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I'm not an electric engineer, so excuse the noob questions.

Background: my (rented) house power wattage is 1300 watt, but I need to run a device that requires 1500 watt. Increasing the house wattage is not an option currently so I started to look for alternatives.

I found this device sold on local marketplace called "inverator", sometimes alternatively called "slow start", "alat anti njegleg" (anti short-circuit(?) device), "penguat daya listrik" (electrical power strengthening device), etc.

Links to some sample devices:

Curious, I googled it and found some videos (despite the titles all in Bahasa Indonesia unfortunately):

According to those videos --if i understand it right-- an inverator is a resistor/resistance device that reduce the amount of electricity drawn by any device connected to it, so that user can plug devices that ask for higher wattage that the house can originally supply.

On the third video you can see that the device is basically some coiled wires enclosed in a concrete block.

So my questions:

  • How does this work exactly?
  • Is it safe to use?
  • Will it break any device connected to it?
  • What are the side effects?

ELI5, if possible. Thank you.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Looks like a scam \$\endgroup\$ Commented Sep 8, 2021 at 7:12
  • \$\begingroup\$ Something as this can also be used (suppressing peak of current in some circumstances, point 3, page 3) docs.rs-online.com/5e02/A700000007106456.pdf . You can't have more active "power" unless you use a "generator" as "help". Just current in phase with voltage ... No reactive power. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Sep 8, 2021 at 7:39
  • \$\begingroup\$ Good grief! Stay away from them. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Sep 8, 2021 at 9:05
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    \$\begingroup\$ 1300W for powering a house? That would be enough for a dollhouse, but for a real house, or even a small appartment, I fail to see how you could heat it properly, or cook anything. Even if you're using other sources of energy for this, this is barely enough for a fridge + a stereo + a computer + a few lamps, let alone a toaster or a hair dryer. If "Increasing the house wattage is not an option currently", this is going to be really inconvenient living there. You need to fix this, there is no workaround for this problem. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Sep 8, 2021 at 11:44
  • \$\begingroup\$ There is no free lunch, or power. If your source power available is only 1300W, then you can not pull more than that without risking fire and melted wires. A slow start circuit doesn't give you more power, it only reduces the amount of power that the load can draw. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Sep 8, 2021 at 18:10

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Things with motors usually draw a very large current to make the motor start turning, and then a much smaller current to keep running. These "slow start" devices limit the amount of current available — the motor takes longer to start up, but the maximum current draw is less, that's why it's called a "slow start". It doesn't make your device more efficient, it actually makes things less efficient, but it can prevent a fuse or a circuit breaker from blowing.

Whether it will be useful for you depends on the device you're connecting to it. If it needs 1500 watts continuously, and you have less than that, nothing will help you. If it's anything digital, you're probably out of luck. If it's a refrigerator or an air conditioner (and not a very modern one), then it might be okay — but there's always the chance that it will cause damage, particularly by stalling the motor (giving it too little power so that it never gets up to speed, causing the motor and the slow-start device to both get very hot).

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