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Voltage optimisation

Many UK sites are supplied at a higher voltage than their equipment needs. Bringing it down wastes less, on the equipment that is sensitive to it.

What it is

A unit is installed at the incoming supply and holds the site voltage closer to what the equipment is designed for. Nothing changes in how the site is used.

The saving is not uniform. Motors, older lighting and resistive loads respond to it. Modern switched mode equipment largely does not, which is why the measured supply voltage and the load mix decide the answer.

Does it suit you

It suits sites with a measured supply voltage at the top of the permitted range and a load mix weighted towards motors and older equipment.

It suits you less if the incoming voltage is already low, or the site is mostly modern electronic load, in which case the saving may be close to nothing.

What decides it
  • -The measured incoming voltage over a period, not a single reading.
  • -The load mix at the site.
  • -Space at the intake for the unit, and an outage window to install it.
Cost and saving

The figures Meridians models with. Your building replaces them with its own data as soon as we have it.

Installed cost
from 5,000 to 20,000 per site
UK commercial voltage optimisation market, 2026.
Reduction in consumption
7 to 12 per cent
UK commercial voltage optimisation providers, converging estimates 2026.

Cost leads with the low end. Payback leads with the longer one.

In the application

The card a client sees, rendered by the application itself.

Illustrative building, not a real siteThe measure card, as a client sees it
Voltage optimisation
Sized to the measured peak: 214 kVA
Savings
Modelled saving
£2,300 to £4,000 a year
Indicative cost
From £14,000, typically £18,500 to £23,000
Payback
4.2 years to 7.8 years
Plan against the longer end: Up to 7.8 years.

Modelled from the consumption figure you gave us, so an installer survey may land elsewhere in these ranges.

What goes wrong
  • -It is sold on a headline percentage without measuring the incoming voltage first.
  • -The saving is claimed across the whole site when only part of the load responds.
  • -It is fitted at a site that would have gained more from lighting or controls for less money.

See it on your buildings

Add your sites and their energy data, and you get a modelled range for this measure at each one rather than a market average.