Energy-savings scams follow rising gas costs FTC survey aims to detect deceptive marketing

Gas prices are creeping up as we approach the travel season, and energy-savings scams are close behind. The Federal Trade Commission recently conducted an Internet survey to detect and deter the deceptive marketing of products that claim to save energy, then sent warning letters to more than 50 companies that were making questionable gas-saving and other energy-related advertising claims. Most of the warnings targeted marketers of automotive gadgets and additives, but additional warnings involved Internet marketers of products for the home that also claim to save on energy usage and costs.

By law, advertisers must have scientific substantiation for their energy-saving claims and may be subject to law enforcement action if they make deceptive claims. But just because there is a law doesn’t stop the crooks. For you as a consumer, the best defense is caution. Be skeptical of dramatic fuel-savings claims for automotive or other products. Be especially wary of the following types of products:

. Fuel-saving automotive devices and additives. Numerous Web sites make implausible claims for various aftermarket automotive devices (fuel-line magnets, air bleed devices, and other retrofit gadgets) and additives that supposedly increase gas mileage (and sometimes reduce emissions) for automobiles. Beware of claims such as “saves thousands of dollars on gas!” or “increased mileage up to 300 percent.” Many of these claims are either absolutely false or grossly exaggerated.

The Environmental Protection Agency has evaluated or tested more than 100 devices and additives that claim to save gasoline, and has not found any product that significantly improves gas mileage.

. Instantaneous water heaters and home water purification (or softening) systems. Some distributors are making exaggerated claims about the performance and the energy savings associated with instantaneous (“tankless”) water heaters and home water purification or softening systems (e.g., “save 50 percent on hot water costs”). Similar claims for water purification systems have been shown to be false in the past.

. Transient voltage surge suppressors. Although these products can protect equipment from power surges, in the past the FTC and states have challenged claims that these products provide significant savings for consumers’ energy bills.

. Late last month, the FTC approved a consent order with Kryton Coatings International and Procraft Inc., which claimed that their “liquid siding” provides insulation equivalent to 7 inches of fiberglass batting and R-20, and reduces utility bills up to 40 percent. In November 2001, the FTC obtained a consent decree resolving charges that Esrim Ve Sheva Holding Corp. (Gadget Universe) and its CEO made false and unsubstantiated claims for Super FuelMAX, an automotive fuel-line magnet (e.g., “A certified EPA laboratory reports an amazing 27 percent in increased mileage and 42 percent reduction in harmful pollutants”).

Among the many excellent brochures offered by the FTC are: “Gas-Saving Products: Facts or Fuelishness?” “How To Be Penny Wise, Not Pump Fuelish,” “Weathering the High Cost of Heating Your Home,” and “Cooling Your Home: Don’t Sweat It.” The FTC also has a dedicated energy and environment Web page, which links to these materials, as well as other energy efficiency information for consumers and businesses.

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Consumer Forum is a collaboration of the Bangor Daily News and Northeast COMBAT/The Maine Center for the Public Interest, Maine’s membership-funded nonprofit consumer organization. For help or to request individual or business membership information write: Consumer Forum, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402-1329.