Power Saver scam brought to you by Today Tonight and ACA
Today Tonight and A Current Affair both ran stories on 'Power Saver' devices at the end of January. Proponents claim that these devices will save up to 40% off residential electricity bills.
The problem is, these devices are scams. They will do nothing for your high electricity bill. They will just line the pockets of the likes of Earthwise Power Savers Pty Ltd who is behind the product featured on Today Tonight.
ACA has since removed all links from its website for the device that they promoted. For some reason the Today Tonight one is still on-line.
What are these 'dirty electricity' power savers?
As put by serial commentator on these scams, Dan of dansdata.com, puts it like this:
There are many, many "power saver" products on the market. Most are little plug-in things, but there are also versions like the Oz Power Saver that are hard-wired in the breaker box.
They should not be confused with plug-in standby power eliminators like the EcoSwitch (which actually do save power).
What do they claim to do?
The sales pitch is about cleaning up your power. The Earthwise site talks extensively about 'dirty electricity' to convince readers of the need for their device and to 'demonstrate' that it actually does something useful.
On Today Tonight, they came across surprisingly well. This is because most of the time they were not actually telling fibs:
It's a power factor correction unit. - Geoff Hourigan
It reduces the current. - Greg Paxton
And here in lies the problem. The business owner says it himself, it is a power factor correction unit.
Power factor correction does not reduce residential electricity bills
Residential customers, and most small businesses up to about $30,000 per annum in spend, do not pay for poor power factor. So, even if this device does correct power factor, it will not change your bill.
Power factor correction will reduce your apparent power consumption. It does not affect real power (what you are billed for).
Don't get me wrong: power factor is real. For large consumers (such as office buildings and heavy industry), power factor correction will often cut a component of the bill. These sites pay for their peak power consumption in kilovolt amperes (kVA) as well as their real power consumption in kilowatt hours (kWh).
Have a look at your bill. If you do not pay for peak demand in kVA you will not benefit from power factor correction.
So at one level the story is actually true, and this is what makes the scam so compelling. Even as an engineer who has worked in this area for several years, the Today Tonight story didn't actually wreak of "scam" as much as I though it would.
A quick phone call to any respected electrical engineer (or one of the network power companies) would have set the reporter straight.
It is a disgrace that Today Tonight and ACA air this material. Energy consumption is a confusing topic which most find hard to grasp.
Now, many people will end up paying a shonky company over $1,000 to install something that does not work.
- Ryan McCarthy.
We sell a unique range of products that are guaranteed to slash your power bills:
- Bankrupt your energy supplier with these low power LED lighting solutions.
- Put your energy hungry appliances on a diet with these simple energy savers.
- Stay cozy in winter with these innovative heating solutions.
- Cut your water wastage with these quality water savers.
Comments
dont get me wrong i was scepticle too but I Bought the powersaver, i just got my bill it was $668.00 which dropped from my usual bill of round $1000-$1200 quartely and i honestly saved about 40% and my kw usage went down and i didnt change any of my habbits. I think if you look right into it you will find its very high tech and has a unique way of working. Just thought i would let you know.
April 04 2011 at 06:04 AM
Thanks for confirming what I thought was a scam. Was just approached by a dodgy door to door salesman from solagex. These people need to be stopped. Can the consumer watch dog step in?
March 28 2011 at 03:03 PM
VJ, thank you for the reply, but to be frank, your post says nothing. Electricity bills go up and down all the time (particularly due to seasonality and a range of other factors). I am glad that your bill went down, but I doubt it had anything to do with an Earthwise Power Saver type product.
April 04 2011 at 09:04 PM
Please view our latest video proving savings will be achieved when an Earthwise Power Saver is installed. youtube.com/watch?v=GWzmPbfVVDE. Comments are welcome.
April 15 2011 at 01:04 PM
Thanks for this discussion – I agree with Ryan: we need to see some independent and reputable testing/endorsement. I looked at another device (electricsaver1200.com) which seems to be marketed for Australia as well. It is much more affordable than the Earthwise product, and for a novice this looked promising, but having read this discussion it also seems to be a “power factor correction” device… Anyone know about electricsaver1200? Does it work on the same basis as Earthwise? Any advice would be appreciated.
April 28 2011 at 11:04 AM
Thanks for the video Earthwise, but it doesn’t prove anything. We would need to see your device save power on a household electricity meter (not a plug-in meter) for normal, combined, household loads (not one unloaded motor). And we would need to see this done by an independent third party.
April 16 2011 at 06:04 PM
just got my bill for this first full period $15 difference, so no way are we talking 40% saving
June 05 2011 at 09:06 PM
In short: the Electric Saver 1200 is a scam too (exact same principle). – Ryan.
June 11 2011 at 01:06 PM
I have looked at the earthwise website. Much of the information they give is completely false, even comments made by Greg Paxton in their “independent” report are totally wrong, in particular how examples of improving power factor saves you money. Not true. This from a so called industry expert!
As Ryan states in his article you are billed for the power you use, real power, or kW. Improving power factor reduces over all VAs, what is supplied by your utility. So improving power factor saves the power company money, but not the residential consumer. Only large electricity consumers are charged for poor power factor based on an agreement they would have with their electricity retailer.
Also a little curious as to how their capacitive equipment stores power and recycles it? Capacitors store electricity yes, but release it as DC not AC.
I am an electrician working for a company that installs energy management equipment and does electrical consumption auditing so have somewhat of a an understanding in this area. Don’t believe fuzzy information that cant be backed up by sound theory.
June 10 2011 at 06:06 PM
Thank you for the info. I was about to buy one here in wa the web site quotes them at 1300 to 1700 bucks when the salesman rang he said over 2 grand for 3 phase plus more for this and that PURE SNAKE OIL I THINK what ever happend to aussies being men of their word im sure glad i found your web site. Earth wise is welcome to put there money where there mouth is and install one at my house if it works i will pay for it if its shonky then they can shut shop.
June 24 2011 at 08:06 PM
I am not an electrician and I don’t know anything about how it works. But I just got an Earthwise poersaver installed and I could save $197 on my first electricity bill after installation. I used to get around $720/quarter. I am excited. It really works…
June 15 2011 at 11:06 AM
Sam, you ‘could’ save $197 and you are ‘excited’? Evidence please…
June 25 2011 at 05:06 PM
I am very grateful to have come across this site.
I, too, have been approached by an overbearing sales-person in WA from a well-known power saving site who quoted me over $2000 for the product.
After listening to claims of ‘customers saving 25% minimum’ and ’I’m so excited as one client just rang me with a 36% saving and he’s now telling all his friends’ I finally found the time to do some research.
There are positive and negative comments on several sites (although personally many more negative I think) and some of it is beyond my understanding – but it all boils down to one thing – the company will not GUARANTEE me any savings in writing. Surely with claims of 25%+ on an ‘average’ basis then asking for a 5-10% guarantee is more than reasonable? I will keep an eye on the sites but at this stage it appears that our money is better spent on a full solar system.
June 29 2011 at 04:06 AM
We received a phone call from this guy pretending to call from some authorities and he was actually speaking our language. claiming that they got the information from the govt. authorities.
I already agreed that they could send the device and my wife today picked it up from post office. I have been planning to verify his information and I have been putting it off until today. I think I have been scummed. lol
June 28 2011 at 01:06 PM
I work for the Police and trust me this is a scam. There are several different versions of the products operating with company names such as Power Saver and Hydro Electrics. The tele marketers contact customers and are told their power bill will drop by 30-40% once the device is installed. Customers have given their address details to the tele marketer and told to pay cash on delivery at the post office. The customers take the alleged power saver home, install it and see no difference in their consumption bills. If for some reason you don’t pick the item up from the post office these companies will then continue to ring you and eventually begin to threaten you and your family.
The tele marketers are also leaving comments and reviews on blogs and sites to ensure that customers continue to purchase the items. Some of the comments listed above promoting the item are tele marketers.
If you do purchase these items or have purchased them, you do so at your own risk. Be mindful of this when making any purchase where you are not given their claims in writing or a product warranty.
July 25 2011 at 03:07 PM
I purchased one of these things the sales reps name was Mark from Earthwise in Sydney. I have to say that since being installed in March of this year I have seen this piece of s**t do absolutely nothing they promised. Our consumption over winter was same as last year but this wasn’t a good indication for me as we use the ducted aircon in winter but this spring when our aircon usage is nil and we have been watching TV in the dark our bill that just arrived is more expensive of course because of increase in cost of power but out usage stats are exactly the same as last year so there has been no reduction at all.
Be weary these people are rip off merchants they cant even be bothered to reply back to emails.
regards
ikhan42
November 17 2011 at 11:11 PM
After three calls from Power Saver rep, in which I declined his kind offer,I got one more call from him. He said “May I ask you something?” “Yes” I replied. “Sir, are you completely MAD?!” (not a good sales technique, really).
December 02 2011 at 05:12 PM
Thankyou Ryan for your honest coments about power factor correction and the way domestic electricity is charged. I teach electronics at tafe,and have a 36 year background in the electronics industry.I agree totally with your findings. It appears these cretons prey on the elderly and ill informed.I would like to see them put permanently out of buisness and behind bars, where they belong for comitting fraud.Mr BARNUM was apparently right, there is a sucker born every minute!!. Brad.
October 12 2012 at 10:10 PM
I’m an electrical engineer working in the energy metering industry. I can tell you for a fact that the Earthwise product will make ZERO actual difference to your power bill. I have personally tested one of their devices with a high accuracy power meter and proven this. I have also inspected the construction and electrics inside a product which I believe they sell for over $1000. I can tell you that there are less than $10 worth of parts – just some capacitors (4 × 2uF) and an LED power indicator. Just for comparison, I compared this device against the power factor correcting effect of a $10 mains rated capacitor from an electrical wholesaler – identical effect. Furthermore, I have seen identical “products” on Alibaba.com for less than $10.
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Energywise are perpetrating a blatant scam on people who can often little afford to waste their hard earned income on such a device.
November 22 2012 at 05:11 PM
Telemarketers called today. Had not heard of this device before. After politely saying that it could not do what they claimed, I checked out the website and the claims. This Electrical Engineer with 35 years in the power generation industry says that the device cannot possibly do what they say.
The promotional blurb could be convincing to vulnerable people.
Corollary to that is – how can it be that they are allowed to continue?
November 30 2012 at 11:11 AM
The salesmen are still at it (7 Mar 2013). I think they are duped just as much as the people they are trying to sell to.
March 08 2013 at 12:03 AM
I was contacted by a offshore call center and told they represented BC Hydro of all places. When i told the person they couldn’t possibly be calling from BC Hydro as the number was private ( they would never call fro a private number) and asked what his call was pertaining to he said it for a power saver to cut my electricity bill by half. I immediately requested to be removed from the call list and got a return of broken swearing and insults …. defiantly a scam.
March 14 2013 at 07:03 AM
They just knocked on our door despite there being a “do not knock” sticker on the door. My husband took the information, then I said i have a do not knock sticker on the door. The girl said we are not selling anything, there is no obligation to buy. I told her not to call us, and then came in and googled the product….hubby just chased them up the street, gave them back their product info and dvd and retrieved our contact info from them. They were only kids walking around…..shonky for sure
March 15 2013 at 11:03 AM
I did Electrical Engneering at university,
and power factor correction has to be tuned.
The video shows a simple electric motor, which had its power factor correction removed only for the video. This is deceiptful.
They also said the power will change with current. That is a lie. PF correction does not change real power usage.
They also said the change in current will change the bill. That is a lie – explanation residental power is charged on actual power, and since the air conditioner, fridge, light,etc is doing the same job, its using the same real power..
March 20 2013 at 05:03 PM
Thanks Ryan. My wife just got off the phone and I found this website while she was watching the video on their website.
I wonder if you can purchase them with bitcoin…
April 12 2013 at 04:04 PM