Optimise or Reduce?

The UK has a significant opportunity to save energy. As a result of European harmonisation, our equipment is manufactured to work most efficiently at EU voltage levels, about 20V below our national grid’s average of 242V.  Our over-voltage has wide ranging negative effects, from increased energy consumption to reducing lifespan of electrical equipment.

The level of voltage can be changed with a transformer.  Most transformers in use on the electricity grid are the sort of conventional 'dual wound' transformers we learn about at school.  These have primary and secondary windings, and are used to take voltages down from the 11,000V found on the grid, to the level you need from your plug socket.  For reducing your voltage to 220V, however, a dual-wound transformer is inappropriate.  It would not be efficient or cost-effective to use this type of transformer, and it would be a wasted opportunity to tackle some of the other problems with your power supply - such as the distortion effects of harmonics and transients - because a conventional transformer is not designed to do this.

An alternative way of reducing voltage is to use an autotransformer.  These come in two types: fixed ('tapped') and variable (sometimes known as a 'variac').  Having only one winding on each phase, these units can be used as a cheap way to bring the voltage down to the right level.   The major disadvantage, however, is that neither type is designed for energy efficiency, and neither technology was conceived with the idea that it would be installed on your mains supply: the most critical part of your electrical infrastructure.

Variable autotransformers have their own problems, due to the means by which they produce a stable output voltage. Since the incoming voltage (from the grid) will always be fluctuating around a given value, the transformer has to constantly change the percentage by which it is changing the voltage. To do this, the entire electrical supply to a site must be passed through a single, delicate, moving part, making them unreliable and adding risk to your supply.  With a fixed / tapped autotransformer, the problems relate to design, build quality and inherent inefficiency.  The electrical load of a building varies throughout the day, and unfortunately autotransformers do not sustain their full efficiency across their whole loading range.  For example, they may be quite efficient when 50% loaded, but may get hot when the load gets higher.  If the build quality is not top-notch, this poses a serious risk to your electrical supply, and the only way autotransformer suppliers have found to address this is to install a continuous online temperature monitor that alerts you if your site is at risk.  Also, autotransformers cannot help improve power quality: they are simply a voltage reduction technology.

powerPerfector, however, was conceived, designed and manufactured with energy efficiency in mind. It is a completely passive unit, with no moving parts, made from ultra-high-purity materials which give it a 99.9% efficiency or higher, from 15% - 100% loading. It has a wide range of optimisations; from 3-12% and should you need a more drastic drop, we can have units custom-built to your specifications. Being so efficient powerPerfector units do not require cooling units and run barely above room temperature. Without even addressing the other qualities of the powerPerfector, on this like-for-like basis the difference between a transformer's reduction and a powerPerfector's optimisation is enormous.  On top of this, powerPerfector has various other functions that make it the only true Voltage Optimiser: harmonic suppression, three phase balancing and transient protection (up to 25,000V).

Just as important as the design, though, is the construction of the unit.  Construction to demanding Japanese standards means that powerPerfector has an enviable 100% reliability record in over 300,000 installations worldwide.  With Voltage Optimisation you can fit and forget the technology with absolute confidence that the integrity of your supply will be improved, and your site will be running as efficiently as possible.