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Waterstone's

Waterstone's – powerPerfected

Waterstone’s, a part of HMV group, has over 300 stores in Ireland, the UK and mainland Europe. Their Gower Street branch in London is their flagship store for academic titles, and works closely with the University of London, in particular with UCL. The store is Europe’s biggest academic book specialist, stretching over five floors, with five miles of bookshelves and over 160,000 titles at any one time.

The challenge, the solution and the savings

This Waterstone’s store is like many retail outlets, its load is a standard mix of lighting, computers and HVAC, which although are not considered as intensive consumers, are nonetheless wasting up to 20% in energy. After logging their voltage, an analysis of their profile showed the potential for an 8% optimisation which typically yields 12-13% savings. After a carefully planned weekend shutdown a 210kVA/300A unit was installed with no reported problems in site operation.

Topline results

Both Waterstone’s and powerPerfector were delighted to see an average daily kWh consumption drop of 17.3%. A year-on-year analysis from their own half hourly data showed that the consumption during September 2007 was 21.1% lower than that in September 2006. These figures represent a reduction in this store’s annual electricity spend of over £10,756 and equivalent to CO₂ emissions of 16tonnes. powerPerfector technology has made sure that the site operates more efficiently, benefits from improved power quality and is protected against common transients (power spikes). 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.

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.