How to Determine if Your Motor is Energy Efficient

Are Energy Efficient Motors A Good Investment?

Steps to Calculate the Cost of Your Existing Motors

In order to determine if upgrading to more energy efficiency motors is a practical consideration for your business, you must first calculate the cost of your existing motors.  We show you how to calculate those costs here:

Step 1 - Determine the Voltage and Amperage of the Motor

In order to determine what the cost of running an electric motor is we first need some facts.

Almost every motor in the last 30 years has a steel tag attached where you can find this information. Once you know the voltage and amps multiply them together to get your wattage.

So for example:

240(Volt) X 30(Amps) = 7200Watts

Step 2 - Determine Number of Hours Per Day the Motor Runs

Lets say the motor above runs 13 hours per day. Now we can take that information and complete the next step.

Multiply your wattage by the hours of usage. 

7200(Watts) X 13hrs. = 93,600

Once you have this number divide it by 1000 to get your KWH.

93,600 / 1,000 = 93.6KWH

Step 3 - Figure Out Your Electric Rate

Find one of your utility bills and see what you pay per KW. Some providers list the rate at the top of the bill, others make you do the math and figure it out.

A simple method is take the total of your bill and divide it by the KWH usage. It's not exact but it will get you pretty close to what your rate is.

Now multiply your KWH by your rate. For the sake of this article we will say its $.10 cents

93.6KWH X $.10 cents = $9.36 per day.

Step 4 - Look at the Bigger Picture

$9.36 per day doesn't sound like much money,and it's not, but many overlook the larger picture. $9.36That money is for one motor running one day. Lets look at it for 1 month with 5 day work weeks.

$9.36 X 22 days = $205.92 per month

$205.92 X 12 months = $2,471.00 per year.

Still feel like that's not much to swallow?

Let' look a little deeper, most businesses don't have just one motor....it's usually many more.

Let's use a modest number and say your business has 10 motors this size.

Thats over $24,000 per year to operate your 10 motors!

What if you could cut that cost by 50%?

Step 5 - Have Hovey Electric Determine if Your Motor is Energy Efficient

Why should you calculate the cost of your motors? 

Energy Efficient Motors typically pay for themselves in less than a year.  Add a VFD to the mix and you could see a significant reduction in your energy costs.

It is likely that you have no idea how much it costs to run the motors in your facility.  Most business owners don't even realize how many motors are in their facility. 

We have installed thousands of motors and we can show you how to save money by finding the most energy efficient motor for your application. But first, you need a complete energy efficiency assessment to find out how your facility is performing.

We can help your business calculate the cost of running your motors and find ways to reduce energy usage, find incentives from utilities and take advantage of tax incentives to help you pay for your project. 

We have the expertise to asses your facility and make recommendations. We can help with all the calculations and show you how any changes you make can substantially decrease your monthly operating costs and put money in your pocket month after month.

Schedule a FREE Energy Efficiency Assessment for your facility to begin saving on your energy costs.  OR if you would like to learn more about ways to improve energy efficiency, Download our FREE E-book: Business Owners Guide to Energy Efficiency.

Have a question?  Leave us a comment below and we will answer your question in our next post.