Voltage stabiliser for every home

[Heating bloke]

As a heating engineer, can my thoughts be indulged here to get your opinions? My thought was this: As I understand it, if you use less voltage then you use less wattage and thus save money. Now I know we can't drop the voltage too low because of induction motors, but it's safe to drop to 220v for the majority of appliances. However, the downside to this would be that you wouldn't be getting the 'proper' light and heat that you originally demanded. Fair enough, but consider this then. As I regularly get more than 240v in my house (I've measured it lots of times), if every home in the country was fitted with a voltage stabiliser rated to 230v, wouldn't we save an enormous amount of energy collectively? Surely this would be better than fitting these 'energy indicators' that will be sold to consumers in the coming weeks? My own home would thus see the voltage drop by 6% and subsequently a saving on energy use. Am I missing something here? Why hasn't this been considered? Are they too expensive?

 

[monkeyelectric]

As a heating engineer, can my thoughts be indulged here to get your opinions? My thought was this: As I understand it, if you use less voltage then you use less wattage and thus save money. Now I know we can't drop the voltage too low because of induction motors, but it's safe to drop to 220v for the majority of appliances. However, the downside to this would be that you wouldn't be getting the 'proper' light and heat that you originally demanded. Fair enough, but consider this then. As I regularly get more than 240v in my house (I've measured it lots of times), if every home in the country was fitted with a voltage stabiliser rated to 230v, wouldn't we save an enormous amount of energy collectively? Surely this would be better than fitting these 'energy indicators' that will be sold to consumers in the coming weeks? My own home would thus see the voltage drop by 6% and subsequently a saving on energy use. Am I missing something here? Why hasn't this been considered? Are they too expensive?

The wattage used would still be the same but the amperage would go up so i don't think it would make a difference to energy used, just my opinion

 

[Heating bloke]

I was basing it on this Welcome to VPhase Wattage does go down if you reduce the voltage, doesn't it, so it's bound to save energy. There's a tech-spec of it here http://www.vphaseplc.com/Files/product/techspecs/VPhase054V2TechnicalFAQs.pdf

 

[Darkwood]

This is a plausable idea but it has one flaw, cost! Ive fitted 3kw voltage stabilisers before and there cost is one big smack in the bank account, so to find 20kw to run a house wouldn't be feesable, the variable types that use a moving arm to keep the voltage stable are prone to been damage or jamming on the wrong voltage if their is a mains spike or a fault on the installation.
A fixed transformer type may be plausible but if you voltage incomming were to change due to some local new builds or general supply alterations then unknowingly your voltage may be outside the allowable range which in some cases could damage equipment especially voltage conscious ones.
This is the main reason its not employed in the domestic arena,Extortinate Cost, Servicing and the risk of what the d.n.o thinks is your voltage and the voltage you actually have.

 

[Heating bloke]

Ah, I see, thanks for that. I thought that there must be a reason why it hasn't already been done. But then James Dyson didn't think that, and he went on to do alright with something that still isn't a good idea (in my view!).

Thanks.

 

[spaldingsparks]

I thought this idea had already been done and is already in the pipeline costs about 250 per house cant say were I saw the article but t was in the last 6 months and was a green job of some kind,to be made for each house and at sometime to be in the building regs
anyone have more info it saves on wear and tear on most home appliances, lamps etc and cuts down on costs over time making savings, smile everyone it means more work for sparks

 

[Heating bloke]

spalding, yes this is it... Welcome to VPhase Voltage Optimiser. This is a constant 220v on certain rings - not thermostatic electric heating rings though. My idea is for a cheap voltage stabiliser at 230v rather than 220v - so that it could be applied to the entire home electrics. 220v is okay, but it's just another way of turning something down, like a room thermostat. But if you've sized a room for a particular heat requirement of, say 1500 watts off panel heaters, then applying 220v to it means it will have to work harder to achieve that heat - so it's pointless in my opinion. You could say the same about lighting, as the lighting will be a little more dim at 220v than it would be at 240v. It always amazes me that people cannot see this about eco bulbs. 'Normal' bulbs add to your heating quite a lot - can be as much as 10-15%. If you change that bulb to an eco bulb then you've lost the heat (that was labelling it a energy-waster). No, it wasn't really an energy-waster as it was adding to the heat. Now, your heating will have to compensate for that lost heat. People say, ah, but what about during the summer when you don't want it to add to heat, so it's wasted then? True, but you're less likely to have that bulb on in the summer as we get lighter evenings.

 

[monkeyelectric]

I stand corrected, i'd heard of the idea before but did'nt think it actually worked as I thought something like a 3kw kettle pulled 3kw regardless of voltage, although bu
lbs do dim when voltage drops and motors run slower so makes sense

 

[oldtimer]

you say you measured 240 + but remember the 230 is an average and your house voltage can fluctuate with regards to your location and time of day.

I remember getting called out to an old lady whose alarm / tv / digital clock all went on the blink why well during the day the house voltage was 247v but at night it jumped up to 265 due to the drop off of load and that she was situated near to the transformer supplying her area

 

[Darkwood]

Pls remember the link hes supplied is actually a sales pitch by the company themselves to promote their own product, so take its amazing wonderful energy savings with a pinch of salt as it says the unit is only 10amp rated so anytime you exceed this (which is often ) it bypasses itself back to standard incomming voltage.
As i said a 3kw variable voltage stabiliser i fitted in a factory cost a fortune so sizing up from this to handle the needs of domestic appliances is pointless unless you wire your house for 2 voltages - 1 for board for normal and one board for reduced voltage with items that can be energy efficient this way.
Cost cost cost no-one with even bother, if it was as good as it said at reducing energy cost dont you think it would have made national newspapers etc in this green future we are trying to head for.

 

[spaldingsparks]

Well Heating Bloke cant say that after reading the spec and the install instructions that I am going to try and sell this one. 17th edition Distribution boards make it a problem to incorporate easily unless you use two units and then a cost that is already far to high for me to make any money is doubled.To fit a board cost customers about £450 + Vat to add this £750 + vat + my Profit and it only works on some items some of the time as the Dragons say SORRY BUT I'M OUT

 

[Heating bloke]

Me too spalding! I phoned my electrician last weekend about it, and he advised to give it a miss - he wasn't impressed. However, it appears in this month's Focus magazine I see. Anyway, I worked out myself that the savings wouldn't probably be enough to justify its purchase and installation cost!