Home Energy Scams

[Ian David]

Home Energy Scams
by Steven Novella, Apr 06 2009

I was recently asked about a device for saving energy costs at home - a device for power factor optimization. I checked it out, and it indeed does have all the red flags for a juicy scam.

Techno Scams

One flavor of scam is to overwhelm a potential customer with technical information that sounds superficially impressive but which the customer is sure not to understand. There may be a kernel of truth to the science, but it just takes one technical fatal flaw to doom an otherwise plausible scheme. Examples include special audio cables that cost thousands of dollars, but do not produce any audible difference in sound quality.

A subset of these scams is to take a technology that actually has some advantage in specific industrial applications and then adapt them for residential or personal use, where they have not benefit. An examples of this is filling tires with pure nitrogen - this has a small but real benefit for trucks and large vehicles, but not for your family car.

Sometimes part of the scam is to come into the home with some gizmo and then give an impressive-looking demonstration. Home water filter salesmen are known for this.

Protect Yourself

There are some very useful rules of thumb to follow when someone is trying to sell you such a device. Do not purchase of device if you do not understand the science behind it. Do not let a slick salesmen dazzle you with technobabble. If you don’t understand the claims well enough to judge them for yourself, then consult an expert before making a purchase.

More:
http://skepticblog.org/2009/04/06/home-energy-scams/