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"If it's not broke, don't fix it" is a common belief, but one that can lead you to lose your competitive edge. What was state-of-the-art ten years ago bears little resemblance to the newest welding equipment and the advantages it offers.

The truth of the matter is if your welding equipment is more than ten years old and still running as good as new, it is likely costing you money - and may be making it more difficult for you to train new welders. The reason: today's welding power sources provide many benefits that can help shorten prep time, increase deposition rates, decrease training time, and/or reduce weld defects and rework time.  In addition, the newest power sources - especially inverters - offer increased power efficiency, which alone may justify their cost.

POWER EFFICIENCY

Old conventional welding machines convert incoming line power to welding output power at 60 to 70 percent efficiency. New generation solid-state machines are much more efficient, with about an 80 percent efficiency. Inverter-based welding power sources are even better, operating at an average efficiency of 85 percent, which reduces utility bills. In fact, swapping out old machines for inverters typically may save a company $500 to $1,200+ per year, per machine. To determine your particular savings, visit the online power calculator at www.millerwelds.com/resources/. Performance tests by independent consultants consistently confirm that replacing an old power source with an energy efficient inverter provides a proven return on investment.

POWER FACTOR

Efficiency is only part of the savings equation. Your equipment's Power Factor also affects your energy usage. Power factor is defined as the ratio of real (working) power to apparent (total) power. In a purely resistive circuit, voltage and current waveforms are in phase, and the ratio of real power to apparent power is near to, or equal to 1. In circuits with inductors and capacitors, the amp and voltage waveforms are out of phase and not all of the power is available to do useful work; some of it is returned to the source. Although the power company charges you for the apparent power, you are only receiving the benefits of the real power.

A high (close to 1.0) power factor will not only decrease energy usage, but increase your system capacity. Today's leading inverters, such as newer multi-process inverters and MIG inverters, offer power factors of 0.95.
Some utilities provide rebates to facilities that swap out old, inefficient equipment for equipment with good power factor. One fabricator, TEAM Industries, received a $413 rebate per machine - up to a total of $7,434 -  from its utility company when it acquired 18 new machines.

"Saving energy is a win-win proposition for us and the customer," says James J. Brown, Kaukauna Utilities' customer service representative and Team consultant. He explains that when customers reduce energy demand, the utility can generate fewer kilowatt hours and/or reduce the amount of electricity purchased on the open market. "Our ‘avoided cost' is converted into rebates for customers that use energy efficiently," he adds.