We were recently contacted by Daniel Carnovale, P.E., a Power Systems Experience Center Manager with Eaton about the topic of False Energy Savings Claims.

He has some important information on this topic that we’d like to share with you.

Information from Daniel:
Have you seen the latest black boxes on the market that claim to save energy? We see it every day – people are looking for that silver bullet to save money on their power bill.

I have had people tell me that they spent their life savings buying into a franchise only to find out (by reading the paper or watching the video) that they were likely selling something that probably didn’t do what they thought or claimed it would do – that bothers me a lot. 

The misinformation that is out there is significant. Originally, Power Quality solutions were sold as an insurance policy to avoid potential damage from power disturbances such as transients, voltage sags, interruptions or harmonics. Starting in 2009, many Power Quality solution providers found it more effective to promote energy cost reduction associated with their products rather than to deal with the soft savings associated with minimizing downtime or reducing damage to electrical equipment.

The problem is that with some of these solutions the providers significantly overstated the savings and the customers were deceived. Eaton wrote a paper Power Quality and Energy Savings – What is Real in an attempt to help consumers buying products that claim to save energy by clarifying the actual savings.

Eaton has also created this video regarding False Energy Savings and PQ Solutions.

Mike Holt’s Comment: I STRONGLY recommend that everyone who receives this newsletter watches the video and downloads the document and that they pass it along to all those in the industry that would have an interest.

This is not the first time we have conversed about this topic. To read our previous newsletters please follow these links:

Mike Holt’s Newsletter TVSS Claims Energy Savings
Mike Holt’s Newsletter Buyer Beware