[TheForge] Re: illinois electrical rates

[xlch58 at swbell.net]

Mike Spencer wrote:

>>(2) It may only be an urban myth, but I've heard that high-speed motors (ex.
>>grinders) really excite an electrical meter. I've also heard that
>>electricity can be passed through a three-phase motor generator and still
>>make great savings on an electrical bill--even with the energy loss by doing
>>so.
>>    
>>
>
>A guy with an MIT electrical engineering degree once told me something
>like this:
>
>    The meter multiplies voltage times amperage to compute power. AC V
>    and A normally have a known phase relation upon which the meter
>    design is based. If you put a big inductor into the line, it
>    throws the phase relationship way off normal.  If you do it right,
>    the product of A and V decreases enormously.
>
>His account was of someone known to him who had stuck a big coil -- a
>large motor, IIRC -- into his house circuit and cut his electric bill
>by a big percentage.
>
>I think  that might work for resistive loads.  Since most electric
>motors depend on the phase relation to work, I doubt that your fridge,
>bench grinder or power hammer would like it.
>
>And of course, assuming it works as alleged, it's a fraudulent
>practice.
>
>He had another tale of a guy who built a carefully designed inductive
>device, disguised it as a rusty junkheap, and place it under
>high-tension power lines where they crossed his pasture, then drew 110
>AC from his device.  I dunno if that would constitute theft or not,
>seeing as how the powerco was radiating an unsolicited electric field
>onto his pasture. There are accounts of cows being electrocuted under
>high-tension lines in wet weather because their front and hind feet
>were far enough part that they acted as inductors for a lethal
>current.
>  
>

In order to get close enough to pull current from a inductor along  a 
transmission line you would have to be closer than the law allows, so it 
would be illegal and not terribly safe either.     A medium voltage (12k 
or so)  distribution circuit would require to to be even closer.   
Regarding the inductor in line with the meter, it works to a degree with 
the older electro mechanical meters.  What you are messing with is power 
factor.    The newer meters are all electronic and they will detect 
this.   It will result in the power company telling you to fix the 
problem on your side or they will charge you for messing up their power 
factor, or they will fix the power factor with a capacitor bank before 
it goes into your home.  Power factor shennanigans affect everyone on 
that circuit, will heat the meter and transformer.  It will also cause 
your equipment to run really hot.    An electro mechanical watthour 
meter is really a small motor and pretty dumb.  They have a couple of 
coils in them ( a PT and a CT) that convert the voltage and current 
passing through into a torque that turns the little disc.  The disc is 
aluminum, but will react to the magnetic force due to the proximuty of 
the fields to each other.   There already is a magnet in the meter to 
slow the disc in light load conditions ( prevent inertia from spinning 
it), they work however, by interacting with a field created by a small 
hole in the disk.  So putting a strong magnet near the meter won't help 
much and could hurt you.   I have a dozen or so of the mechnical meter 
in the garage, I gues I could see exactly what the effect would do, but 
a that could get the job done would pretty expensive.  Electro 
mechanical meters are being pretty aggressively phased out.   Automated 
Meter Reading (AMR) systems are a big part of my business these days and 
pretty imune to tampering.   Depending on the distribution company you 
are working with you can look at moving to a time of use rate and 
shifting your usage to when power is lower.    I had an EE working for 
me that did this after rewiring his house and cut his bill more than in 
half. 

Charles