Burger King - Piccadilly Circus

Burger King – powerPerfected

The Piccadilly Circus store is unique in that as well as the typical electrical loads within a fast food outlet; lighting, refrigeration, air-conditioning etc, the lower level has over 100 PC’s in the Easy Internet Café and so power quality as well as the reduction in consumption was closely monitored.

The challenge, the solution and the savings

Using our 3 step process the store was shown to have great potential savings, not only from an optimised voltage, but from transient protection. Previous transient events had caused problems on the site, so we fitted a power quality analyser and found 98 events in the 28 days prior to installation. These weren’t strong enough to destroy a cash register, but every single one reduced the lifetime of any electrical equipment. Down the line this increases capital replacement costs, or even worse lost trading days from broken equipment. The advantages of powerPerfector's Voltage Power Optimisation were so clear that Burger King went ahead with a 210kVA/300A unit on a 7% optimisation.

Topline results

Based on comparison of the electricity consumption directly before and after the installation, the consumption since the powerPerfector unit was installed is 11.0% lower than before installation, equating to an annual projected carbon saving of 136,500 kg. In figure 2, the weekly profiles show a similar shape during the week, but the weekends are considerably different (most likely a changed in load). To clarify the savings – taken only during the weekdays, there is a 11% drop in average kWh consumption. This corresponds to 135,000kg less CO₂ being emitted and saving £19,000 every year. powerPerfector technology has made sure that the site operates more efficiently, benefits from improved power quality and is protected against common transients (power spikes). All this was with a minimum of disruption due to a carefully planned shutdown and installation, carried out over a single weekend. With absolutely no moving parts, the powerPerfector units need no maintenance beyond the statutory 5 year checks required of all electrical equipment.

Voltage Power Optimisation. The less obvious benefits

Reduced maintenance, longer life
All electrical equipment has an optimum voltage at which it works best. A powerPerfected supply delivers that optimum and reduces the strain on your electrical equipment, leaving it to work more reliably and for longer.

Better quality power supply
Some things you may have accepted for years, but product faults can turn out to be caused by a poor quality power supply. For instance, the life of incandescent light bulbs is almost doubled when the supply voltage is optimised. Now imagine that in relation to an IT network or an expensive piece of manufacturing equipment.

Missing the penalty kick
Power factor penalty charges – which are now uncapped in the UK – can be avoided if your power factor is above 0.95. If your power factor is at around 0.9 at the moment, powerPerfector could remove your exposure to these charges by improving the electrical efficiency of your site.

Lower harmonic distortion and reduced neutral currents
powerPerfectors are able to filter harmonics on the mains incomer. Harmonic distortion is on the increase and can lead to random failures of electronic equipment – particularly computers.

Protection
Common transients – very brief spikes in voltage from the grid – are eliminated by powerPerfector. Transients at this level can cause catastrophic damage to equipment, but smaller, more common transient events will also shorten the life expectancy of electrical equipment over time. Each installation ensures that that store is no longer at risk from failures that could put them out of business for days.