Hoffman Amplifiers Tube Amplifier Forum
Other Stuff => Other Topics => Topic started by: supro66 on May 18, 2009, 12:55:40 pm
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KVAR Energy Controller
http://kvarnrg.com/
I am not pushing this but has anybody else heard of this
Save 25% on your power
I was listing to some trying to sell this to another person
I keep quit I think it is a Dog and pony show
This device will store energy that you already paid for and give it back to you later
It is a big Capacitor I was told
MY TUBE AMP SITE
http://www.geocities.com/insp/SUPRO6420.html
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The concept is real:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_factor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_factor)
but I think any savings will depend on the nature of your loads. I think the idea is that your load could momentarily (in the ac cycle) draw enough current to cause losses in the line to become significant...lost as heat. Where in the line I dunno...etc.
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I looked at the installation pictures and made a decision to never do business with that bunch of Idjits. It states that the installation should be done by a licensed electrician. How many Licensed Electricians do you know that would work in a hot box (assume that every circuit is hot) with leather gloves? I recently kitted out My Licensed Electrician with the appropriate tools of the trade for working on a hot box: 1- a thick rubber mat, 2- an amber tinted anti-flash face shield and, 3- a nice, thick, pair of elbow length RUBBER GLOVES. If I ever caught one of my maintenance guys using anything other than approved rubber gloves (not vinyl, not latex exam, not yellow dish) they would WISH they hadn't- when safety issues git violated, I get about as uglee as Clint Eastwood's right turn indicator. (Clyde)
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On AC systems, if a load is not a pure resistance, some energy sloshes in and out, not doing real work, but causing real loss.
The classical example is a factory full of motors. Some types of motors can be tuned to zero reactance, pure resistance; most don't.
The out-of-phase slosh causes real problems and costs for the electric utility. If they suspect a low Power Factor, they install a PF meter, and surcharge for PF much lower than a pure resistance.
Residential rates NEVER include a PF surcharge. Traditional home loads are very resistive, near unity PF, also the PF meter is expensive, also you could never explain PF to a homeowner.
If you do run a large factory full of motors, your electric designer should have considered this issue. It is very old. In the 1920s you would run a synchronous motor idle, and adjust the field to pull a leading or lagging current, cancel the PF of your induction motors. By the 1950s, plain old capacitors in large (trashcan) sizes became the way to go. They are marked with their VAR, easy to specify and install.
A really large really low PF load will mess-up the utility distribution system; fixing your big load's poor PF gives you better power. However a single home won't benefit, you can't connect enough VAR to negate the whole block. And when residential power is "bad", poor PF is not usually the reason. (Round here it is trees on wires.)
Note that I said the VAR must be matched to the load. And you don't want to leave the cap across the line when the motor is off, that causes the opposite PF problem. Classically you connect caps and motors so they power up/down together. There is nothing on their site which really addresses sizing and load compensation. Maybe it is magic: if it could sense line current it COULD select the correct capacitive VAR, or even synthesize it with high-power electronics. But I note the residential one is just across the line, no way to sense feeder current.
And, to be blunt, these guys are so busy selling it that they can't spell right:
* Our products are "taylored"...
* others charge a strait fee...
They can't even spell the name of their own product!!
* Situate knar unit
Then there is this exciting line of bull puckey:
"The motor has no way of intelligently adjusting the amount of electricity it consumes in relation to the job of work it does”.
I dunno "intelligent", but motors DO adjust their consumption in relation to the work done.
There may be a real invention behind this. But the site and company is purely a marketing operation.
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Thanks guys my gut felling was this was a bad sell
1st He was at my low life biker type bar talking like
Billy Mays
(http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk243/supro66/celiberities/bmays.jpg)
2nd He keep saying how many kilowatts you would save
Someone asked him what a kilowatt was he did not know.
3rd I asked him did he ever see a 100 watt light bulb he said yes.
I said a kilowatt is Ten 100 watt light bulbs lit up.
He said I was wrong
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>How many Licensed Electricians do you know that would work in a hot box (assume that every circuit is hot) with leather gloves?
I'm a master electrician with the better part of 27 years experience. If it can't be done safely hot, then turn it off, end of story. Hot gloves do not replace good judgment and proper metering before a hot tap. Personally, I can't stand wearing gloves. I'd rather work standing (or usually kneeling) on a rubber mat. I do use eye protection. I've been in a flash and it wasn't exactly much fun. It was caused by poor judgment. I asked the journeyman if it ohmed out ok vs. ohming it out myself. That's a mistake I've not repeated. I wasn't wearing hot gloves and they wouldn't have made any difference. If I can't get my entire body isolated, I don't mess with it. I don't care if it's a dead end receptacle on a 15A AFCI circuit or a 4000A 480V service. More electricians are electrocuted by a faulty extension cord than by working in a hot panel. Of course falling off ladders is the #1 killer.
That energy controller is a joke. If you've got a big motor load that's eating your electric bill, a variable frequency drive is the cat's meow. Around the house there are a few thangs you can do to cut your consumption. If you have an electric water heater, install a time clock and shut that watt hungry thang off when everybody is asleep or not at home. Modernize HVAC and programmable thermostats make a huge difference. If it's anything like my house, motion switches in closets, bathrooms, laundry room, etc.. are a +. We can't seem to turn lights off by ourselves. I'm not a fan of fluorescent lighting but you do get more light per watt.