Q: What's the return on investment I see when investing in an energy improvement plan?

A: Imagine we could get your electricity bill down by 80% wouldn't that be great? But what if it would take you 20 years to get back the investment that would make it a lot less interesting.
Imagine we could bring your electricity bill down by 3% but the payback of the investment would be 6 months, that would make it a lot more interesting. Depended on the state your electrical system is in we can realize a energy saving of about 2 - 50% with a payback time of 2 - 50 months.
In reality we see that savings range from 5 - 50% with an average payback of around 17 months. We will never make you a proposal that does not pay for itself. Our goal is to offer products that have a payback time of less then 2 years.

Q: What are the "other" savings Energy Sense UK is talking about?

A: Motors will run cooler. Lamps and Fluorescent Tubes will run cooler. Transformers, switching cabinets, lightswithces, brakes, controllers, cabling it will all be less hot. Power supplies will be more stable. Process and production equipment will be more efficient and reliant. Air-conditioning and cooling will be more efficient and reliant, which will reduce maintenance. Re-lamp cost of lighting will go down. Less line downs due to ran down machinery. Your energy supply will all in all be much more stable which will have its effect on other processes.

Q: What is power quality and how can it save me money?

A: Your electricity supplier or generator has the task to supply you with a constant energy level with a predictable stable voltage, stable frequency and reliable current level. Each deviation from one of those three at the entry point of your company can cause trouble. Of course having those three at exactly the required level will be seen as the ideal power quality.

Fact: No company has the perfect power quality. In today's world with electrical systems getting more and more complex power quality often is a neglected and costly element. It's a myth that power quality does not have a cost related to it. The opposite is true, even when we do not have visible effects or visible deviations of the perfect values, deviations can still cause a lot of damage. Electrical loads often get damaged or run less efficient which drives up cost. Unwanted deviations in the voltage or frequency cause unwanted cumulative wear on motor loads. A weak source of current slowly wears down motors and leads to early defects.

Example: Computer power supplies should last for 5 to 10 years, but do they? Motors are often the silent witnesses of poor power quality. Because motors often run continuously they will be repaired or replaced when the break down without looking at the root cause of the defect. Poor power quality can shorten the lifetime of a motor by 50%, would you like to double the lifetime of your motors?

Q. What is reactive and harmonic current and how do they influence my company?

A: Just as sources of electricity should supply perfect voltage, perfect harmony and a ready source of current, your electrical loads and equipment should also demand and operate on this same type of electricity that is, such would be the case in a perfect world. In reality, only incandescent light bulbs and resistive heating elements demand such "perfect" power. All other loads impose their own unique demands on your electric supply.
One of these unique demands, and the most common, is the demand of all inductive loads (equipment that requires a magnetic field for operation) for an unusual type of current. The perfect, resistive loads all demand their current at the same time in each cycle as the voltage is available; this is a one-to-one, or linear time alignment between the voltage current supplied to these resistive loads. These resistive loads are, thus, referred to as linear loads.
Inductive loads also demand this type of current. We call this real current, and it is the current that a piece of equipment converts into heat or mechanical work. However, some current drawn by these inductive loads goes straight toward creating and sustaining the required magnetic field.
This is called reactive current, and is not the same as real because it is not being drawn at the same time each cycle as the available voltage is cycling up and down in value. Reactive current doesn€t flow to an inductive load until a quarter of a cycle after the voltage. In geometric terms, reactive current is said to lag ninety degrees behind both the voltage and the real current drawn by an inductive load.

With special test instruments, these two types of current, real and reactive, can be readily viewed. However, all of the wiring, mechanical connectors, protective devices, switching equipment, transformers and other distribution system components in your facility must conduct this reactive current in the same way as the real current. None of these conductive components are intelligent enough to note the difference in timing between the two types of current. So, real and reactive current cause exactly the same degree of heating in your distribution system. And, as we all know, heat costs money.
There is another type of equipment growing in numbers on most businesses. It is referred to as nonlinear equipment, and it is distinguished by its demand for not only reactive current, but harmonic or "distortion" current, as well. Harmonic current is made up of current drawn at frequencies well above the frequency of your utility or generator electrical supply. And, it is the most rapidly adopted new equipment that is responsible for demanding this harmonic current through your facility€s supply system. Often, the very equipment you purchase to reduce energy costs in turn increases the harmonic current demand in the facility.

Computers, UPS systems, office equipment, PLC's, variable frequency AC and DC motor drives, rectifiers, arcing lighting, arcing heating or induction heating... all are today's demanders of harmonic current. And, because as much as 80% or more of the connected electrical load in many businesses is made of this group of loads, the costs being paid can be dramatic often as much as 30% of the entire electric bill is directly attributable to the harmonic power drawn by these nonlinear loads. How much of this equipment do you have?
Harmonic current demand and the resulting harmonic power consumed by nonlinear loads are normally simply referred to as "harmonics". And, frankly, this area of the electrical sciences is a pretty misunderstood topic, with much mythology guiding decisions, rather than the real facts.
For instance, there are many working electrical engineers in industry and utility jobs who believe that nonlinear loads are, somehow, "sources" of harmonics and that these loads, again somehow, "generate" harmonics. Similarly misunderstood terminology leads even very solidly educated engineers to make error filled choices when dealing with harmonic current and voltage issues. Who do you have evaluating and planning your harmonics related decisions?

Q. What is reactive and harmonic current and how do they influence my company?

A: First, we recognize that any amount of reactive or harmonic current drawn through any part of your building is bad news. And, as simple as this statement may seem, it distinguishes us from nearly all other energy services firms. Many others believe that some reactive current and some harmonic current presence at some points in a system are acceptable, because there is very little cost or operational problem associated with this minor current presence.

Fact: If every time you switched on a piece of equipment, harmonics caused it to explode, that would be a bad thing, and you would want to correct the problem.

Q. How does the Save It Easy warranty work?

A: On all Save It Easy products you get a 2 year no-nonsense warranty. This means that starting from the day you get your Save It Easy product delivered, you will get 2 year warranty on defects (either factory or caused by yourself) and failures. All defects are covered by this warranty, whether they are manufacturing defects, shipping damage, installation damage or operation damage. You contact us and we replace the product. We do expect the damaged product back!

Q. What is EIA all about?

A: EIA stand for Energie Investerings Aftrek, which means reduction of part of your energy saving investment and is granted by Agentschap NL (formerly known as Senternovem). To receive a grant you need to meet certain criteria.
These are:

• You are Taxed in the Netherlands for income- or corporation tax and you run a company on your account.
• You have made an energy saving investment within the last 3 months and the investment meets the requirements of the Energielijst 2010.
• You have all the required permits.

If you meet these requirements than you can qualify for EIA. The product you bought needs to mee the energielijst 2010. For more info check: www.senternovem.nl/eia/

Q. How do I apply for EIA?

A: Announce the investment at IRWA in Breda. Use the announcement form which can be found on the site of Agentschap NL. We can also do this for you if required.
Make sure your announcement is made in time:

• Within 3 months after investment.

You will receive a confirmation within 4 weeks after your announcement accompanied with a case number. It can be that Agentschap NL requires additional info to qualify the request.
The Tax office will make the final decision on yes or no.

Download the required form here.