Norfolk & Waveney NHS Mental Health Trust and Julian Hospital

Norfolk & Waveney NHS Mental Health Trust and Julian Hospital – powerPerfected

The Trust was established in 1994 and is dedicated to the care and recovery of anyone experiencing mental ill health or substance misuse. It provides a range of specialist mental health services to nearly 800,000 people from all age ranges across Norfolk and north Suffolk. It works in partnership with other statutory and non-statutory bodies that provide services to people suffering mental ill health, and as a partnership Trust it also provides integrated health and social care services. Julian Hospital is located in Norwich, Norfolk. It assesses and cares for older people with mental health problems such as dementia and depression through occupational therapy.

The challenge, the solution and the savings

After receiving the annual electricity consumption details for Julian Hospital, it was possible to give a provisional quote for a powerPerfector unit and to outline the potential for energy savings. A voltage logger was then sent for one week, which recorded the voltage level in the building by connecting it to a regular mains socket. It was found that the average voltage at the site was 245 volts (V), 15V higher than the nominal supply in the UK. After a survey of the site by a powerPerfector Approved Contractor, the installation took place on a Thursday.

Topline results

A very quick look at electricity usage for the week before and after installation showed an immediate drop of 11.7% in kWh consumption, but this doesn't take into consideration any other variables. Temperature has a large effect on the hospital's energy use so to take this into account the savings need to be assessed using a Degree Days Analysis. Degree Days are calculated from Met Office temperature data for regions in the UK and represent the difference in external temperature and a baseline temperature for a given period of time.  This analysis showed that there was an average reduction in kWh consumption of 16.8% attributable to the powerPerfector installation (equivalent to £15,600 every year or 102,300kg in carbon dioxide emissions).

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 as 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. The looming energy gap means that the risk of transients is increased – Julian Hospital is now protected.