The U.S. Dept. of Energy says there are 13.5 million electric motors in use in the U.S. today. That includes household appliances as well as servos for industrial motion control, but the same source calculates that 70% of manufacturing’s collective electric bill goes to feed electric motors — and many of those will be servo motors.
It’s no surprise, then, that reductions in energy use are a priority for industry. And a lot of blood, sweat, toil, and tears have gone into figuring out how to make a motor that saves energy.
Well, maybe not blood. Replace Churchill’s original word with “thought,” though, and it’s accurate.
Fortunately, the new generation of servo motors is significantly less energy-hogging than previous versions.
First, they’re smaller and lighter because of the materials being used. Using aluminum, newer forms of steel, and more powerful rare earth magnets means the new servo motors have a smaller footprint and require less energy.
Second, better communication between servos and drives allows greater efficiency. Controls can monitor temperature and diagnostic warnings, making it easy to keep all the machinery in trim.
Finally, new government regulations require greater efficiency. Regulations don’t automatically improve efficiency, but they do prevent the otherwise common problem of going for more heft and power than is actually needed.
The result is a more energy efficient motor, and the chance to lower the carbon footprint of your facility. Since the upfront price of a servo typically ends up being just about 2% of its total cost, with 97.3% of the cost coming from energy use over the servo’s lifetime, higher prices for greener motors may not be a problem.
We can help you determine when it makes sense to replace your old industrial motion control components with new ones. We can also help you keep the legacy parts you hold onto running at their peak efficiency. Call today.