In June 2022, creative copywriters will ensure the extensive online presence of a small miracle device that is supposed to reduce your electricity bill by several percent. The device is called Ecotex. Not long ago it was called Voltbox. But because Voltbox doesn't do what it promises, it has a bad image - and that's probably why it needed a new name.
However, the renaming of the online advertising did not go entirely flawlessly. Under the URL getecotex.com/article/en?, the browser at the top left on 14 June 2022 still showed Ecotex as Voltbox, see the screenshot above.
Ernst Ahlers from “c’t Magazin” unscrewed a Voltbox in November 2021 and found out what it was. The small block provides overvoltage protection. At least in the abstract and in a broader sense, this has something to do with saving electricity. After all, a senselessly excessive voltage also leads to more power consumption.
But a surge protector is obligatory in every building anyway. It is usually installed in your meter cabinet. So with Ecotex you are buying something you already have.
We regularly offer our readers inexpensive alternatives to dubiously advertised technology products. In the case of Voltbox or Ecotex, however, we unfortunately have to pass: There is no miracle box that will drastically reduce your electricity costs.
Update: In November 2022, the unit has changed names again and is now called EnergyFix. And Pro Power Save.