The often ignored energy-saving technology you need to consider for your business
All businesses have an interest in saving costs within their operations. For many, especially those with high energy consumption, such as the commercial and industrial sector, electricity can be one of their largest expenses.
Commercial and industrial sectors often face higher energy costs compared to other sectors because their operations typically require greater amounts of continuous power throughout the day. In contrast, sectors like offices and retail can more easily reduce energy consumption by switching off equipment when not in use.
In the UK, most electrical equipment powered by the standard mains supply is designed to operate best at 220 volts, although it can generally handle voltages between 205V and 250V. However, the average voltage supply in the UK is around 240V. If the voltage is found to be either too low or too high, this can bring with it issues affecting the operation of the business, or present superfluous energy consumption leading to inflated energy bills.
Many electricity consumers, up to some 90%, end up not only wasting energy as a result of equipment being oversupplied, but can find their electrical equipment and appliances being damaged in the long term.
Installing VO technology can therefore be a very beneficial option for many businesses.
What is voltage optimisation?
In summary, when Voltage Optimisation technology is installed and applied, it is essentially a voltage management system that reduces the incoming grid electricity consumed to the specific level required for the relevant equipment.
It is a transformer-based technology that works to supply the voltage required to make the device work at its most efficient level, waste less energy and last longer.
Here’s how VO works:
- Assessment: The first step in VO is to assess the incoming voltage levels and the specific needs of your electrical equipment. This helps determine if the voltage being supplied is higher than necessary.
- Installation of a VO Unit: A VO device or system is installed between the power supply and your electrical equipment. This device actively monitors and adjusts the voltage.
- Voltage Regulation: The VO unit reduces and stabilizes the incoming voltage to match the optimal operating level of your equipment—usually around 220V in the UK.
- Optimized Performance: By providing a steady and reduced voltage, the equipment operates more efficiently, consuming only the energy it needs. This not only reduces energy consumption but also minimizes the strain on the equipment, extending its lifespan.
- Energy Savings: With optimized voltage, unnecessary energy usage is curtailed, leading to lower electricity bills and a reduced carbon footprint.
What are the pros of installing VO?
- Reduced Energy Consumption: By optimizing the voltage supplied to your equipment, VO ensures that your devices only use the energy they need. This can result in significant reductions in electricity usage, often by 6-9%.
- Lower Energy Bills: With reduced energy consumption comes lower electricity bills. This can lead to substantial cost savings, particularly for businesses with high power demands.
- Extended Equipment Lifespan: Excess voltage can cause overheating and stress on electrical equipment, leading to premature wear and tear. VO minimizes this strain, helping to prolong the lifespan of your devices and reducing maintenance costs.
- Improved Equipment Performance: VO ensures that equipment operates at its optimal voltage level, improving performance and reducing the likelihood of malfunctions or downtime.
- Decreased Carbon Footprint: By lowering energy consumption, VO also helps reduce carbon emissions. This supports sustainability goals and can enhance the environmental credentials of your business.
- Enhanced Power Quality: VO can help stabilize the voltage supply, reducing the risk of power surges, spikes, and fluctuations that can damage sensitive equipment.
- Compliance with Regulations: In some regions, VO can help businesses comply with energy efficiency regulations and standards, potentially avoiding fines and penalties.
- Quick Return on Investment: The cost savings from reduced energy consumption and maintenance can lead to a relatively quick payback period on the investment in VO technology, typically 12-30 months.
What are the cons installing VO?
As with the installation of any piece of electrical equipment that needs to be installed at a power source, it can cause a temporary disruption to the power supply when the electricity is turned off to enable its installation. However, with reputable VO manufacturers and installers, disruptions to customer sites are kept to a minimum. Additionally, when compared to other energy efficiency technologies, VO is much less disruptive and requires significantly less maintenance.
Is VO for your business?
Electrical equipment can be divided into two categories:
Voltage dependent – those that vary with changes in voltage
Voltage independent – equipment that is not affected by fluctuations in voltage
Bigger savings can be delivered where there is more voltage dependent equipment on the site. However, while 40 – 60 percent of equipment on the average business site is usually classed as voltage independent, over a period of time, in the region of 50-60 percent of a company’s entire electrical consumption could be saved by just a saving of less than 10% with VO. That having been said taking into full account the mixture of voltage dependent and independent equipment on the average business site, an overall saving of 8 to 12 percent of the total consumption can be saved.
Even on sites with energy reduction measures already in place, VO can still provide further savings of between four to eight percent.
Taking a sensible approach
Businesses cannot simply compare the business electricity bills from the month before installation of VO with the month after installation to ascertain the savings made. Any analysis will have to be more long-term to take in all factors surrounding the supply of electricity.
Aside from the physical energy and financial savings, there will be a reduction in carbon energy and carbon footprint which benefits the business and has to be included in any measurements to give a more precise before and after comparison. Intelligent optimisers that include remote monitoring facilities can give more accurate readings and provide date for the savings that a business can achieve.
Research the Carbon Trust has undertaken suggests that a 20 percent reduction in energy usage produces the same bottom-line financial benefit to a business and a five per cent increase in sales.
VO can benefit a business, either as a stand-alone or as an addition to existing methods used to reduce electricity requirements and bottom-line business costs and thus increase profitability.
