Are you on the hunt for ways to trim down your electricity bills? Chances are, you’ve stumbled upon Stopwatt— a nifty device claiming to slice up to 50% off your energy consumption.
Yet, the pressing question lingers: Is Stopwatt a genuine innovation or a scam? In this guide, we’ll delve into the heart of this question and will try to provide a comprehensive analysis of Stopwatt.
How does Stopwatt claim to operate?
Imagine Stopwatt as a pint-sized plug-in marvel—your go-to solution for curbing electricity squander. By embedding this gadget into any power socket at home or the office, it claims to perform an impressive feat: stabilising the voltage and current coursing through, thwarting power surges and spikes notorious for wastage and appliance harm.
That’s not all—Stopwatt further screens out electromagnetic interference (EMI), safeguarding your devices’ longevity and performance.
The payoff is two-fold: optimised appliance power consumption and diminished electricity bills. Officially, Stopwatt asserts its potential to achieve a whopping 50% energy saving, contingent on the mix and number of devices you use.
The device also claims to support an array of appliances — from TVs and computers to air conditioners and refrigerators.
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Is Stopwatt a scam or a legit device?
Here, things do get a bit interesting. No one is 100% sure what’s the answer to this question. However, we’ll dive into the scammy world of Stopwatt, starting with what is supposed to be fake reviews:
Are these reviews even true?
For example, let us look at this review by The Dallas Morning Post, where the article mentions that “One of the unique advantages of StopWatt is its capability to curb wasteful power consumption without affecting your electrical appliances by eliminating unnecessary energy losses and minimising power fluctuations, this technology helps homeowners significantly decrease their energy bills. Additionally, the optimised electrical flow substantially reduces overall energy consumption, making households more environmentally friendly and sustainable.”
This review of Stopwatt by Outlook India also praises the gadget. So does the article by Mid-day. An interesting thing about these articles is that they seem like just a case of copy-paste with no actual review of the product. There is no investigation as to whether the device worked or not.
Then, we head to Quora, a website where people answer questions based on their experiences. Here, we find some critical answers. For instance, let us look at this answer by Jonathan Simmons, who claims to be a former engineer:
“For a single-family home on single-phase power — it’s completely useless. All the phase load balancing and power factor management happens at the transformers and transmission lines feeding the house, and any power company is quite good at it.
If I owned a large apartment building fed by 3 phases, I would manage the load and power factor on the 3 phases. But, it’d take a small apartment-sized room full of equipment.
So, StopWatt = total scam. Or perhaps they’re incompetent and don’t realise they’re a scam — but I highly doubt it.”
Analysing the Stopwatt website
The more we delve deeper into the subject, the more we find this an elaborate scam. Let us head to the Stopwatt website and analyse what it says about this seemingly magical product.
In the ‘How it works?’ section, you will see a 30-second video explaining the product. They use terms like ‘advanced technology’ to sell their product without explaining the inner workings and details. The website only uses vague, generic terms like ‘stabilise the voltage’ and ‘balance the current’. There is no mention of any specific mechanism or component that makes Stopwatt effective.
Moreover, there are no customer reviews or testimonials on the website. There are also no independent reviews or ratings from verified buyers on other platforms like Amazon or eBay.
The website uses misleading and exaggerated claims to lure customers. For example, it says that Stopwatt can reduce your electricity bill by up to 50%, which is unrealistic and unsupported by any data. It also says that Stopwatt can protect your appliances from power surges and spikes, which is false and misleading. Power surges and spikes are caused by external factors like lightning strikes or faulty wiring and cannot be prevented by a plug-in device like Stopwatt.
There is no information about the company behind Stopwatt. The website provides no contact details, address, or phone number. The only way to reach them is through an email form on the website. This makes it hard to trust them or verify their credibility.
A case of false advertising?
The device was touted as an Elon Musk invention, which is entirely false. For one, everything Elon does becomes breaking news, and how many of us have ever heard such news? This is just a massive case of deceptive advertising. Even Amazon’s ‘Elon Musk Stopwatt’ page displays an error message.
Moreover, there are no ‘actual reviews’ of the product on websites like Trustpilot.
Based on the above evidence, we conclude that Stopwatt may be an elaborate scam, and you should consider other approaches to save your electricity bill. To reduce your electricity bills, you must:
- Turn off or unplug your appliances when not using them.
- Use energy-efficient appliances and light bulbs.
- Adjust your thermostat or substitute your AC with fans and heaters with blankets.
- Use renewable energy sources.
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