Written by Kyle Roseneck
Taurus Craco Machinery Inc.
A popular topic of conversation these recent months has been the rising electricity rates in Ontario. We can all relate to the rising prices of our bills on homes and businesses throughout Ontario.
For a typical BWA manufacturing member, the largest demand of electricity is typically in two areas of the shop; dust collection & compressed air. Dust collection alone can represent up to 50-60% of the total electrical consumption of a woodworking facility. Many of my client visits in recent years have been focused around looking for more energy efficient solutions for interior and exterior dust collection.
Dust collection is a necessary evil when it comes to manufacturing. It offers little value to a business to increase sales & production, and to develop new products or markets, so naturally it’s low on the list of capital budgets. It may not be as exciting as a new CNC, moulder or automated sliding table saw, but there is a strong case to support investment in an existing or new dust collection system to obtain huge reductions on your monthly cost of operation.
Small or large, custom or mass volume, amperage and Kw reduction will put money back in your pocket. Typical dust systems are silent money-burners, usually getting turned on when the first operator hits the floor and getting shut off when the last person leaves. Yes, many have systems to reduce usage or peak demand with soft start motors, shut-offs during breaks or multiple units or fans to target areas of intermediate demand but there is still a lot money being left on the table that can be recaptured.
At the risk of stating the obvious, the best conservation of energy is
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