PowerSave, a division of voltage control technologies specialist Claude Lyons, is helping Riverford Organic Vegetables to save around £8,000 annually
Riverford Organic Vegetables run a vegetable box scheme where the company send out around 45,000 boxes a week to its customers who share its commitment to fresh, seasonal food, produced with a respect for the customer, staff, farmers and the environment. The family business is national, with sister farms across the country including butchery and dairy sites.
With that ethos in mind, the business has also been committed to minimising its environmental impact – from the way food is grown, through to how it is packed and delivered. Over recent years, it has been working to give this respect for the environment a more rigorous foundation, completing a two year study on reducing environmental impacts with Exeter University. As a result, Riverford has installed the Powersave ESS as part of this sustainable development project.
How does it work?
The PowerSave ESS is a voltage control technology that maintains a regulated electricity output where mains supply quality fluctuates.
Electrical equipment is designed to accept a wide range of input voltages, but if the actual supply voltage is higher than the minimum requirement, the equipment will often consume excess power – for example, a 230V linear appliance operating at 240V will consume approximately nine percent more energy than necessary.
The PowerSave ESS reduces the input mains voltage, balances the phase voltage and regulates the output so that equipment doesn’t receive more power than necessary.
By reducing supply voltages to a controlled, minimum level, the ESS allows equipment to operate at optimum efficiency. This results in lower energy bills, longer lasting equipment and a reduced carbon footprint, as Jason Gipson, facilities manager at Riverford Organic Vegetables explained, “Installing the PowerSave ESS has been such a successful investment that ideally we would like one installed on all of our sites.”
Why PowerSave?
After observing rising electricity costs with trepidation, Riverford Vegetables wanted a money saving solution which would fit in with its environmentally friendly ethos.
The company recognised that in business much environmental effort is guided by the need to gain marketing advantage over delivering genuine benefit. Its desire for a truly effective long term environmental solution led to the adoption of Claude Lyons’ voltage optimisation technology.
Instead of reducing the supply voltage by a fixed percentage, the ESS continuously and automatically adjusts the amount by which the voltage is reduced, thus providing a solution that is accurate under variable conditions. Because it regulates the new output voltage based on the current input supply level, it ensures that equipment never receives more or less than the required minimum voltage for correct operation – even during power dips or surges.
Outcome
The ESS unit has reduced voltage by approximately 11% for the vegetable box scheme. With this reduction, Riverford’s annual electricity bill has fallen by around £8,000 annually.
Riverford Organic Vegetables has also been impressed by the ongoing maintenance service provided by Claude Lyons since the installation of the Powersave. Claude Lyons recently completed one of its standard inspections at the site to check that everything was running efficiently. However, since installation, no maintenance work has been required.
PowerSave provides two voltage control product families – the Energy Saving Transformer (EST) and the Energy Saving Regulator (ESS). The EST is well suited for sites with a reasonably stable voltage supply, and reduces voltage by between 3-12%. The ESS provides a solution where mains supply quality fluctuates, maintaining a regulated output and delivering energy savings up of to 25%.
