Is it Finally the Ugly Step Sisters' Turn to Shine in Energy Efficiency?

Article By: Heidi Fritz Martinez CEO Re-Motor America

#Confessions of a Motor Gal

So we all know the story of Cinderella where the beautiful, dainty, plain-clothed princess wins the hearts of everyone by the help of some grandmother type fairy (in today's p.c. world Fairy God-Person (we don't judge)). She gets the prince in the end and lives happily ever after. Why, well because the shoe fit.

Maybe it's someone else's turn to shine now that that facility Cinderellas have already been largely done?

In energy efficiency, there is no doubt that the pretty princess is lighting. I mean she is one of the most visibly noticeable items in Commercial, Industrial and Municipal facilities for energy savings.

Who doesn't want with the help of some "Fairy-God Lighting Installer" upgrades from dingy yellow lights into bright, cooler & white LED s by midnight? Plus once she came out onto the stage the whole world was paying attention and most places have already done wonders in lighting and IOT upgrades. Light does travel faster than sound so it could be one of the underlying reasons she was noticed first.

Maybe, since the Cinderellas in Commercial, Industrial and Municipal facilities have already gotten their attention, it may be time for the Ugly Step Sisters' chances for happiness.

No doubt in energy efficiency, the Ugly Step Sisters are uncontrolled electric motors. See the picture attached to this article, I am not joking. They are loud, they whine, they smell and they use a boat load of power in comparison. Naturally, they are so ugly they are often hidden away in mechanical rooms, basements, ceilings and duct work but you can't miss that gut wrenching whine of electric motors who are using too much energy and producing heat from the excess.

Electric Motors can use up to 70% of the total electric power loads in a given facility. Some heavy industrial users are needlessly using kilowatts and megawatts of power a year.

Fortunately, only 187 years since the invention of the electric motor and approximately 30 years since the invention of the VFD, the fairy God-person to Electric Motors nay just might be Variable Frequency Drive (VFD). It is also critical to understand that the VFD are best fit when fine tuned to actual energy needs and programmed to the machines unique process. Maybe now for Ugly Step Sisters, the spell can also be broken.

Uncontrolled Motors only know how to run full speed. They were built for hard work. The VFD allows the machines to ramp up and slow down based on energy need not electric motor standard demand for power. Since it never allows the motor to go over a certain set point, this can also equate to Instantaneous Demand kW Savings. In smaller facilities there may be only a handful but in large plants including power plants there could be thousands that are costing hundreds, thousands and in some cases millions of dollars a year in wasted energy costs.

Now, you are right the VFD is not a panacea for every motor problem. If a motor is near the end of its mechanical life, has another type of mechanical failure, or it is time for machine upgrade a VFD will not be able to help in those cases until it or the machine is replaced.

There are also millions of dollars in utility/state energy rebate programs available to help implement VFD motor controls and electric motor upgrades. For areas with no/low rebate programs there are also options for VFDs/Energy as a Service as well. This off balance sheet shared savings program can be used with or without an available rebate program.

This is not to say that facility Cinderellas, Sleepy Beauties, & Snow Whites don't deserve attention. We just mean that dramatic reductions in energy costs can be obtained when the Ugly Step Sisters also get to share the stage. These extra savings dollars can be used to dramatically strengthen American company and town bottom lines. Even if you have already had an energy audit, ask for audits from Motor Hunters and Experts who know about VFDs and Machine Processes. It is definitely worth a look.

Motor Namaste

At Re-Motor America, we invite you to like or share this article if it was helpful to you. We also appreciate any feedback and welcome you to the discussion on how to improve deeper dives in energy savings for Commercial, Industrial and Municipal customers.