EM – Reducing the use of elevators is one of the urgent solutions stated in the document of the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City to promote energy saving and ensure safe and stable electricity supply. However, let’s also consider the ways to save electricity for elevators.
To promote electricity saving and ensure a safe and stable power supply in HCMC in 2023, especially during the peak period of heat with the risk of power shortage due to a water shortage at the hydropower plant, the People’s Committee of the City demands heads of departments and related units to cooperate with Ho Chi Minh City Electricity Corporation (EVNHCMC) to strengthen the implementation of electricity saving solutions.
During the peak period during the summer, there is a high risk of electricity shortage due to lack of water sources. Photo: ENVHCMC.
Accordingly, it is recommended that administrative and non-business agencies, office buildings, units such as schools, training centers, commercial centers, service establishments stop operating 50% of their elevators, and use stairs to move between floors as an alternative ,…
In addition, there are other suggestions such as: adjusting the air conditioner to a temperature of 26 degrees Celsius or higher, turning on the air conditioner 60 minutes later and turning off the air conditioner 60 minutes earlier than the beginning and end of working hours, turning off or reducing 50% of the capacity of lighting system for corridors, parking lots, campus, public areas; take the most advantage of natural light in the office, limit the use of formal clothes, vests, etc. when working and participating in meetings.
According to experts, heat and drought conditions, amplified under the influence of the El Nino phenomenon, have caused serious lack of water in hydropower reservoirs and this shortage is forecasted to continue until the end of the dry season in 2023, hence greatly affecting the country’s electricity supply.
So how can we save electricity while maintaining the use of elevators in alternative to stop operating 50% of the elevators as suggested ?
In accordance with a technical expert from the Institute of Elevator Application Engineering, saving electricity in the use of elevator needs to be divided into 3 stages: selection, installation and use of the elevator. Specifically, some advice to help save electricity for both home and high-rise building elevators are:
Calculations are essential in choosing an elevator with a capacity and speed suitable for the consumers’ demand as it will help optimize power consumption. For example, a 5-storey building only needs an elevator with a speed of about 1.0m/s, while a home lift with a speed range of 0.3 – 0.6m/s can efficiently serve a building with fewer floors . In addition, it is not recommended to choose an elevator with exceedinly high load capacity if the estimated number of users is insignificant, this will help to reduce wasteful consumption of electricity.
Furthermore, it is also advisable to choose a motor with high efficiency, the higher the efficiency standard, the more environmental protection, and reduction in overall energy consumption.
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There are several features for elevator that greatly help in reducing power consumption such as load sensing. This function will recognize the actual load in the cabin through out each use to utilize an appropriate amount of power.
Different movement technologies will have different levels of power consumption. For example, hydraulic lifts only use electricity when going up and down, therefore, almost no electricity is wasted.
When installing additional auxiliary equipment for the elevator, it is necessary to pay attention to the installation so that the device turns off when not in use. For example, the system of lights and fans in the cabin should automatically turn off when there is no call, prioritizing the use of led light , .. to save electricity; especially for electronic projection devices such as televisions, led screens, radios or music players, etc.
Electronic devices can be set to turn off when the sensor system recognizes no people in the elevator cabin
The elevator installation process should also pay special attention to standard installation and inspection to minimize friction between transmission parts, such as between the cabin and rails, guide shoes, etc.
During operation, the elevator motor also generates a certain amount of energy. Conventional elevators do not install additional energy recovery devices, hence this energy becomes wasted. By installing an additional energy recovery device, we convert that energy into storage or covert it into electricity for later use.
For travelling between a limited number of floors, the use of elevator should be limited. This can prmote among consumers on the use or installation of the interval floor stratification, alternate floor stops elevator system, etc.
Besides, consumers should use the elevator in groups that issuitable for the load capacity of the lift to avoid each transporting only 1 person at a time, which gives rise to unecessary usage of the elevator.
This is easy to happen among children using the elevators, clicking on floors uncessarily, fiddling with buttons, etc. This mischief not only wastes electricity but can also results in elevator malfunctions.
Above are the 7 notes for choosing, installing to using the elevator in order to reach the goal of saving energy. These are both useful in saving electricity to ensure a stable power supply across the country in the hot season, and helping each family, each building save electricity costs, raw materials and protect the environment.
Additionally, the use of large power sources in the hot season may destabillize the electricity supply, hence possibly affecting the use of elevators, readers can find out more about this content: What danger can an unstable electricity grid cause to the elevator?
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