Don’t be put off by the fancy name, voltage optimisation is a simple concept.
The Electrical Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2002 state that electricity supplied to a building should be 230V with a 10% margin for error. This means the electricity supplied to your building could be anything between 216V and 253V.
Most modern equipment is more energy efficient and will operate at the lower end of this – around 220V to 230V. This means that if your building’s supply is way up at 250V then you’re getting a lot of wastage.
Voltage optimization unit regulates this voltage according to what your equipment needs. It cuts out the waste with no changes to behavior or operation, often resulting in marked improvements to performance.
Another form of this method is ‘Power Factor Correction’, which works in a similar way but uses a different piece of technology. This controls the actual supply of energy to your building, which varies according to the infrastructure in your area.
The cost and suitability of a Voltage Optimisation unit must be carefully considered as each business’ needs are different. A unit to manage a standard house can be bought for around £500, but each business’ premises are different in size and set up.
We’d always recommend consultation with an expert before installation, but their instant impact on usage usually leads to a substantial cost saving in a very short amount of time and quick repayment of the outlay required to install them.
There’s one you may not have considered before.
Looking for more energy saving tips that you hadn’t thought of before? Check out our round-up here.