Cut Energy Costs by 35% with Variable Speed Drives

Whether you call it VFD, frequency converter or inverter, VSD technology by any other name is just as efficient. On average, VSD compressors use about 35 percent less energy than their fixed-speed counter parts. But what does a 35 percent reduction in energy costs really look like? Well, that depends on your plant.

Let’s say you have a 200 horsepower air compressor that runs for 24 hours a day. At 8,760 hours per year and .746 kW/horsepower, your total annual energy consumption would total 1,306,992 kWh. That’s a lot of energy, but so is 35 percent of that number. In fact, 457,447.2 kWh is equivalent to:

• The greenhouse gas emissions from 67.9 passenger vehicles driven for one year or from 102 tons of recycled waste.
• The CO₂ emissions from 33.9 homes’ annual energy use, 36,175 gallons of gasoline, or 13,142 propane cylinders used for home barbeques.
• The carbon sequestered by 8,332 tree seedlings grown for 10 years or 304 acres of U.S. forest in one year.

Like we said, that’s a lot of energy savings! Still not convinced that VSD energy efficiency is worth it? Let’s think about the monetary savings.

If you are paying 8 cents per kWh for electricity, that single compressor costs $110,062 to operate each year. In five years, that number surpasses half a million dollars. By switching to a VSD compressor, you could save $38,521 annually. That’s the equivalent of:

• 18,790 cups of coffee (That’s two cups per day for almost 26 years!)
• 8,042 Big Macs (You could have one a day for 22 years, but do you need it?)
• 5,428 Chipotle burritos (There’s a chance we’re hungry right now.)

However you want to think about it, switching to VSD offers great savings. Contact one of our experts today to learn more about VSD technology and how much your facility could save.