Questions procurement, finance, and estates teams ask.

Capex varies with site size and incoming capacity, from the low tens of thousands for small single-site installs up to several hundred thousand for multi-transformer industrial sites. We issue a costed proposal after the survey; we don't quote on spec because the right unit spec depends on measured load.

For multi-site rollouts, we'll agree a per-site pricing structure during the first survey and apply it across the estate.

On suitable sites, payback usually lands inside 12–24 months, sometimes faster on heavy-load manufacturing sites, sometimes longer on smaller offices. The calculator gives you a ballpark; the proposal gives you a defensible site-specific number.

Yes. We work with finance partners who can structure the capex as an operating lease, a power-purchase-style shared-savings agreement, or a fixed-term finance package. This is usually relevant for public-sector, education, and smaller-capex hospitality operators who prefer opex over capex. Discuss with us during the proposal stage. We'll bring the right finance partner into the conversation.

Voltage optimisation is included on the UK Energy Technology List, which makes it eligible for Enhanced Capital Allowances (full capex write-down in year one, subject to your accountant's confirmation of current HMRC rules).

For public-sector clients, VO has been submitted successfully as a component of Salix and Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) bids. It's not a standalone PSDS measure but sits well in a broader energy-efficiency programme.

We can't promise eligibility for a specific grant on your behalf, but we'll provide the documentation your funding team needs for an application.

On a case-by-case basis, yes, typically for larger portfolio rollouts where the capex is high enough to justify the contract structure and the M&V rigour required. For standard single-site installs, an outright capex purchase with M&V-backed performance commitment is usually the cleaner contract. We'll discuss what works for your procurement framework during the proposal stage.

Good candidates generally share four traits: incoming supply running above 235 V, electrical load active for most of the operating day, significant motor / refrigeration / lighting / HVAC content, and annual electricity spend above about £50,000. If three of the four are true, it's worth a survey.

Sites that aren't a fit: low-voltage supplies, very intermittent operation (e.g. weekend-only venues with low annual spend), or sites that have already invested so heavily in efficiency that the remaining voltage-dependent load is small.

We tell you. There's no proposal, no sunk cost on your side, and no pressure to proceed. We'd rather lose a deal at survey than install a unit that doesn't pay back. The M&V trail is public to whoever commissions the report.

Yes. We can install a VO unit on a specific sub-circuit rather than the main incomer where that makes commercial sense. Common cases: a leisure-centre pool plant, a food-retail back-of-house refrigeration feed, a campus building on its own supply. The survey identifies whether a sub-circuit install is justified.

Yes. Common-area supplies in shopping centres, office buildings, student accommodation, and industrial estates are a well-defined VO use case. Savings are clean, reportable, and clearly attributable to the landlord. Tenant supplies are treated separately.

Units include an internal bypass that restores unoptimised mains supply if an internal fault is detected, so a unit failure looks like "we pay our old bill for a week" rather than "the site goes dark". We come out under warranty to diagnose and repair.

Unexpected downstream behaviour (e.g. a motor drive reporting a voltage alarm) is rare but gets a same-day engineering response. We're not precious about ownership. If the install caused the issue, we fix it at our cost; if the issue is a separate equipment fault, we help identify that.

No. All CE marked commercial equipment is designed to operate at 220-230 V. Running it within that range is within the manufacturer's specified envelope. It is running above that range (at 240 V+) that stresses equipment and may affect warranty. Most equipment manufacturers are explicit that supply voltage within spec is a warranty precondition, not a warranty risk.

We install under our own public liability and professional indemnity insurance, to current limits documented in the proposal. We liaise with the DNO where required and hold appropriate electrical contractor accreditation. Full insurance and accreditation documentation is issued with the proposal.

Yes. SECR (Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting) requires disclosed energy consumption and associated emissions. VO delivers a measured reduction at the meter, which shows up directly in your SECR numbers for the reporting year. The M&V report supports the consumption figures if your auditor asks for evidence.

ESOS audits recommend energy-saving actions; VO installed as a result of an ESOS audit is a valid action under the scheme. Savings are measured at the meter and can be reported as ESOS progress in subsequent compliance rounds.

VO reduces scope-2 emissions directly (less grid electricity consumed, fewer associated gCO₂e). It's a low-risk, fast-payback item that sits in the "reduce consumption" lane of most net-zero roadmaps, alongside LED retrofit and BMS upgrades, before the big-capex items (heat-pump transition, on-site generation, full electrification). Most sustainability teams frame VO as a "do first" measure that funds later measures from its own savings.

From first enquiry to commissioned-and-measuring, typical timing is measured in weeks rather than months. Survey takes 1–2 weeks on site; analysis and proposal another 1–2 weeks; install is typically a single visit once scheduled. M&V reporting begins post-install and is formalised at 3 / 6 / 12 months.

The bottleneck is usually your internal approval and scheduling, not our side of the programme.

Most single-incomer sites: one planned outage of 2–4 hours, coordinated to fit your operational calendar. For 24/7 sites (hospitals, manufacturing, hotels) we install overnight, during shift changeovers, or during planned maintenance windows. Critical loads on UPS or generator continue operating throughout the changeover.

Yes. We've transacted via several public-sector and commercial frameworks. If you operate via a specific framework, tell us which one during the initial enquiry and we'll confirm our current standing on it. For clients not tied to a framework, direct award is typically faster.