10 ways to save energy with your air compressor system

In every industry, businesses are trying their best to reduce costs across the board due to the current economic climate. Energy efficiency is top of many companies’ priority lists due to the escalating rise in energy costs. In order to reduce energy bills, energy consumption must be reviewed by all. For businesses that utilise air compressors, there are a number of ways in which they can save energy. To find out the many methods of energy saving in air compressor systems, continue reading this helpful article.

Importance of energy saving

It’s incredibly important to ensure that your air compressor system is as efficient as possible. As a company, you’ll want your air compressor to work at its best possible performance level. If it is not running efficiently or properly, it cannot ever achieve peak performance. Something you can do to ensure the best performance and savings is an energy audit. Call Glaston today to book an iiTrak audit on your system.

An energy-efficient air compressor offers the best performance for your needs while using less energy, resulting in less heat, friction, and costs. How can an efficient air compressor help your business? Let’s take a look.

• Cost saving
• Carbon offsetting
• Conserve energy

Cost saving

The main benefit of an energy-efficient air compressor is cost savings. Lower energy usage leads to cheaper bills.

Carbon offsetting

Like most machines, air compressors can emit some level of pollution into the atmosphere. This will affect the air quality around them. An efficient air compressor system gives off much less pollution and minimises emissions.

Conserve energy

The less energy your compressor uses, the more energy is open for other uses. An efficient air compressor allows you to get more done without overwhelming your power system.

By saving energy, you can also reuse energy thanks to heat recovery. This, in turn, will bring down the cost of heating a factory or office, for example.

What are the methods of energy saving in air compressor systems?

Now you know the reason for having an energy-efficient air compressor, it’s important to learn how you can go about achieving it. Luckily for you, we have compiled a list of the very best methods of energy saving in air compressor systems.

They are:

• Reduce the pressure
• Leak detection
• Best use of compressed air
• Switch off compressors when not in use
• Cooler intake air
• Heat recovery
• Measure air usage

Reduce the pressure

If you’re using more pressure than is required to run your air compressor, this will increase energy consumption and costs. If you reduce the supply pressure in small increments, you can determine whether the system’s pressure is set higher than it needs to be.

Leak detection

You could be wasting around 20% to 30% of your compressor’s output due to a leak. You should aim to identify and repair any possible leaks to make your processes as cost-effective as possible and reduce run time moving forward. Finding and fixing a leak also helps to increase the lifespan of your equipment.

Best use of compressed air

For certain tasks, compressed air may not be the best option to power your equipment. Consider the task at hand and evaluate if it would be beneficial to use another power source. This can also help to increase the lifespan of your air compressor because you’re not using it unnecessarily.

Switch off compressors when not in use

When appropriate, turn your air compressor off while it’s not being used. This can be during breaks in between tasks and overnight. Every time it’s switched off, it’s saving energy.

Cooler intake air

Cooler air is denser than warmer air, so this allows air compressors to use less energy to produce the required pressure.

Heat recovery

An air compressor loses around 80% of electrical energy when it is converted to heat. With a heat recovery unit, as much as 90% of this can be recovered to be used to heat air or water. 

Measure air usage

When using an air compressor, it’s a good idea to measure the amount of air you’re using. This allows you to monitor the amount of energy you’re using. A flow meter can be installed into your air compressor to measure air usage.

Air compressor energy audit

Did you know that you can also have an energy audit performed on your air compressor system to evaluate the amount of energy it’s using? We can monitor your system for several days using iiTrak data logging software and show you exactly where you’re losing energy, and how to improve the efficiency of your system.

Contact Glaston

If you’d like to find out more about how to save energy in air compressor systems, and the type of services we offer at Glaston, don’t hesitate to contact us today at 01695 51010. You can also email us at info@glaston.com, or fill in the contact form on our website.