EcoWatts "free energy" device rebuffed, BBC falls for it

EcoWatts and its fake free energy gadget is back in the limelight again, with the BBC Breakfast Show falling hook, line, and sinker in an interview with the company's "CEO" Paul Calver. Calver stated that "we're still getting to the question of why it works," explaining to a BBC presenter his bewilderment at his very own creation. The response from the interviewer? "The point is it does." Unfortunately, the point is that it almost certainly doesn't. Ben Goldacre used his excellent Bad Science Guardian column this week to dig up some dirt on the dodgy company, and managed to find a scientist who gave his stamp of approval to a similar free energy gadget four years back: "Using the apparatus provided, it's true, this scientist could get incredible results: the meters would read zero, and yet water would boil in around five minutes. Because the meters provided weren't working." The company that provided this former gadget along with the "broken" meters? EcoWatts.

Ohhh, Sian.

[Irwin @ Nov 10th 2007 8:56PM]

the media has always been pretty fucking dumbass

[Blackstar @ Nov 11th 2007 2:29AM]

I reject your reality and substitute my own.

[loci @ Nov 11th 2007 6:40AM]

it was only a few months ago, engadget was getting all excited and giving daily (advertising) updates on the free energy of "steorn"

kettle pot black

[Smudded @ Nov 11th 2007 1:09PM]

They may have been reporting on it, but it was to show everyone how crackpot these people were. The whole time they were saying that it doesn't work. They never came anywhere near believing Steorn's claims.

[Josh @ Nov 10th 2007 9:05PM]

wow.

[JDizzle @ Nov 10th 2007 11:04PM]

It just works!

[ethana2 @ Nov 11th 2007 2:35AM]

But only, of course, on their hardware...

Hey, that sounds familiar. Ah yes...
so where's the mach/BSD kernel and 'trusted' platform module?

[dataminer49er @ Nov 10th 2007 9:11PM]

Blast those laws of thermodynamics!

[Smudded @ Nov 10th 2007 9:17PM]

I think you guys put a bit of a slant on this. He says that he doesn't think it violates existing laws of thermodynamics. He just says that he doesn't know WHY they're getting the measurements they do. This is a very different approach from Steorn who claims to be making more energy than is put in. I think you guys should seriously revise this article.

[Smudded @ Nov 10th 2007 9:19PM]

Of course I'm not saying they should be taken extremely serious due to their history, but come on. You're bashing them a bit more than you should be.

[BigD145 @ Nov 10th 2007 9:48PM]

They need to be bashed and then castrated. These folks are part of the reason why science isn't taken seriously enough.

[Smudded @ Nov 10th 2007 11:29PM]

Why though? This guy didn't say his device defied any existing laws. He said that through a chemical process induced by electricity they produced heat. So what? If they're wrong about being able to commercialize or it doesn't work, that will eventually be brought to light. If people are stupid enough to invest money into their project, that's their fault. I'm just saying, these guys seem to be very different from the folks over at Steorn.

[why not the LS2/LS7? @ Nov 11th 2007 3:41AM]

If more energy is coming out than going in, either the device is consuming itself, or it's violating the laws of physics.

#2 is impossible.
#1 would mean the device would wear out (rather quickly if it has any significant amount of extra output) and thus selling it as a heater would likely be fraud.

[Smudded @ Nov 11th 2007 1:06PM]

Are you people THAT thick? He DOES NOT think the device is producing more energy than put it. He says it right there in the video. He's trying to figure why they're getting wrong measurements, that's all. Steorn still believes they're actually producing more energy than is put in. There's a difference. Come on people, read what I'm writing.

[Ed @ Nov 10th 2007 9:26PM]

They're worse than steorn.

[Richard @ Nov 10th 2007 10:00PM]

...and that is why run positive AND/OR negative controls. No matter the source, the meters should have been tested before and during the experimental test on controls. If they were, it would have shown faulty, before the experimental test. The fact that they made such an error, and it was supposedly discovered after the fact makes one wonder, about the experimenters.

Experimental design is not all that hard.

[peter @ Nov 10th 2007 9:53PM]

actually, i'll laugh my ass off to see you engadget criticism wrong. why you stereotypes always against revolutionary ideas? if they are wrong, they will be proved wrong theres no question about it. But what if they did make it ? I see those brits trying to make a difference, and what have you people done ? neg opinions

[Josh L @ Nov 10th 2007 10:59PM]

You're right, the lack of media attention given to obviously fake Free Energy devices in America is terrible. We'll get right on that, let me just phone up CNN and FOX.

[sk8rpro @ Nov 11th 2007 3:58AM]

You know, peter, it's interesting you should criticize Engadget for criticizing something that is scientifically impossible.

For something to come from nothing just doesn't happen. On the one hand the "CEO" claims on the contrary, but at the same time he can't explain how it works. If a company creates something, and spends time and energy researching it, but can't explain how it works, it's a marketing gimmick for the gullible.

Don't worry, you're not alone. I was hoping to believe it, too. :)

[Charlie Bedgood @ Nov 10th 2007 10:06PM]

haha thats what they get

[Spencer @ Nov 10th 2007 10:10PM]

This is exactly why you bloggers can't be afforded the same credibility as the mainstream media! Here is a company with a questionable history presenting a technology of scientific improbability and instead of unquestioningly accepting it, you waste the reader's time with scepticism! Any good news producer knows that facts have no place in the public's mind, and until you get a handle on that, you'll never be more than penny-ante upstarts!

[kuade @ Nov 10th 2007 10:24PM]

You watch way too much "mainstream media" you are just offended because Engadget called you stupid.

[Mecharine @ Nov 10th 2007 10:45PM]

kuade, you dont seem to understand satire.

[ethana2 @ Nov 11th 2007 2:40AM]

Did you know that inability to comprehend satire and sarcasm is an actual symptom of paranoid schizophrenia?

They think in very concrete terms or something.

[tobin92 @ Nov 11th 2007 12:10AM]

How is this even remotely possible?

This would break both the law of conservation of energy or more specifically the the 1st law of thermodynamics.....

[Mile @ Nov 10th 2007 10:19PM]

I knew it couldn't be true! PVC is not the material needed for a free energy device. It must be made out of rock that has been mined from at least 5 miles under ground. I know this because 1-4 miles was what I used and failed, but 5 miles is going to work and it kills me that I didn't realize this from the very beginning.

But that's always the way with great science, isn't it?

[Andrew Baker @ Nov 10th 2007 10:21PM]

Well according the information I see, it's plausible. From what I see no one is claiming they get heat out of nothing. The laws very well might still apply. First off, it's a electro-chemical reaction. you have to be consuming the "secret liquid" in the process. Basic laws of chemistry tell us this is true. The chemical reactions are probably what is creating the heat, not the electricity put into the product. Currently they are only measuring the electricity going into the product, but once you factor in the manufacture and consumption/reload costs of the chemical element, We are looking at a product that no longer "magic". Take a electric start gas stove for example. We can say we use a little electricity to boil water which is a true statment, you inject a little electricity and boom 5 minutes later you have boiling water. However you are also consuming natural gas in the process. that has to be taken into account. If the product really works, it is a chemical/electro reaction, so the heater would have to eventually be replaced. Now the question comes in. Over the life span of the products, install, power, and replace the unit when it finally uses up it's supply of chemical energy, is it cheaper then a standard electric heater? If it is so, then it's still a valid product with an economical benefit. However I can't see a large enough cost savings in a product like this.

[Napalm @ Nov 11th 2007 11:13AM]

Finally someone who replies to this using rational thought processes.

[John Sinshack @ Nov 11th 2007 5:53PM]

This is one of the best comments I've ever seen on Engadget

Congratulations!

[ben @ Nov 10th 2007 10:28PM]

woot.

[neopia9 @ Nov 10th 2007 11:03PM]

It's... it's a series of tubes!

[ethana2 @ Nov 11th 2007 2:42AM]

Oh, man. With the ToS on my internet connection, I don't know if I can laugh at that anymore...

[Marty @ Nov 10th 2007 11:20PM]

damn, i wish the video was longer so i could see what the trouble was with the old couples.

[Renato @ Nov 10th 2007 11:38PM]

Interesting...

[hardik_k_m @ Nov 10th 2007 11:46PM]

what ???

[Andrew @ Nov 10th 2007 11:45PM]

o BBC

[chrish @ Nov 11th 2007 12:20AM]

I say these guys need to change the water in their bong or buy a new amp meter. Or both.

[Rohit Kapur @ Nov 11th 2007 12:33AM]

"Because the meters provided weren't working."

lol. . . Classic.

[Alex Padilla @ Nov 11th 2007 12:36AM]

tag: hoax

lol

[Byzil @ Nov 11th 2007 12:56AM]

haha wow

[silentbob @ Nov 11th 2007 2:27AM]

And while some may see them as the crazy ones we see genius. Coz the people, who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do…

Ok ok that was from Apple commercial. The fact is I know people in the industry and there lots of ways to gain more heat than the energy provided at the first place, like cavitational vortex generators. The technology is quite new and it probably will substitute for central heating and gas solutions in the near future if investment would be enough.

[kakapo @ Nov 11th 2007 2:47AM]

There ain't no free lunch..
You cannot gain energy from a no-existent source!
Now. if Nikola Tesla was involved and there was a transmission of energy going on, I might believe it. But these guys (EcoWatts) are fairly dubious in presentation and reputation.

Hmmmm

[ChrisG @ Nov 11th 2007 3:26AM]

It runs on the power of imagination. [insert phrases from South Park Imagination Land episode here]

[skhawaja @ Nov 11th 2007 4:38AM]

video didn't say anything about getting something from nothing - but they're throwing in electricity and getting heat - and the only thing you can do to improve that is to control the output of that heat - the more efficient you are the better it is - I mean we're pretty damn good with electric heaters as it is right now - whatever electricity you are feeding into it becomes heat - what more is there to it?

if you guys really want to wrap your heads around something - take a peek at this okay :)

http://www.popsci.com/popsci/science/873aae7bf86c0110vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html

gotta love it - need one of these in the developing countries instead of nukes

[mr. T @ Nov 11th 2007 5:01AM]

Reminds me of Full Metal Alchemist...

[paul @ Nov 11th 2007 5:44AM]

At least Steorn have the bluster to say 'we have created something impossible!'

This guy is just a con artist lying through his teeth to say 'um, we don't know how it's working', and is readying a commercial product (fraudulently) to sell at a huge premium.

This is fraud. Plain and simple, and don't be surprised if the next time you see these guys on TV, it's defending charges in court.

[Ethan @ Nov 11th 2007 6:23AM]

I will say this; Breakfast is made for idiots, they wouldn't put this on the news at ten or anything. The only thing coming out of thin air though is his logic.

[RediJedi @ Nov 11th 2007 6:38AM]

This is my first comment. Sorry for the lack of content. I was just trying to create an account.

[Rikua @ Nov 11th 2007 12:46PM]

"Free energy" products like this are really the modern human equivalent to Darwin's laws. I can't believe that people actually fall for this stuff. Things that "work" without proof, things that are continually sold even though they have been proven fake, because "a sucker is born every minute." Makes me sad for the human race... but at least now I know that the U.S. isn't the only place being had with these products.

...I don't think we ever had one toted as being real on a morning "news" program, though.

[Frank V. Roesler III @ Nov 11th 2007 1:24PM]

Science!