In the UK the average voltage supplied is 242 volts, although most equipment is designed to operate at 220 volts. This oversupply of voltage causes equipment to use more power than it needs, unnecessarily increasing energy bills and shortening the products’ lifespan. Optimising the incoming power supply to 220 volts saves power (kWh) and reduces your energy bills and carbon footprint.
The technology is not new and has been utilised by the very largest companies for decades, and provides further power supply quality benefits over and above voltage reduction. However the recent increase in energy prices and desire to reduce CO2 emissions has made it an attractive solution for businesses of all sizes and even households.
While voltage optimisation can improve the efficiency across the whole site, additional equipment specific technologies such as inverters or soft start motors can drive additional efficiency gains.
The starting point is a survey that identifies the quality of the power supply that the building receives and the type and size of the different electrical loads present. This enables an accurate estimation of the savings that can be achieved and the cost of doing so.
For a typical building with an annual electricity bill of £100,000, it is often possible to achieve savings of £10,000 per year on a capital outlay of £30,000. Furthermore government funded interest free loans can make the exercise cash flow neutral until the loan is paid back (in this case after 3 years) after which the company benefits from all of the savings.