free energy?

[star882]

Would the infamous diode trick to make light bulbs last longer cause the meter to get confused and show no power flow?
For the newbies who never heard of it, the trick is to take an IN5406 diode and connect it in series with the light bulb.
If so, then charge a capacitor instead of lighting a bulb and use the high voltage DC to run a switch mode power supply.

 

[Max]

As far as I know, the power meter does not get confused.

The diode trick causes the bulb to only see half the AC wave, and so the bulb uses less power and runs much dimmer.

Basically, the bulb lasts longer because it is running at lower power, lower (and yellower) output, and much lower efficiency.

 

[lux0]

where did you think the energy used to charge the cap. comes from?