Down Hall - Country House Hotel

Down Hall – powerPerfected
Down Hall Hotel is one of England's most established country house hotels. Located in Hatfield Heath it is part of the Veladail Collection and is working towards becoming a carbon neutral hotel.

The challenge, the solution and the savings
The electrical load comprises largely of lighting and air conditioning. It features 99 rooms and facilities include a restaurant and fitness centre with swimming pool. After going through our meticulous 4 step process, on the 18th August 2008, a 350kVA/500A unit with an 8% optimisation setting was installed.

Topline results
The half-hourly data for Down Hall showed a very clear correlation between heating and energy consumption, with winter being more intensive than summer. The year-on-year analysis showed that there was a basic 6.2% reduction in consumption, regardless of powerPerfector installation, reflecting the hotel's ongoing efforts to reduce energy use. As a result, when this was factored into our analysis, the average reduction in kWh consumption is 11% which corresponds to £11,912 and 70,000kg CO₂ in annual savings. powerPerfector technology has made sure that the site operates more efficiently, benefits from improved power quality and is protected against transients (power spikes) of up to 25kV. 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 .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
Transients – very brief spikes in voltage from the grid – of up to 25,000V 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.