Late last night - dozing with the TV still on - a rather strange ad came over the cable.
Maybe you've seen it?
They were advertising "PowerGard" with a devilishly simply pitch: just plug it in to the wall, and save 10% on your power bill.
That's just too damn easy, I thought.
So I went poking around this morning.
As you can see from this detailed installation guide, it's just that easy.
The cable ad showed a smiling young mom with her child, plugging the thing in to a convenient wall socket, and sitting back to relax with the big screen TV on, lights blazing and air conditioner pumping away -- confident and assured that she was saving money, and doing her part for the environment.
No need to understand how you're using power.
No need to change your behaviors.
Or even think about more efficient appliances.
If you go to the FAQ page, it becomes a bit more clear -- the thing is actually a honkin' capacitor, and it provides surge loads for inductive motors in the household: refrigerator pumps, washing machine motors, etc.
I wonder what sort of spark it would make if you unplug it without discharging it?
At first glance (I am no double-E, mind you), I would think there are a host of variables that immediately come in to play: how you're billed for electricity, the number of inductive motors in your houshold, the age and design of your appliances, and so forth.
And, of course, the device was several hundred dollars, raising the inevitable question of just how long you had to wait to start "saving money".
But, no, none of that mattered. The pitch had been simplified to "plug it in, save money".
PowerGard For Storage Users?
After thinking about it, I reflected that we're seeing the same "too good to be true" pitches surfacing in our industry. No surprise, there's an intense focus on cost and energy efficiency these days in the storage world.
And, wouldn't it be great if there was a magic black box that you could plug in, and start saving on storage?
No need to understand how you're using storage. No need to change your behaviors at all. No need to think in terms of more efficient devices. Or even when the payback might start.
Nope, all you need is an oversized wall-wart with a blinky blue LED.
How different are the various "guarantees" we're seeing pop up from various vendors? Or the claims we were seeing a while back around dedupe efficiency rates? I'd offer we're seeing the same painful oversimplification .
Now, that's not to dismiss the supporting technologies -- many of them (file virtualization, tiering, dedupe, efficient management techniques, etc.) can save big money on storage.
But you have to do your homework, don't you? Understand how you're using storage. Or if certain behaviors and processes ought to be changed. Or maybe think in terms of more efficient devices?
Or when you're going to actually start saving money?
And the single most honest (and frustrating) statement you'll hear from any vendor is -- it depends.
We have been using the PowerGard for three years with remarkable success our bills are down between 505 in the summer and about 35 % in the winter. We got ours in Canada so it's cheaper at www.powergard.ca
Posted by: Cynthia Robertson | January 25, 2009 at 05:06 PM
Would not a soft start module on the ac fan motor have the same effect.
Also would not newer energy efficent appliances have some of these features be included.
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AC Softstart Products 1–5 second ramp
Posted by: Chuck Tharp | March 29, 2009 at 11:53 AM