Many commercial enterprises work daily with machines driven by electric motors, such as mixers or conveyors. They consume electricity, but bring a huge reduction in the workload. Therefore, even if the price of electricity is high, it is not possible to do without these devices, but the investment in a new machine is not decided lightly.
But unlike, for example, refrigerators, there is a simple option for machines driven by electric motors. The old machine continues to be used, only the drive motor is replaced. In many cases, the motor has standard dimensions and can be replaced in a few simple steps, e.g. during maintenance. The more efficient motor often costs just one tenth of a new machine.
When does such a replacement pay off, and how old does the motor have to be?
For the following calculation example, we use efficiency class IE1 as a reference value. Almost all electric motors sold before July 2011 have this efficiency class, from then on IE2 was introduced.
So if your machine was purchased in 2010 or earlier, the calculation example fits you. Even if purchased later, it can be worthwhile, just take a look at the nameplate, where you can usually read the efficiency class. If it says “IE1”, then the example applies. Depending on the size and number of operating hours, IE2 motors can also offer enormous savings potential.
If, on the other hand, you still find one of the completely outdated designations EFF1, EFF2 or EFF3 on the rating plate, then you don’t need to do any more calculations, but should contact us right away to have the power guzzler replaced.
How to save energy in a bakery
A vertical mixer for up to 200kg of dough is driven by a 7.5kW motor. The machine is in operation for about 4 hours per day, which translates into 1000 operating hours per year. The motor has an IE1 efficiency of 86%, which means that 14% of the power consumed is not used. If it is now replaced by a motor with IE4 efficiency of 92.6%, only 7.4% of the electrical power is lost. We base the calculation on a long-term electricity price of 30ct/kWh, and can calculate the savings as follows:
1000h * 7.5kW * [ (1/0.86) – (1/0.926) ] * 0.30€ = € 186.47
So the saving is almost € 190,- per year, while a new IE4 motor (4-pole) with this power is available at MOLL-MOTOR already for about € 600,-. The motor price is therefore fully recovered after a little more than 3 years. The investment is therefore much easier to make than the purchase of a new energy-saving spiral kneading machine for about € 10,000.
So contact our sales staff right away and find out whether your old power guzzler can also be replaced by a new IE4 motor!
