Thats the question on everyone’s minds these days. The Indian market is flooded with various brands of electricity savers. Some claim to be made by IIT Graduates, others are Chinese imports. Anyway as someone asked me, do these power savers work , i am an engineering student and have done a successful course in power apparatus 
, therefore i can answer this question.
If you want to learn how to tamper your digital electricity meter provided by BSES or NDPL, this is not the place ! These devices have nothing to do with meter tampering.
Power Savers are what you call Synchronous condensers. Most motor loads in our house are Inductive loads, like pumps, fans, mixers etc. Even Air Conditioners and Refrigerators are inductive loads. The power factor of Inductive loads is lagging and synchronous condensers supply a reactive power factor and help nullify the effect.
So we see in theory synchronous condensers do save power, but how much depends on the kind of load you have. These condensers wont work with resistive loads such as heaters, geysers, irons, bulbs etc. So if you live in a cold place, don’t expect lots of savings.
Also important is the product you buy, many of the products might be cheap duplicates with LEDs and nothing else, so its better to test the power saver you have bought than assume its saving power. You can ask your electrician to test the power using a wattmeter before and after switching on your power saver device.
Also if you find that the saver is not saving you enough power, don’t be hesitant to invoke the money back guarantee clauses and return the power saver.
Disclaimer : All advice above is on a as-is basis and we don’t offer any sort of guarantee on our advice, use your brain before making a purchase.
May 31st, 2008 at 3:44 am
So do these work, especially the one in the picture
?
June 1st, 2008 at 11:18 am
Well i am on the lookout for a wattmeter to measure the power consumed with and without the power saver. I will ask an electrician for it
June 6th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
1. What is a Synchronous Condenser? Is it a Sync Motor? If it is a static unit, in what manner is it different from a condenser?
2. After browsing, one learnt that the savers range from Rs. 300 to 1600 and even more. None of the manufacturers are known ones? One local distributor stated that his product costs more because it has a Twister and a Power Strip? He was unwilling to share much details. Can you, Sir, explain about he Twister/Power Strip?
3.Can u recommend any particular model. (I live in Delhi)
Thanx
June 6th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
I am not an expert at this, but still this is what my opinion is , i might be a little off but i guess this is broad sense :
Sync condensers are capacitor based devices which provide a leading power factor nullifying lagging power factor of inductive loads. A synchronous motor in theory does save power by nullifying the pf of lagging loads. As you said condensers are static devices and infact a sync motor not driving a load is a synchronous condenser.
They also nullify spikes as they use capacitors and hence improve running of appliances.
Normal condensers or static capacitors provide a static reactance unlike sync condensers (Not sure). I have not heard of Twister and Power Strip , the shopkeeper might be fooling you. Power strip is in no way related to power saving as far as i know.
We do not endorse any particular brand, but do in for one where you get a money back guarantee and also the product has been certified by an Indian Govt. Lab, don’t buy from a local store as the shopkeeper might not refund the money. Try and go for products which don’t come in Chinese packing and are sold by Indian firms.
April 29th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Energy meter register active power, which is product of volt x ampere x power factor. So improving power factor(bringing it near 1) means more power. In actual case the power factor is arround 0.8 and is inductive due to fans, motors, ACs etc. So meter will register less power and hence less energy. So if anybody claims to reduce power by improving power factor, he is making fool of you.
April 29th, 2009 at 7:54 pm
@rahul – did you fail power apparatus by any chance ?
May 9th, 2009 at 4:44 am
hi.
I can understand that a better power factor can reduce costs, but do these devices improve the power factor? I thought all electrical apliances were fitted with power factor correction devices…florecent lights have big caps to counter the big coil…moters are usually fitted with capacitors….etc.
May 9th, 2009 at 9:32 am
@Brian – I dont think all appliances, motors etc. have capacitors. If you have a digital meter, you can see it also. Just see your power factor before switch on the Ac and after switching it on.
May 28th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
some of the power saver works i m using one of then and get 30% reduction in my electricity bill.
June 16th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
Dhiraj, What brand of power saver are you using?
July 25th, 2009 at 5:41 am
saw one of those savers on ebay.co.in my ques is when power saver itself consumes power then how can it save power?
September 10th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
can these power savers save electricity from appliances such as ,
1. Fluorescent light bulbs
2. LCD Television, or typical television
3. Computers / Laptops
4.Handphone chargers / Lithium Battery Chargers
5. Rice cookers
thanks your help is very much appreciated
September 11th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
Dhiraj, What brand of power saver are you using?
November 5th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Any device which has a wound coil is inductive. Thus all motors, chokes, transromers, reactors, electromagnets, etc are inductive devices and cause lagging power factor of less than 1. This causes a slightly larger current drain which is of the order of 15 – 20%. The power factor correction device by using capacitive devices depending upon its size improves the power factor. The aim is to bring it as close to 1 as possible. In fact it is almost impossible to bring it to the ideal figure of 1.
If you have bulbs, geyzers, and other heatning devices only, there is no need to worry about.
January 1st, 2010 at 4:50 pm
hi,
kw= voltage x amp. x p.f.
by droping voltage u can save electricity , the place i came from here there is 250 voltage is comman. by reducing it to 220 u can save at least 13 to 18 % energy try this……….
January 1st, 2010 at 6:25 pm
@Pratik – nope, that wont work since you will reduce the voltage at your end, the power drawn will be same.
February 1st, 2010 at 4:00 pm
so you might be seen the power saver of “OREVA” i am using it and i install just 1weak ago and people said that it is branded power saver ???
What is it if you know that plz give me a reply
Thanking you
February 2nd, 2010 at 4:27 pm
@Harpal – Oreva seems to be by ajanta, so should be genuine. Try and get a wattmeter and see consumption with and without the power saver.
February 9th, 2010 at 1:13 pm
please let me know where can i purchase wattmeter. company name and address
thankyou.
March 1st, 2010 at 12:03 pm
can i have info on how to integrate power saver with any em locking system
March 6th, 2010 at 4:31 pm
I have gone thru all the 20 comments find them very genuine queries. Some one came & demonstrated the reduction of electrical consumption thru a 2′ floroscent tube by measuring the current drawn with and without the power saver device. The current did come down by about 30% with power saver.But the question is whether the POWER CONSUMPTION has come down? Very doubtful! here is why i have doubt: When U operate any gadget, particularly those with inductive loads such as motor driven ones, the current drawn by the motor has two components, viz. reactive (90 degree out of phase with voltage) and the in-phase component.The electric meter in ur house records power consumption based on in-phase componet of current x voltage.The so called power savers are basically capacitive loads which when plugged in cancel out the reactive component of the current there by showing reduction in current but they do not in any way reduce the in-phase component of the current which, as i mentioned earlier, is the power component responsible for power recording in your electric meter.The reduction in reactive component of current does, have effect on transmission power ( I X R )loss in wiring after the meter. This has very little effect in house holds as the internal wiring length after the meter is not very much. So it is evident that power savers are nothing but gimics just to fool people and make money. I suggest to all to check the reduction in POWER by measuring the power by a wattmeter to prove efficacy of the power saver & NOT BY REDUCTION IN CURRENT. I would like some one selling power savers to respond to my comments
March 6th, 2010 at 5:17 pm
@Mr.Kanwal – Electricity meters record total power and not just in-phase power.
March 12th, 2010 at 12:36 am
dear all,
read all the post on d site along with few other, but can’t figure out whether power saver in works in ahmedabad where power fluctuations are not there most homes have digital meters, we don’t see any power cuts. under these conditions is it good to buy or not. should it be installed before meter or after.
can transformers reduce electric bills. can multimeter do the job wattmeter.
pl. guide.{:).
March 14th, 2010 at 5:17 am
What Mr.G S Kanwal wrote is EXACTLY CORRECT. With these so called power savers, it is not the user who is getting benefited ,but the utility supplier and manufacturers / dealers of it! So buy it only if you want to “save” them through your wallet.
May 3rd, 2010 at 3:48 pm
So, are these working to save power and money or not?
May 28th, 2010 at 12:39 pm
Hi Friends
I have really worst experience with the power Saver ( CALL MAX) , its not worth to buy . I have one more view that if such device will work , do not you feel that Government will impose it ? Second there is no big brand involve in it ? Like CFL many big companies are working ike philips &wipro. So its sheer nonsense to buy such device and though they gave u money back guarantee but they wont give easily
Regards
Ashish
May 29th, 2010 at 1:30 pm
If this product is so lucrative,what they claim the reduction in electriciy bill is 30%,then there are many and most reliable manufacturers of elect.appliances,they would have already plunged into this business.But after going thru all comments,it is still not clear whether power saver is really does some work on energy saving and savings on your bill,if somebody can say.
June 13th, 2010 at 11:59 am
Hi all,
I have also purchased one. I have practically seen the my total load before the installation of power saver was nearly 12 Amperes but after installation of power saver it was only 9 amperes. This proves that it saves electricity by stablizing it.
Thanks
Anil
June 16th, 2010 at 10:41 pm
Dear,
Electric meter at my house measured only the active power (kwh). If you power saver improve power factor, reduce the current I (amp), but Kwh will remain the same. If I remember: P = U * I * cos fi. Or I must to change the contract with the electric company and ask that we incorporate the meter that measures and reactive power? What should I do?.
When I install the power saver, does the electric meter (which measures active power, kwh) to show less accounts?
June 25th, 2010 at 2:56 pm
I jave been reading about power saver for 2 years. After lot of thought i purchased one and installed. I cat say if it works or not. I do read meter every day. but change in wheather makes it difficult to judge. It seems my fridge which use to consume about 5units in 24 hrs is using about 3.5 to 4 units now.
I could be wrong. I will be able to compare my average monthly consumtion with previous year in few monts time. Then only I will be able to confirm its usefullness.
July 17th, 2010 at 12:32 pm
yesterday i got A Rmp power saver which is certified by Mysore sales international limited,,(govt of Karnataka undertaking) & has been named as single phase Pf corrector ,power pack super energy saver CE RoHS .The tests and approval is given by Department of information & technology STQC ,,directorate electronic test & development center (pune). I am yet to test it.Though i am very much looking forward to conduct it with the help of electrician who has to visit me in few days for domestic appliances repair
1.
.Can i know the correct procedure of doing the same? if it requires equipments other than normally available things in a electricians kit ,could u please tell me a rough calculation method that could allow me to practically check the savings (indicative if not precise).
2.
The manual suggests that it could be plugged into any sockets or line of prolonging..where as people suggest that it must be installed along the meter as close as possible .Can u please guide if i can plug it anywhere in house? Will the electrical authorities object if they find it ? or if i need to fix it near meter…
3.
can i conduct following to get a rough idea?
switch off all the electrical appliances and run the electric dryer for half an hour. and check the meter usage or check the load with a tong tester ..later i can plug the saver and repeat the same..will the process be ok ? also pl Note; i read in one of ur reply that heating appliances don’t reflect savings) in tat case which wud be the best appliance for conducting the test,,i have washing machines, mixers,tv refrigerators,oven n all …but don’t own Air conditioner yet .
July 25th, 2010 at 6:21 pm
Dear Saurabh,
1. No you need just standard electrician’s kit incl screwdrivers, wire strippers, insulation tapes etc.
2. Technically best is next to meter, but it will work else as well.
3. Yes you can do that, any appliances involving motors or chokes is a candidate.
Do not doubt, these do work.
July 30th, 2010 at 8:21 pm
theoretically it can’t work and as claimed it can’t give any reduction but unles on ths practically it is tried using wattmeter we cannot say anything. i am planning a few tests on the device in a couple of days. Then we shall know where the matter stands. I will report my results on this site also.
August 12th, 2010 at 9:16 am
hi WiseTechie
i would like to thnx …..to u…for ur value able & correct knowledge which deliver to us by u……….
thnx again WiseTechie…..
all the best….
keep it up….
August 23rd, 2010 at 12:12 am
Guys,
All these nonsense can stop with simple test. Pull out the main fuse, fuse has two prongs and with fuse placed in, it completes the circuit so without the fuse all the electricity stop from flowing in the house, now connect an amp meter, set to AC ampere and it will show you how much current is flowing. Next connect these gedget and turn it on and see if the total ampere is reduced by 25% to 40% as they claim and you know it.
Thanks