Aussie Industrial Fix-its

Many facility managers are not sure whether they should simply maintain the old elevators in factories or modernise (upgrade) them. This article discusses some of the benefits that may accrue from modernising the elevators in your factory. Use this information as you evaluate whether the elevators in your factory are overdue for modernisation.

Lower Machine Room Cooling Costs

Many older elevators were not equipped with the ability to return any unused energy left after the elevator made an empty trip. Those old elevators simply burn that excess energy as heat in the machine room. This raises the HVAC cost of keeping the temperature in the machine room cool enough to prevent machine component breakdowns. Modern elevator systems transfer that excess energy back to the grid. Consequently, the heat level in the machine room will be lower. This will translate into lower cooling costs for that machine room.

Faster Delivery of Passengers and Freight

Older elevator systems rely on push buttons that signal when a person wants to go to an upper or a lower floor on the building. Such elevators stop each time there is a person going in the same direction as it is going. This increases the time that people take to reach their destinations. Modern elevators are equipped with destination push buttons that may reduce the duration that passengers spend in transit. This is because the intelligent elevator control system can dispatch an elevator car to a floor that has many people heading to the same destination. This reduces the time is wasted during elevator trips because such an elevator car will only stop when it gets to that one destination.

Less Electromagnetic Noise

Older elevator systems used motors that run on direct current (DC) power because it was easier to control the acceleration and deceleration of the machine using the technology available at that time. This necessitated additional circuits to convert AC power to DC power. Those extra circuits increased the magnitude of electromagnetic fields within the area around the elevators. Today, technology is now available to control elevators using AC motors. This negates the need to have additional circuitry to transform AC power to DC power in the elevator. Consequently, there will be less electromagnetic noise to interfere with the operation of your hi-tech machines, such as the CNC processors in your factory.

Work with elevator equipment suppliers like Forte Lift Services to evaluate the specific needs of your factory.