According to a recent report by the Carbon Trust, across the world “electric motors are estimated to account for 40% of all electricity consumption and in industry in the UK they account for almost two thirds of the entire industrial electricity consumption.” Electric motors are at the heart of many businesses and their expensive running costs are something that business owners and production managers have come to accept as a necessary overhead. The Carbon Trust report goes on to state that “In just a single year a running motor can cost up to ten times its purchase cost in energy. Typical running costs for a fully loaded motor are in the range £1,770/year for a 2.2kW motor to £25,970 a year for one rated at 37kW (assuming an electricity price of £0.08/kWh).” This is a significant cost to cover and in the current economic climate where manufacturers face fierce overseas competition over pricing, it is a cost that is hard to bear. What can be done to reduce electric motor energy Our FREE on-site energy audits are demonstrating time and time again that significant savings can be made by the right applications of Variable Speed Drives and AC Motors.

As the name suggests, a Variable Speed Drive is able to run at different speeds to suit demand, rather than the traditional fixed speed drives which run at a constant speed, whether the power is required or not. By varying the speed to suit requirements, energy consumption can be reduced, but without compromising the production process. A textile factory invited us to carry out one of our Energy Audits. From the results collected, we recommended introducing an VTdrive Variable Speed Drive to the production process. A follow up audit showed that the energy saved from installing the VSD was in...