is in fluro light fittings intended for commercial premises.

[@TrondBørgeKrokli]

Even I, who am not educated beyond high school physics, had to hold back a laugh when I saw how embarrassingly simple the contents is in this device. Thank you for showing us this scam product.

[@GR46404]

Yes, if they want to fool people, they need to put in a lot more gears and levers.

[@WJCTechyman]

Matthias Wandel's modification to one of these is funny. Just tie L and N together, plug it in and it really does save you power as it trips that branch circuit breaker in the panel. Seriously though, don't try this at home.

[@franktuckwell196]

Thankyou, i had never heard of these items before, but will, obviously now, having been suitably warned, will give them a very wide berth. I would have logically thought that the best way to save power, was to have less things plugged in.

[@malcolmwhitlock2772]

Surely as the LED has no reverse polarity protection then it will have full mains voltage across it when it's not conducting which will be well above it's rated voltage which will cause it to fail. I'm also wondering if the metalic coloured paint on the case is conductive as it goes all the way to the metal contacts of the mains pins.

[@bigclivedotcom]

With older technology LEDs they just shunt when their reverse voltage is exceeded. Modern blue/white LEDs would fail in this application.

[@RS-Amsterdam]

Best money saver is draw current BEFORE the meter.😂

[@theoztreecrasher2647]

We have a 22k line through our place. When you throw the wires over that Bah Ghoom! It don't half make the irrigation system put out some water! 😜😁

[@dougbrowning82]

In N. America, that is both illegal and dangerous. Here, the meter is before the disconnect, always live from the transformer.

[@NinoJoel]

Certified electrician moment

[@DUB-sential]

​@@dougbrowning82 in the UK it's safe, effective and legal

[@Dime_Bar]

Actually these do save you loads of money. I have one of these pluged into every socket in my house, meaning i can't plug anything in to use it.

[@xjet]

No!!! I bought one of these and ever since I've had nothing but good luck. Won the state lottery three times, always find a parking space even at the busiest of times and my toast now falls butter-side-up every time. Surely this can't all be coincidence???? 🙂

[@Slikx666]

There's more in there than I thought. I was thinking a capacitor, a resistor and an led, maybe a little bit of wire. But a circuit board? I'm shocked! 😄👍

[@watsisbuttndo829]

No, you wouldn't be shocked by this model. Clive checked that for us.

[@Slikx666]

@@watsisbuttndo829 🙄 😆

[@LunaWuna]

I love the discharge resistor test

[@richardmattocks]

I have lots of power saving plugs…. Well they are normal plugs, I just turn off the appliances when I’m not using them and boom! Energy saved! 🤣

[@rayceeya8659]

"I wonder if it has a discharge resistor" Clive checks the same way I would have.

[@HeadGasket7915]

Hey Clive, as a medium time watcher, and avid vehicle fixer, I thought you might be interested in a early 00's gm ignition control module (does more than it says) that failed in a very peculiar way. would you like it?

[@bigclivedotcom]

In what way did it fail?

[@HeadGasket7915]

I think youtube is removing my comments due to length. Should I email you?

[@andrewmerrifield2957]

@@HeadGasket7915 GM were reporting your comments as spam to have them removed 😂

[@MrTarfu]

Matthias Wandel has a nice video of turning one of these into an actual power saver

[@bertus76q]

Looks like you have a few skid marks on that dodgy adapter! Keep up the awesome videos!

[@jensschroder8214]

Because many cheap power supplies and lamps are capacitive today, it makes no sense to switch another condenser parallel to the mains.

[@brucegoatly]

Can I suggest - to avoid misappropriation of your content by the scammers - that whenever you repeat the claim ("Plug it in and save lots of electricity") you add a prominent flashing THIS IS UNTRUE over the top?

[@bigclivedotcom]

I did toy with writing FAKE all over this unit with a Sharpie before making the video.

[@Slicerwizard]

@@bigclivedotcom FYI, you're supposed to include Chinese text that insults Xi Jinping. Just put it all over the background and then the scammers can't use your video.

[@samuelfellows6923]

Some videos have had to put water marks all-over the content to deter money suckers & fraudsters from stealing the video 😠

[@MicraHakkinen]

@@Slicerwizard A picture of Winnie the Poo will probably do the trick as well ;)

[@DoctorX17]

@@MicraHakkinen that’s what I was thinking, lol

[@DrakkarCalethiel]

Have to give em credit for actually fitting a cap inside. Someone's getting fired probably by inflating the BOM with that 2 uf cap!

[@bigclivedotcom]

I was hoping it was going to be one of the fake caps with just sand and resin.

[@andymouse]

Stylish ? Blimmy Clive you taste has never ceased to amaze me !....cheers.

[@bdot02]

Would throwing one of these on the same outlet as my 3d printer maybe help with my lights flickering when the printer is running? It'd be a resistive load and it seems to be related to the heated bed.

[@bigclivedotcom]

No. The 3D printer shouldn't really cause your lights to flicker. There may be a high resistance connection somewhere.

[@tin2001]

I'm gonna guess your power supply might be a bit flaky. What voltage does the bed run at? Some of the older ones were lower voltage, higher current and the cheap hight current Chinese power supplies only have a fairly short life span.

[@samuelfellows6923]

😬⚠️

[@tonyweavers4292]

Beautifully assembled too!

[@jamesplotkin4674]

Surprised they didn't make the case simply snap together. Save the cost of a screw and the time it takes to do so ;-)

[@78trav]

I wish there was no discharge resistor on this. Sorry Clive 😭

[@NiyaKouya]

I think he already mentioned a few times that he has enough hard skin on his fingers to barely get a tingle from anything even if it still holds a charge 😉

[@craxd1]

You're buying the fancy paint job. With gold, they're stepping up in the world of fraud.

[@PushyPawn]

What do they mean by "Useful load: 28 kW" ? (sticker on the back, 4th line) 1:36

[@bigclivedotcom]

It's a nonsensical figure for the total home load it can compensate for.

[@mikenco]

So, just leaves the question, can you actually build a 'Power Factor Saver' on the cheap?

[@bigclivedotcom]

A fake one, yes. But a real one for modern electronic loads is complex.

[@Mark1024MAK]

No need to make one. Use a good quality UPS that includes built-in power factor correction or use a internal combustion engine generator set. Of course, both these will be more expensive…

[@micheals1992]

@@Mark1024MAK the crazy thing is an internal combustion engine would cost 50p/kWh (there's 10kwh in 1L of petrol and at 30% efficiency you would get 3kwh of usable energy for every litre)... So 35p/kWh is probably daylight robbery considering you could get down to 33p/kWh burning kerosene (heating oil) which is currently around £1/L. The catch with this though is that you'd only get 30% efficiency when you're running a high load like a shower.

[@rodnyg7952]

more people should appreciate the phoney psychological benefits of fake electronics with blobby solder joints

[@richardhemingway6084]

It seems that some folk always want something for nothing. If it really did something useful, the government would find some way to tax it. I laugh at the advert for a 'Self charging' Hybrid car. I wonder if anyone would buy it, thinking they had purchased perpetual motion. 😅

[@peanutbutterjellyjam2179]

"The sellers often base their payment system in a country with low moral standards and drop-ship the items from China or local warehouses." Probably the U.S.

[@pirelli77]

Such devices should be forbidden! Thank you Clive! ☺🤚

[@methanial73]

Why do they even bother putting a circuit board in there? Pretty obvious it does nothing anyway. Should just have an led, a dropper capacitor and a current limiting resistor. They actually cost themselves money! 😂😂😂

[@bobjones8372]

Hi, The ones they are selling in the USA are not to save any actual electricity, they are to confuse the power meter, It screws with the usage formulas the power company uses on how they bill.

[@raymitchell9736]

I like the fact that it's a Luxury Fire, err... I meant, a Power correction faker... and I wonder if the capacitor inside was just a potted thing they cobbled together.

[@actuallyusingmyrealnameher5061]

Sooner or later your sketch of the circuit diagram is just going to be a straight line with these fine high quality products 🙂

[@allwaizeright9705]

I was getting the house ready for SOLAR and one of the "DEALS" was they were going to put the "WHOLE HOUSE" capacitor on. I told the installer that the nice amber glowing light on the "HOUSE" cap would look NICE and that's about it.. PFC caps were a scam on homeowners...

[@mallow173]

Totally agree with you sir!! that thing is a total piece of junk! If you buy it you run the risk of burning your house down!!

[@larrylaffer3246]

At first I read the title as "Fake Power Shaver". I was like how do power a fake electric shaver? Do you pretend to plug it in to it's in imaginary charging pad, so you can charge it's imaginary batteries?

[@OscarSommerbo]

I would like to see how that capacitor handles a few thousand volts. Safely contained in the pie dish, of course.

[@gordonlawrence1448]

Why didn't they use two 47k resistors? One to replace the top 100R and one to replace the 100k. That would half the power in the position where the 100k is.

[@bigclivedotcom]

It's because they are electronically incompetent and don't even understand basic electronics. The LEDs light, there is no smoke, it's good.

[@alabaz]

Mr Clive, did you see AvE did one of these 12 days ago? It seems the capacitor was more or less homemade. i was wondering if that's a general case

[@bigclivedotcom]

It looked like a standard metallised foil capacitor.

[@TheWacoKid1963]

Saw an advert for one of these the other day on YT (I don't have an ad-blocker on the tv) that that showed your bench and hands, to a regular viewer, those where easy to spot

[@Lykaotix]

Unplugged the noise filter from a 42" LG TV the other day... definitely didn't think to discharge it beforehand 😂 I kinda miss those little jolts sometimes 🤣

[@scottthomas3792]

It's a self-igniting nightlight.....

[@williamromine5715]

As anyone, who has seen my comments in the past, knows, I have no idea what this thing is suppose to do. So, I am one of those totally ignorant consumers who would be tempted to buy one of these things. However, I have been around for some time(81 years), and know that if something sounds too good to be true, and is being suppressed by industry, it's probably doesn't work. What does surprise me, somewhat, is why the Consumer Protection Agency in the U.S. hasn't gone after these products. Are there some situations where these things could save on electricity bills? In other words, what the hell are they suppose to be doing, aside from possibly burning down your house? The only thing that was missing from your usual quality of video, Clive, was you didn't have to become destructive to get at the innerds of this thing(did the manufacturer think hiding the screw under a piece of paper was going to defeat you?).

[@Berkeloid0]

They still exist for the same reason other products that don't work exist, like those mosquito repellent bracelets, health crystals, etc. They don't do enough harm to get the product banned, so they operate on the principle of a fool and their money are quickly parted. In decades past you couldn't blame people for not knowing, but today when you can quickly Google how effective these products are before buying them, there's really no excuse for falling for it.

[@dx9s]

Is there an alternative use for these fake devices? I was wondering if the capacitor could clean up any noise on the power line? Best way to test is a video with a noisy near-"pure" sign-wave that is still noisy enough buzz that can be detected on a cheap guitar amp with and without such a capacitor on the same source power line?

[@bigclivedotcom]

I wouldn't trust the capacitor for safety reasons. It would definitely filter electrical noise, but would pass a lot of current out of phase to the supply.

[@fredflintstone1]

I like it "this could be improved with a diode" you say? is that like putting lipstick on a pig? 🙂

[@brucepickess8097]

Works for me, I had a hell of a crush for Miss Piggy.😏

[@mrsstaff78]

This may be a stupid question but do any of these power saving plugs work? I know someone who has one of these and he say’s his electric bill has halved since he started using it.

[@bigclivedotcom]

They don't work. It may be the placebo effect.

[@urgtuiop5455]

What size would a real power factor correction capacitor be for something like a 100W shaded pole pedestal fan ?

[@bigclivedotcom]

That would probably have to be matched to the motor. Possibly with a set of test capacitors and suitable tester.

[@randomrud]

Last weekend I was briefly watching KZbin, not logged in with my premium subscription and I was presented with one of those ads. I had no idea they actually advertised for it on KZbin :D

[@samuelolteanu]

I've ordered 2 of these white squarish types. WIll be used on esphome for presence detection by adding a ld2410 inside and anything else that fits and it's useful (ir, temperature, a small oled screen maybe). Will save power like crazy by controlling climate from Home Assistant. They have nice cases because they need to be looking high quality so i'm harvesting that. I made sure there is no lies mentioned beyond "saving power".

[@kjtroj]

I'd love to see you go through one of the bogus "EMP shield" products on the market.

[@bigclivedotcom]

The one thing that stops me looking at one of those is that they cost a huge amount of money for their fakery.

[@micheals1992]

I'm surprised nobodies took your capacitive dropper idea and released an actual energy saving plug for just LED bulbs in lamps, you could probably even have a switch array on it to add and remove capacitors to adjust the capacitance/brightness

[@destroy-zn1zl]

Hello Clive, love you channel and have learned lots. Wondering if you can help me please. Im trying to design a exust extraction fan build. And I need it at a certain spec cfm. I have a sung shin IS-27210ARC-4(C.W-EVA)AC220v-50hz and cant find some of the specs I want on it. Would you be able to confirm wattage, rpm, and if possible be able to work out if made in to a can type extractor roughly how much cfm air movement I can get. Also just wanted to check that its defo straight into uk mains powered and dont need a seprate step down. It does say 220v 50hz but conformation would be cool. Your help would be greatly appreciated. As I have that fan/motor as a spare and just trying to work out if it will be sufficient, or if I need to get any other parts. Or if I should mabe get a stronger fan mechanism. Im trying to plan something that can do about 25-40 cfm. Thanks

[@richardperritt]

Model: SD001 I'm sure they intended Saving Device 001 but I can't help but think the more appropriate is Scam Device 001

[@ferrumignis]

"Sertain Death 001". Their spelling ability is as good as their morals and design skills.

[@ANTandTEC]

Do you think the capacitor is actually that package size, or a much smaller capacitor resin'd into the larger case... 🤔

[@bigclivedotcom]

Probably the cheapest they could get.

[@Purple431]

"I wonder if it has a discharge resistor... Yes, it does! That's nice."

[@MadBiker-vj5qj]

Last night KZbin were showing adverts for one of these called "WattSave". I wish they were regulated by the Advertising Standards people.

[@papaalphaoscar5537]

That adapter seems to have seen some "action". Did I miss that video? 😁

[@bigclivedotcom]

It was involved in an off-camera incident when the item I was plugging in exploded in my hand.

[@MD4564]

Another one would like to look at would be from '2 Pack Pro Power Saver Smart Energy Plug save Box Household Electricity Saving' 'white and green.

[@kapegede]

"Shady" is the right word for this burnt deathdaptor.

[@agentmango]

I used to live in a 1950s walkup apartment, and sometimes the compressor on my portable (2 hose) 120V AC unit would struggle to kick on. Assuming a device like this was safely built, do you think it being plugged into the same outlet could've helped the compressor start up more smoothly?

[@ek8710]

Not at all.

[@bigclivedotcom]

That's more likely due to either a high resistance connection somewhere or an appliance issue like a failing start capacitor.

[@umbrellacorp.]

It take a socket that you can use for something better and it doesn't save anything, good job. And the added bonus it can burn your house down. 😉👍 (Be careful of scams.)

[@poseidon201]

How do people get away with selling this crap, let alone making it. ???

[@n-steam]

I think the same when I see 500TB USB drives and 80 MILLION LUMEN flashlights.

[@zebo-the-fat]

I also noticed the Earth pin was sleeved... naughty! Why would the bottom resistor in the diagram get hot but not the top one (or do they both get hot and you just didn't mention it?)

[@petehiggins33]

The top resistor is 100ohms whereas the bottom one is 100kohms, so the bottom one dissipates a thousand times more power.

[@zebo-the-fat]

@@petehiggins33 ohh must have mis read it, I thought both were 100 ohm! must get an eye test!

[@sparkyprojects]

That looks like the generic desk fan capacitor, it's about the right capacitance too

[@bigclivedotcom]

Yeah. They mostly seem to use fan style capacitors.

[@matthewmiller6068]

I've been seeing ads recently for plug-in motor soft-start power-saving equipment extending adapters... I would be curious for you to take some of them apart and see if they really would do any of the things they claim like reducing power bill due to the initial startup or extending the life of the equipment do to reducing surges at startup and making it quieter and easier to start things on generator power. Also seen some that are hardwired in line with your mains appliances like an air conditioner same idea. It sounds like a too good to be true device, but I don't know.

[@bigclivedotcom]

There are soft start devices. They can help reduce inrush current spikes and also avoid physical wear on machines when the motor suddenly slams on.

[@andersvandegevel8355]

The sleeving on the earth pin also contravenes BS1363

[@nrcha]

Imagine that product development meeting… “We need a new product targeted at electronics youtubers only”

[@scratchdog2216]

Well I guess I'll try it on the Tesla then. The Fuel Shark economizer doesn't seem to be making a difference.

[@wherami]

damn thats a hard core scam. thats fascinating that you say people went around with suitcases to demo this in times past.

[@K-o-R]

"I will plug in this shady adapter" that already has many scorch marks on it 😬

[@Weather76]

If you plug all the sockets with these things, you will no longer be able to use electricity. Very effective.

[@SatyrWulf]

Love all your videos. 💖

[@rimmersbryggeri]

Stylish clearly is in the eye of the beholder.

[@brucepickess8097]

I wish I'd bought this sooner, this luxury power saving device for the consumer. The little green lamp assures me that it's a high tech device, I need to buy one, and I don't need to think twice.😏

[@rbmwiv]

Some Careless Whiskers on that board!

[@jsswizard]

Would you mind cutting open the 2uf capacitor so we can see if it's genuine?

[@bigclivedotcom]

It does work.

[@rpdom]

That earth pin is annoying. It stops you using the case for fun projects if you want to be safe.

[@dougbrowning82]

That short earth pin saves you from actually plugging it in, since it isn't long enough to open the shutters in the socket.

[@jeremywilliams5107]

*That goes straight to the authorities for the fraudulent CE mark* - it has to be tested at rated load of 28kW marked on the label.

[@barrieshepherd7694]

Maybe you could have a background graphic, when reviewing these 'wonder' products, saying "This unit is a scam" that may stop them using your videos in their marketing blurb. When you drew the circuit diagram out and started explaining the 'device' I turned the audio off for a second viewing and my brain could hear "As Bigclive describes, our unique circuitry actively interacts with the mains power supply reducing the current consumption by applying our unique blocking capacitor technology." 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@chrishartley1210]

I didn't realise they were getting Attenborough involved too. Where can I buy one of these?

[@julesvreug]

useful load 28,000w on the lable :) These things use to be popular around 10 years ago including a big box containing a starter capacitor in the box to supposedly save power it actually used around 1kw of continuous power My dad who bought it at the time told the vendor who insured that 1kw is not being metered. I then intervened the scam with engineering knowledge and then he demanded a refund.

[@dimitar4y]

When can we see one of these in an industrial power-factor correcting style? A bank of inductors and capacitors with a smart board to detect current power factor of the entire house and then switch in/out inductors and capacitors to correct the power factor.

[@bigclivedotcom]

That doesn't work with modern electronic drives and power supplies.

[@stephen7mgte]

The death-dapter covered in skid marks made me chuckle 🤣

[@thephilpott2194]

- The scammers did the same thing to DiodeGoneWild- they used a silent video clip from his debunk stripdown to try and sell rubbish.

[@itsonlyme9938]

It baffles me how the public seem to think that plugin the contraption is going to save money. At least it could have had a socket on it to plug some thing into it but just as well it did not it because the scamers don't care it would have set fire to any house.

[@berndeckenfels]

PF correction would not save power but increase the bill, right?

[@bigclivedotcom]

It wouldn't change most bills but might have a random effect on a predominantly inductive load.

[@johndododoe1411]

This is traditional PFC for sinusoidal loads such as motors. Such loads already match the mains waveforms just a few milliseconds out of time. Adding a pure capacitive or pure inductive load shifts the average closer to the right time by providing the current that the original load draws ¼ wave out of time, known also as 90° or reactive current. This works because a perfect capacitor moves no current in time with the voltage, only out of time. But the current moved is fixed for any combination of mains power and component, thus the component size must match the load being compensated, such as a big ventilation fan that runs all the time.

[@phinok.m.628]

@@johndododoe1411 Adding a purely inductive load to an already fairly inductive load like an electric motor, would only shift the current more out of phase and make for an even worse power factor. A capacitive load would help, assuming the capacitance is somewhat matched to inductance of the motor. But for the most part, household devices nowadays are capacitive loads anyway, so this "power saver" would just make the power factor worse. @Bernd Eckenfels Assuming it would provide meaningful PFC for your load, it would save on apparent power and therefore reduce the bill, if you were in fact charged for apparent power (as industrial consumers are). But given that you only pay for real power and this device uses 0.5 Watts of real power, you'd be charged for 0.5 Watt/hour for every hour you have it plugged in, so yes, it would increase your bill.

[@berndeckenfels]

@@johndododoe1411 yes but my point is with traditional meters you don’t pay for apparent load, so if you correct their pf, you pay more.

[@johndododoe1411]

@@berndeckenfels If the correction draws zero real power it causes zero change to the bill as long as you stay within the minimum power factor in the contract . As this fake device draws a constant capacitive load it may unfortunately push someone under the limit as many modern loads aren't inductive.