Today there are technologies that allow to produce excellent results in terms of energy saving.
By means of equipment designed and manufactured for this specific purpose, conveniently contextualized, it is possible to take advantage of savings, even significant, on electricity bills. All is based on physical principles that are outlined below and that we will be pleased to explain more in detail, should you require it.
In order to better understand how an economizer works, it is necessary to make a foreword: the power grid does not reach evenly all utilities at the same voltage level. In some areas the voltage is higher than the ideal functioning value, in other it is too low. There are also power surges due to fluctuating absorption by factories and due to power production, sometimes unstable, by photovoltaic systems. These effects, that are evidence of the grid quality worsening, impact on the final user in terms of possible breakdowns, disruptions or simply imply a higher unnecessary energy consumption with a subsequent economic impact on electricity bills.
According to IEC 60038 Regulation, electrical equipment must work accurately with an input voltage ranging from +/-10% of the nominal value of 230V single phase or 400V three phase. Subsequently, electrical power companies contracts state that they can supply voltage between 253V and 207V if single phase and between 440V and 360V if three phase.
This implies the need to optimize voltage at the ideal operating value, to improve Power Quality and to generate energy saving, nevertheless without hindering performance. Thanks to the controlled reduction of mains voltage, these targets can be reached. Furthermore, reducing energy consumptions means reducing CO2 emissions, powering devices properly means extending their lifetime. Our goal is that the user receives and pays only for the actually necessary energy, not in excess. For this reason, we are willing to help our customers in their choice of the right product because the market proposes a wide range of manufacturers, some offering devices with fixed voltage regulation, others with electronic voltage regulation and others with electromechanical voltage regulation. However, our experience brings us to state that results in terms of savings are not the same. The first step to evaluate the opportunity to install a power grid optimizer is to monitor and record the input voltage levels through an Energy Audit. The premises for an economizer do not always occur, indeed in some cases a stabilizer is enough.
It is important to consider that voltage continuous and automatic regulation is a fundamental requirement that distinguishes IREM energy economizer ECOSTAB from other manufacturers’ simple autotransformers with only one winding that reduce as well voltage but that cannot guarantee a saving due to the continuous variations of its value in the grid. ECOSTAB energy economizers produced by IREM supply a stabilized voltage that can be set at the minimum value of -8% (212V), therefore within the tolerance accepted by IEC 60038 Regulation, which is -10% (207V). This value is guaranteed even in case of significant power grid variation, which is not possible, for example, with fix regulation economizers produced by other manufacturers. On the basis of our experience in installation, places equipped with ECOSTAB optimization systems often benefit from reductions ranging between 5% and 15% in energy consumption and subsequently of energy costs.
ECOSTAB economizers are available with power from 8 kVA up to 2800 kVA, in single phase or three phase version.