Every now and then, among good products you find bad ones - I found one of the bad ones when I showed some interest in a battery charger that harvested kinetic energy, called the NPower Peg, made by Tremont Electric of Cleveland OH, http://NPowerpeg.com. I bought one, and it hasn't worked a lick; and I've tried to contact Tremont for warranty service (1 year), no joy. Now I'm going to simply mail it back to them and cancel the $159.89 credit card charge, which is my prerogative, and put it down as an unsatisfying online experience. However, if the money had made it out of my account, I would be claiming fraud on the part of Tremont. They say every dissatisfied customer tells a dozen people of his woes, so read on:

Do a Bing or Google search on "NPower Peg" and you will turn up pages and pages of glowing reviews of this promising technology - hey, Tremont has or had a great PR agent, because on a closer look you'll see that no one actually reviews the NPower Peg, they just print the tech specs and post the picture. But I am fascinated by alternative energy, and felt I had a need for a way to recharge my cell phones without solar panels or access to the grid - the NPower Peg sounds like a way to do that. The NPower Peg resembles a baton, about 12 inches in length and it generates electricity by the movement of a magnet weighted center mass along a pole: enough to recharge a cell phone after carrying the NPower Peg around in your backpack all day. Neato - I'd give it a try.

Back in October 2010 I responded to one of these ad placements in a local Seattle news paper, looked up the NPower Peg, and put in an order on their website. The site mentioned they were in the early period of rolling out commercial NPower Pegs and would fill orders as fast as they can. Then I pretty much forgot about it, and month followed month. Then in March, I got a phone call, from the NPower Peg people - they were sorry for the extensive delay, but were ready to send me my NPower Peg, was I still interested? Yes I was; we confirmed my address, credit card info, and they asked me what I intended to recharge - they would include some iGo(TM) adapters in the NPower Peg shipment to get me started. A week or so later, there it was, my NPower Peg - but no iGo tips, so I had no way to get started using it right away. Not to worry, I went on amazon.com and bought a couple iGo tips, and those arrived quickly enough. I was ready to go.

I read the instructions, they recommended that I initially charge it via the USB cord provided, at least 2 hours. An LED light would turn green when it was fully charged. Check. Then attach it to a cell phone or other device, press a button, and it would begin to charge it. Check. Then, 2 minutes into the process, the NPower Peg showed red LEDs - fully discharged! Oh no - so I start again, fully charging it via the USB cord, then attempting to charge my cell phone - again, no joy. I repeated this process twice with each of two cell phones, a Motorola and an LG. I suspected at best, I got a bum NPower Peg; at worst, I began to realize I had been taken, but with new technologies, there's always room for error, and some understanding for the manufacturer.

I emailed info@NPowerpeg.com on May 17, explaining my problem and asking if I had missed something in the instructions. I said if I got a bum NPower Peg I'd like to return it for a good one. By May 21 I hadn't received any reply, so I sent another email message. Still no reply this afternoon, so I called their phone number 888-214-3137 during stated business hours, and only got various voice mail options. I left a VM with the operator number, telling them I was returning the NPower Peg.

I can only assume Tremont Electronic is no longer in business, and your guess is as good as mine whether anyone ever actually answered calls at 888-214-3137, because they surely didn't answer mine. I can only assume they are either so busy that they can't respond to my emails or calls, or they are so out of business now it isn't funny. I'm not out anything - I have adequate protection from my credit card provider, Tremont won't see a cent from me - but someone who put down hard earned cash or who paid their credit card before realizing the apparent scam that is the NPower Peg may not be so lucky. I write this product review mostly for you folks as a cautionary tale - don't get caught by the Tremont Electrics of this world. Don't purchase an NPower Peg. Wait for some of this miraculous technology to prove itself in the real world - because the online world is so easy to manipulate and load with glowing 'reviews' of a junk product, its not even funny.

Lono - *NOT* an investor in or reimbursed by Tremont Electric of Cleveland OH, or NPower Peg.

From the NPower Peg website;




OK now for the Ipod nano 5th generation spec;

Music playback time; Up to 24 hours when fully charged.

Ipod Nano Battery spec is 3.7 volts, giving a capacity of 105 mAh so a 0.3885 Whr battery. So the iPod nano in audio mode consumes around 16mW.

So the NPower Peg also produces around 16mW power.

A Freeplay FreeCharge 12V hand crank will output around 6-8W, enough to energise a 75W inverter and power a 3-6W LED 240V bulb or about 450 times the power generation of the Npower Peg. i.e. 1 minutes use of the Freeplay hand crank is equivalent to 7-8 hrs walking using the Npower Peg.

Even one of these for $10 with its 250mW solar panel (15x the power output of the peg) will easily outperform the Npower Peg even though it will still take around 28 hrs of sunshine to charge a couple of AA Eneloops.

Why on earth would you lug around a 3/4 lb of dead weight for 7 to 8 hours to generate as much energy with 1 minutes cranking on a Freeplay Freecharge 12V.

The marketing is certainly misleading but is probably legal.
Buyer beware.

Is it bad I feel that Kid on the front page has a very punchable face and haircut?

So basically this thing is a big ole shake light without the light and with a battery in it? But you have to charge it via USB first? Right off the bat sounds like a huge gimmick. Why would I purchase a power generating charger if i have to charge the charger first! Use it on your bike? Isnt there generators that use the wheel movement for bikes? Does walking really produce that much movement to move it properly to get a worth while amount?

I unno I would much rather strap a few ounce soft shell solar panel to my pack then a huge weighted cylinder.


I forgot to mention that I stay away from Devices that charge via USB only out of box with no computer based interaction between the PC and Device. Its often a cheap corner cutting measure that shows towards abit of the mindset of the people selling the product. To expect everyone who will buy their device to have a Computer is wrong and to expect them to search and purchase a converter that may not work with their device either is wrong as well.

Sorry you got rooked. Rip off deals make me mad and such scams undermine confidence and goodwill.

In addition to being cranky and cheap, salesmen don't stand a chance, I am seldom impressed with things claiming to be 'new and improved'. Humans have been around a very long time and we seem to have done fairly well. Advances tend to be only marginally more effective and efficient than the existing methods.

For all our advances in insulation technology goose down and caribou fur is still at the top. People make a big thing out of knives made with this or that special alloy but the original Bowie knife was made from an old file. A magnetic compass today is not a whole lot more advanced than the magnetized needle rammed through a cork set floating in a dish.

Yes, we have advanced, and I'm not giving up any of it, but generally the changes are evolutionary not revolutionary. So I feel I can wait, let everyone else jump in early, take their knocks, risk getting ripped off. If the new technology is really an advance in utility it will still be there in a few years. Generally at lower prices. Did I mention I'm cheap?

Lono, I'm sorry it didn't work out. I hope you are successful getting your money back through the CC company. Even if not, in the larger scale of things $160 is a small price to pay for an important life lesson. I've seen people make the same basic mistake buying a house, investing money, and buying quack medicine. The first two cost tens of thousands of dollars, the last one nearly killed them. $160 is cheap as school of hard knocks style education goes.

No worries - again, I'm not out any money, the charge to my credit card is on my June statement, Tremont will not see a dime from me from this experience, I simply won't pay, and will return the power peg to Tremont. US consumer law hasn't denigrated to the level of requiring a credit payment to go through for a useless device. If it did, there's always Judge Judy - how satisfying to drag some marketing manager though the national TV wringer over $159.89!

I was interested in the kinetic energy option, not wowed by it. I volunteer for the Red Cross, I spend all day on my feet sometimes, moving around, often I'm in areas without electricity, and I carry a backpack - the idea of a peg sitting in my pack collecting energy to recharge a necessary device in the field was interesting to me, because the last thing I want to be left with in most contexts is a dead cell phone. Walking around with a solar array (which I have) open on my back is typically not an option. I already have reality based back ups - the mentioned solar array, battery packs, even a spare cell phone battery. I am okay in all but the most extreme scenarios, I was looking for a device to get me though the most unexpected and extreme scenario.

It was worth a look - had it been an offer to invest $60K in the company and not $160, I would have spent alot more time doing due diligence - and I would definitely have demanded a prototype to put through its paces before making any greater investment. But I make my living from technology, I know better than to invest my money in it :-).

And let me be clear, I can't say that Tremont meant any malice in all this, or engaged in intentionally deceptive sales practices - I don't have enough to say that definitively. Sure, they might have set out to screw isolated people out of $160, but what money is there in that? If the interwebs are to be believed, they collected public funds for their tech start up, and garnered some interesting interest and recommendations. All of which, of course, may be false, and they really are just out to scam a narrow market for $160 per - given the other options for scamming, that's a hard market to be in fwiw. But their failure to respond to my inquiries can also be explained by the scenario of a tech start up recently run out of money, after shipping just a few of their wonder pegs to customers, and no one is left to answer the phone or address complaints. I did receive an actual device in real commercial packaging, there was an obvious intent to deliver a power peg to me - it just didn't work, no worries. Assuming they gave it the old college try, I wish the folks who worked at Tremont well in their future endeavors, they are probably out of work on the streets of Cleveland, which can be a cold place to be. I would ask them that next time out their exit strategy include customer support for closing down operations, instead of leaving paying customers out in the cold. But that definitely isn't a concept embedded in US consumer law...

Lono,

I work for Tremont Electric, and would like to apologize for the issues you’ve been experiencing with your nPower PEG. Based on your description above, it’s clear that your nPower PEG is defective. We will gladly send you a pre-paid UPS label and issue a refund or replace your PEG (It’s your choice).

It’s extremely important to us to stand behind our product and to provide you with exceptional service. I am sorry that has not been your experience with us so far. We are currently looking into our phone system and email accounts and will get any problems fixed immediately.

You are welcome to contact me directly at jlemieux@nPowerPEG.com or 216.513.5603. I would like to send you the UPS label right away, but cannot tell what your email address is from the post. Please let me know so that we can resolve this issue.

Thank you,
Jill LeMieux | VP of Marketing
Tremont Electric

Wow You really must have made a big stir with this post for tremont for them to Join the Forum to post an apology the next day. Interesting...

It is a good sign but it isn't over until Lono gets a fair shake. As far as we know 'mtnbikefan' might just be kicking the can down the road until the time limit for CC forced refunds expires or their bank accounts are fully set up in Guatemala. Color me skeptical.

Note that he neither explained nor apologized for their failure to be responsive to Lono's attempts to reach them.

Postscript to the Tremont Electric / nPower PEG story: Jill Lemieux of Tremont did make good on her offer, she forwarded me a UPS return label, I returned the PEG, and she mailed me a check refunding my purchase. We're square now. Thank you Jill.

At first I thought it was something attached to your hiking stick, but leaving it in backpack there's no way it'll generate anything useful at all. Anybody with a shake light knows even with the best quality material you'll have to shake like mad to get a 5mm LED to work a few minutes, let alone charging electronics from movement of a backpack.

Plus when you read their website they crammed a whole bunch of jargons in their explanation on how it works, making a simple to understand concept much harder than it is. Usually a sign of crap product.

Given the refund I have to say the folks at NPower Peg (Tremont Elec)have given a fair enough shake to avoid being marked as thieves and hucksters. They have met the minimum standard for fair dealing and honesty.

Unfortunately they have also failed to show they are offering a product that both functions as advertised, and is useful. Lono, the original poster, was unable to get it to work.

Which leaves things at something of a split decision. The people at Tremont Electric seem fair enough that they can't, in all fairness, have this failure held against them. If they were to offer another product their refund has to be counted as showing basic honesty, which gives them some advantage over other, unknown, businesses.

On the other hand the Power Peg seem to be, until some third party can demonstrate its functionality, to be a failure. If Tremont Electric was to offer an updated and improved version of the Power Peg or other product it would have to be considered fairly and independently of this case.

On its face the claims seem to be exaggerated. The use of lingo a little too loose, and the hype a bit grand for so modest a product. The Power Peg seems to be focused on techies and gear heads who have money and are into novelty and gadgets. Not so much at the green market folks who, on the fringes, often eschew advanced equipment like toilet paper and non-natural fiber clothing.

Thank you for the posting of the info. I had heard of it but had not looked into it. Wasn't planning on getting one but now I'd definitely wait until technology proves itself AS WELL AS the company (even if they did make good....too many problems too soon for me)...we'll see.