Power Factor Correction | Nexus

Category: Energy

Topic: power factor correction, lighting, lifts, energy consumption

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Nexus
  • Built in 2002/3
  • 11 levels of residential apartments (88 apartments)
  • 3 levels of commercial office/retail suites (14 suites)
  • 4 levels basement car parking
  • Plant Rooms, Meeting room and Gymnasium
  • Two residential lifts run from the basement levels
  • One commercial lift runs for four levels
  • Two common electricity supplies service the common areas of the building: foyer lighting, lifts, car park exhaust fans, water pumps, fire service pumps, etc
  • Central solar hot water to individual units
  • A common water cooled air conditioning tower provides chilled water to individual apartment fan units
Website

2 x Residential Lifts and fluorescent utility lighting operating as “inductive loads” with a resultant power factor in the order of 0.72 - this is bad!

A 75 KVAr PFC unit was installed to correct the load. This resulted in a power factor of approximately 0.99 - this is really good!

Daily demand reduced by approximately 25%, with an immediate reduction in electricity costs of approximately $2,000 per year

Cost: $4,000
Payback: 24 months

This is but one of several initiatives undertaken by Nexus over a 12-month period.

Power Factor Correction Unit

First Published: Sun, 18/07/10