With every power bill it seems, comes another price hike and another reason why savings on electricity and gas have become as budget-vital as reducing interest rates on home loans and credit cards.

Jakki Kimber is desperate for respite from power hungry appliances.

“You've still got to use them -- you still need your fridge your TV, your fans and air conditioners unfortunately”, she says.

Believe it or not, getting rid of your fluorescent bulbs may be the answer according to lighting company Crisp Tech's Nick Czeperko.

“The LED lighting that we have on offer actually provides substantial saving to the end user and the customer because it can save up to 80% cent of your power bill”, Nick claims.

The Light Emitting Diodes now on the market claim to be 50% more efficient than compact fluorescents and last up to 20 years longer, but they are expensive.

“The cost of a 6.9 watt, which is equal to a 60 watt incandescent, is about $32.50 and the 4.9 watt, which is a 40 watt, is $25.50”, he adds.

“You don't actually change the light globe, the light fitting will last up to 50,000 hours”, says Beacon Lighting Business Development Manager, Denise Hammond.

Denise believes these will become cheaper and more efficient in coming months as more people make the switch. “They are cool to touch and they contain no mercury. The colour quality is crisp and alive, it's a beautiful quality light and this is the future”, Denise says.

And then there's the magic bulb, another type of LED, which took out China's Invention of the Year. It can stay illuminated for hours without electricity, although it's not available here just yet.

“It hasn't been approved by Australian Standards nor endorsed by anyone here”. Denise says.

Jakki Kimber meanwhile is one of the first people to put their faith in the Earthwise Powersaver, launched this week with claims of savings of up 35%.

According to Denise, “We’ve done extensive research and development on this product and we've included the best of the best components in the world that we could find to put in it”.

Earthwise Powersaver owner Geoff Hourigan says the device is still undergoing testing with promising results.

“We're so convinced this product works, the product comes with a three-year guarantee. We'll refund your money in full”, Geoff says.

But those in the industry believe it's just not possible.

“It's most unlikely that the claims they're making can be justified. If they're just talking about power factor then that is not an issue as far as domestic electricity consumers are concerned”, says Leo Simpson. Leo is the publisher of Silicon Chip Magazine and says similar devices have been on the market in Australia for the past five years and just don't live up to their claims.

“Domestic consumers don't pay for power factor so even if you fix it all up, it doesn't make any difference”, he adds.

The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission took action against makers of a plug in device which made similar claims.

“The ACCC got a big judgement against them and said they had to cease and desist and not make outrageous claims for savings to consumers”, Leo says.

As for the Earthwise Powersaver, Geoff says this isn't the same as other devices and stands by his claims and guarantees.

“We've done that much testing on it, we know it works”.

However, Leo says while the device may be different, he suspects the results are the same and it will not lower power bills.

“As far as I'm concerned, if they're only working on power saving, then the principle is exactly the same and the benefit is exactly the same. In other words, zero”.

“I don't want anyone to be ripped off with what we're doing and we'll stand behind our product 100%” Geoff maintains.

For further information:

www.earthwisepowersavers.com.au