What is your industrial air compressor Toronto costing you?

What is your industrial air compressor Toronto costing you?

Surprisingly, most companies cannot answer this question.  They can tell you the purchase price of the industrial air compressor Toronto, but have not even considered the operating costs over the life of the compressor - such as air compressor repair and maintainanace.  In a typical compressed air system, the highest cost over a 5 year period is the energy, maintainanace and air compressor repair; not the initial cost.  Most companies make mistakes by purchasing cheaper equipment, thinking they are saving money, but the total cost turns out to be higher than if they had selected an energy efficient compressor with lower operating and air compressor repair costs.

It is important to determine the annual energy costs prior to the selection and purchase of new equipment.  The compressed air system is measureable and can be quickly calculated once you have a few pieces of information:

• Motor horsepower at full load & percentage time running at this operating level
• # of operating hours per year
• Aggregate electrical cost per kWh
• bhp as percentage of full-load bhp at this operating level
• Motor efficiency at this operating level

A compressed air professional can help you determine your costs using this data.  They can also perform a more comprehensive compressed air audit.  A compressed air audit identifies any issues that are causing increased pressure demands, and therefore increased energy costs, such as:

• Air leaks (i.e. a small leak at the coupler to an air drop causes a pressure drop and an increase in demand)
• Poorly maintained equipment (i.e. plugged air filters reduces air flow)
• Flow restrictions (i.e. inadequate piping forces the compressor to work at a higher pressure)
• Inadequate Storage (i.e. Lack of storage capacity causes the compressor to cycle excessively)

Understanding the costs of your compressed air system is the first step to improving and maintaining its performance.  When considering the replacement of your existing compressor with an energy efficient compressor, calculate your current energy costs over a minimum of 5 years.  You will make better, more informed decisions and help your company reduce their energy consumption and their energy costs!