Released on: August 4, 2008, 7:15 am

Press Release Author: Nir Mizrachi

Industry: Electronics

Press Release Summary: Incandescent and Halogen Lamps - Reduced line voltage will
save energy.

Press Release Body: Filament Light Sources:
Incandescent and Halogen Lamps - Reduced line voltage will save energy. How much?
The answer is related roughly to the square of the reduced line voltage. For
example, a 10% reduction yields 90% (0.90) of the original line voltage and 90%2 =
81%. Therefore, the energy savings is approximately 19% (100% - 81%) for a 10% line
reduction.
Discharge Light Sources:
Fluorescent Lamps - Some electronic ballasts with passive front ends will save some
energy if the line voltage is reduced. While this relationship between energy
savings and light voltage is not exactly a 1-to-1 ratio, it is close. A 5% line
voltage reduction will produce about a 5% reduction in the system input power.
However, electronic ballasts with active front ends (like older Motorola or the
newer SYLVANIA Universal Voltage) have regulating power supplies, which means they
compensate for lower line voltage by drawing more current, thereby keeping the input
power constant. With these ballasts, there is no power reduction and no energy
savings.
HID Lamps - Energy savings for HID lamps also depends on the ballast.
. For HID lamps using a standard high reactance magnetic ballasts (usually labeled
HX), the line voltage regulation of the ballast is poor, meaning you actually get
more power reduction than line voltage reduction. For example, a 5% line voltage
reduction causes a 10% reduction in lamp power. Applying this 5% line voltage
reduction at the system level, a system that was drawing 450W will now draw about
410W (assuming an HID lamp at 400W X 0.9 = 360W; add back the ballast losses of 50W,
and the result is 410W for the system). This 40W savings represents 10% of the lamp
power or 9% of the system power.
. For HID lamps using a Constant Wattage Autotransformer (CWA) ballast, the
relationship between line voltage and power reduction is about 1-to-1. A 5% line
voltage reduction will produce a 5% reduction in the lamp power. At the system level
(using the same example as above), the power would be reduced 20W (from 450W to
430W).
. For HID lamps using a Constant Wattage (CW) ballast, also known as a \"three
winding\" or \"three coil\" ballast, the line voltage regulation is very good. A 5%
line voltage reduction will produce about a 2½% reduction in lamp power. Again using
the same 5% line voltage reduction, the power would be reduced 10W (from 450W to
440W).

Motor Loads: For most types of HVAC motors, pump motors, refrigerators, etc., there
is little or no savings since induction motors, by nature, regulate themselves by
drawing more current when the line voltage drops. A 10% line voltage reduction would
not cause any reduction in input power to the motor, and therefore, no energy
savings. To save energy with motors, devices called Variable Frequency Drives (VFD),
which adjust input power based on actual motor loads, are usually used.
Electronic Devices: Personal computers, printers, copy machines, etc. also have
regulating power supplies, so there is little if any energy savings with a line
voltage reduction.




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