Mark,

I don't see anything about it in you post, so I'm assuming the answer is
no, 
but it begs to be asked anyway.  "Does your boss have a name for this
product"?  
Even if you can't hold it in your hand, you might be able to find out
something about
it if you have a name. (obviously).  Or how about a manufacturer?   Or
is this still a
Developmental product?   How long has this product been available?  Or
how long has it
existed in whatever form it is in?  Where (how) is it sold and/or
distributed?  Is it, 
or was it, developed by industry, by a university, or by a private
company?   There are 
all sorts of questions I could ask.  See if you boss has any answers to
these.

If I come up with anything, I'll let you know.

Good luck.


							Regards,

							  Jim




-----Original Message-----
From: piclist-bounces@mit.edu [mailto:piclist-bounces@mit.edu] On Behalf
Of Mark Scoville
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2007 9:44 AM
To: Microcontroller discussion list - Public.
Subject: [EE] Energy saving product? Yeah right.

Hi Piclisters,

My boss has asked me to evaluate a device (which I can't get a hold of
to
see) which supposedly saves gobs of money on electricity (sound
familiar).

Anyway, this device, hooks to the incoming power. My initial reaction
was "Oh, power factor correction". My boss says "oh no, they say this is
not power factor correction". Ok what is it then. Nobody is telling me.
This is all I am being told - I don't have any details.

Some of the claims for this magical device... (Feel free to laugh out
loud at some, most or all of these)

Motors run cooler
Light bulb and ballasts run cooler
Transformers, panels, switchgear, breakers, starters, controls run
cooler SCRs, diodes, switching transistors and microprocessors all run
cooler Switching power supplies are more stable Process and production
controls are more accurate and reliable Air conditioning and
refrigeration is more effective and reliable In-House and outside
maintenance and repair labor costs decrease Equipment repair and
maintenance parts cost decrease Light bulb and ballast replacement costs
decrease Costs to production or process downtime are decreased Computer
data is more secure and safe Computer operation is more reliable and
safe Communications systems are more reliable Lights flicker less

I do know you can save some $$ with power factor correction - but I
seriously doubt some of the above claims. For example, how is hooking a
gizmo to my mains going to make my uP run any cooler? Light bulbs run
cooler?

They do stop short of telling me my hair will grow back and I'll lose 20
pounds.

I'm curious to hear comments from the list on some of the more
"interesting"
claims :) Have fun.

-- Mark

Doesn't matter what your business card says...
We're all in the results business.



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