The 5-2-1 Compressor Saver® helps to lower air conditioning bills in two ways.
The first way is that the 5-2-1 Compressor Saver® helps an air conditioner start up in less time.
Your air conditioner uses anywhere from 5 to 10 times more power on start-up than it does while running.
By reducing that time by up to 50%, there is far less electrical usage each and every time the air
conditioner starts. For customers that are on a peak-demand payment program, these savings could be
significant.
The second way that the 5-2-1 Compressor Saver® helps to lower air conditioning bills is through the protection it provides to the run capacitor. The run capacitor is the "heart" of the compressor and it determines how much electricity is consumed while the compressor or air conditioner is running. Without a 5-2-1 Compressor Saver® the run capacitor bears the brunt of the stress and electrical heat during start up. As a result, over time the run capacitor wears down. When the run capacitor wears down, your air conditioner will still work, but it starts to use more electricity to run - just like the last step in a marathon is harder and requires more effort than the first.
When weakened, your run capacitor and system can use 10% to 20% more electricity than before!
For example, let?s look at the picture on the right. From the plate we can determine from the model number that we have a 5 ton air conditioner and from the Compressor R.L.A that compressor will draw around 28.9 amps when running.
Therefore, just a 10% degradation is 2.89 additional amps.
To determine the additional cost, we need to determine how much additional power is being used. To determine the power we multiply by the amps by the voltage, typically 230 volts for an air conditioner.
Therefore, 2.89 amps x 230 volts = 664 watts. This is 0.66 kilowatts (kW) or roughly 2/3 kW.
In Houston the cost of electricity is roughly $0.14kW per hour; therefore, the air conditioner costs $0.09 more per hour to run. Continuing with Houston as our example, Houston homes run their air conditioning an average of 2,400 hours a year, which makes the annual cost $224 more for just 2.89 amps or a run capacitor weakened by just 10%!
Considering that a run capacitor can weaken or degrade much more severely before being completely un-operational, having a 5-2-1 Compressor Saver® installed more than pays for itself over time.
The second way that the 5-2-1 Compressor Saver® helps to lower air conditioning bills is through the protection it provides to the run capacitor. The run capacitor is the "heart" of the compressor and it determines how much electricity is consumed while the compressor or air conditioner is running. Without a 5-2-1 Compressor Saver® the run capacitor bears the brunt of the stress and electrical heat during start up. As a result, over time the run capacitor wears down. When the run capacitor wears down, your air conditioner will still work, but it starts to use more electricity to run - just like the last step in a marathon is harder and requires more effort than the first.
When weakened, your run capacitor and system can use 10% to 20% more electricity than before!
For example, let?s look at the picture on the right. From the plate we can determine from the model number that we have a 5 ton air conditioner and from the Compressor R.L.A that compressor will draw around 28.9 amps when running.
Therefore, just a 10% degradation is 2.89 additional amps.
To determine the additional cost, we need to determine how much additional power is being used. To determine the power we multiply by the amps by the voltage, typically 230 volts for an air conditioner.
Therefore, 2.89 amps x 230 volts = 664 watts. This is 0.66 kilowatts (kW) or roughly 2/3 kW.
In Houston the cost of electricity is roughly $0.14kW per hour; therefore, the air conditioner costs $0.09 more per hour to run. Continuing with Houston as our example, Houston homes run their air conditioning an average of 2,400 hours a year, which makes the annual cost $224 more for just 2.89 amps or a run capacitor weakened by just 10%!
Considering that a run capacitor can weaken or degrade much more severely before being completely un-operational, having a 5-2-1 Compressor Saver® installed more than pays for itself over time.
When you install a 5-2-1 Compressor Saver®, have your technician inspect your run capacitor.
If it has started to degrade, replace it immediately.
Make sure that you ask your technician if he tested the run capacitor "under load conditions".
This means, tested while the unit was running which is the most accurate test available.
