Dorton College - Royal London Society for the Blind

Dorton College - powerPerfected

Founded in 1838, the Royal London Society for the Blind (RLSB) has a long and distinguished history in helping blind and partially sighted people to achieve their goals in education, training and employment. RLSB's Dorton College of Further Education supports their mission to removing barriers to personal fulfilment and social inclusion by providing a complete educational experience for students.

The challenge, the solution and the savings

With the annual electricity consumption details for Dorton College, it was possible to give a provisional quote for a powerPerfector unit and the energy savings that would be expected. A voltage logger was then sent for one week, which recorded the voltage level in the building by connecting to it in to a regular mains socket. After a survey of the site by a powerPerfector approved contractor, the installation took place. The installation was completed on a weekend when there would be no disturbance to the building. Two powerPerfector units were installed at Dorton College on 30 August 2008. A 105kVA unit with a 7% optimisation setting and a 280kVA powerPerfector Plus unit were installed at the site; the former optimised the voltage supply of the College of Further Education and the latter optimised the supply of the RSLB Headquarters and their School. 

Topline results

The first graph below shows the electricity consumption of the site over two and a half years, and as expected there are significant differences in consumption between term time and holidays. To compensate for this and to be sure that the savings calculated are attributable to the powerPerfector installation, consumption during the holidays was not included in the analysis. There is also a strong seasonal variation in the level of energy consumption over time, with highest consumption occurring over the winter months. By using the Met Office temperature data in the form of heating degree days for the London region, it was possible to normalise for the seasonal variations. The second graph compares the periods before and after the installation on this basis, showing that the energy saving achieved by the installation of Voltage Power Optimisation is at least 10.7% (please download the whole case study here for further information).

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 Dorton College is no longer at risk from failures that could shut them down for days.