>
>>An energy company at the local home show is claiming that putting
>>a capacitor on the house lines will save energy, as the inrush of
>>current when starting a motor (think refrigerator compressor) will be
>>handled by the capacitor instead of being drawn from the power grid.
>
> And where did the energy to charge the capacitor come from ?
>

And how would this work with AC? Such a capacitor could do power factor
reduction, decreasing the number of VA consumed, but consumers are charged
for Watts, not VA. Industrial customers often have to maintain a certain
power factor, so they may be indirectly charged for VA. But, I do not
believe US power companies place power factor requirements on residential
consumers.

Harold


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