5 points to check before deciding what needs to change.
A new efficiency target often starts with a new product requirement. It can then affect the motor, the drive and the checks needed before the next product is released.
A new motor efficiency target does not always mean a new motor. Before you change components, check five points: what the target really requires, how the product works in real operation, whether the current motor can reach the target, whether the drive and control can support a different motor, and what must be tested again. The review usually ends in one of three results: keep, adapt or change.
Why can the motor efficiency target change?
Customer request
A customer asks for a more efficient product or lower energy use.
Regulation
EU energy rules set minimum efficiency levels for motors and for many products. These rules are reviewed over time.
Motor technology
Other products in your market are becoming more efficient, and your product needs to keep up.
The new target can affect different parts of the product.
What the new target can change
What changed in the motor efficiency target?
The next product may need a higher efficiency level (for example, from IE3 to IE4) or lower energy use. Start with the product target, not with a component choice.
How is the product really used?
Efficiency levels are measured at full load. Many products work at partial load or lower speed most of the time. Check how the product is really used before you decide. The result can be different at other loads and speeds.
Can the current motor still reach the target?
The current motor may already be good enough. If it is not, a more efficient motor type may be needed.
Can the current drive work with the new motor?
A different motor type may also need a different drive or a different control method.
What else may change?
A new motor or drive can change how the product heats up, how it behaves electrically and what must be tested again before release.
Turn the review into a decision
The five-point review can lead to three results. All three can be correct. The right one depends on how the product is used, not on the component.
Keep
The current motor and drive already reach the target.
Keep them and confirm the result in real use.
Adapt
The motor can still meet the target, but the drive or its settings need to change.
Most of the solution can stay. Only one part needs to change.
Change
The product needs a different motor type to reach the target.
Review the motor, the drive and the product together.
If the product needs a different motor type, a drive that supports several motor technologies avoids a second change later. The KMD Series works with IM, PM, BLDC and SynRM motors on the same drive.
What can the review lead to?
The current motor and drive already reach the target.
KeepThe motor can still meet the target, but the drive or its settings need to change.
AdaptThe current motor cannot reach the target.
ChangeQuestions about a new motor efficiency target
Does a higher efficiency level always mean a new motor?
No. The current motor may already reach the target, or it may reach it with a different drive or different drive settings. A new motor type is needed only when the current motor cannot reach the target in the way the product is really used.
Why can the result in real use be different from the efficiency level?
Efficiency levels are defined at one operating point. Many products work at partial load or lower speed most of the time, where the motor and the drive can give a different result. Check the real operating profile of the product before you decide.
When does the drive need to change as well?
When the new motor type needs a different control method, or when the current drive cannot work with the new motor. In both cases, review the motor, the drive and the product together, not one component at a time.
What must be tested again after changing the motor or the drive?
It depends on the change. A new motor or drive can change how the product heats up, how it behaves electrically and its energy figures. Define what the change affects and what evidence already exists, so you repeat only the tests that are necessary.
If you recognise one of these situations in your product
A new efficiency target does not always mean a full redesign. KELD can help you review the motor, drive and control together. We can identify what can stay, what may need to change and what should be checked before the next product is released.
See how KELD designs and manufactures custom variable speed drives.
