Voltage optimisation

The UK nominal supply voltage is 230V, with a statutory range of 216V to 253V. Delivered voltage commonly sits toward the upper part of that range, around 242V.

Equipment designed for 230V and supplied at 242V draws more than it needs to. On voltage-dependent loads, that excess is wasted.

A modern, well-specified site may have almost no voltage-dependent load left, in which case optimisation saves close to nothing. A site full of older plant may have a great deal.

Savings of roughly 5 to 19 per cent of electricity consumption are claimed across the industry. That range is an industry claim rather than an Omnium figure, and it applies only to the voltage-dependent portion of a site’s load, not to the whole bill.

Anyone quoting a flat percentage without having seen your equipment is selling rather than advising. The honest method is to measure the actual incoming voltage over time, assess the load mix, and estimate the saving on the voltage-dependent portion alone.

A credible assessment also identifies which supplies would benefit and which would not, so a unit is sized to those rather than blanketing the whole site.

Voltage optimisation is worth looking at after the lighting has been dealt with, not before. Replacing older lighting with LED removes much of the voltage-dependent load, which shrinks the voltage optimisation case at the same time.

Doing them in the wrong order means paying for a unit sized against a load you are about to remove.