Voltage optimisation is not new technology but you may nevertheless not have heard of it as it has only recently become available to the consumer market. Up until recently, this technology has primarily been used in industrial locations which utilise large amounts of electrical equipment, as the savings in these scenarios would often greatly outweigh the cost of installing a voltage optimisation device.
In order to understand the need for voltage optimisation it is perhaps necessary to explain the UK electricity supply. Since supply harmonisation across Europe in 1995, the electricity supply in this country, and across Europe, should be 230V (with a tolerance of +10% to -6%) but the average voltage in mainland UK is actually 242V. Electrical equipment manufactured since harmonisation should operate at 230V (+10% to -14%) meaning that overvoltage occurs regularly in the UK.
The lifespan of electrical equipment can be reduced by overvoltage and using a higher than necessary voltage also has a higher cost as more energy than is required is being used. Voltage optimisation equipment is designed to combat this problem by reducing voltage, usually where the mains supply enters a building. This can provide significant savings, particularly where extensive electrical equipment is used, but voltage optimisation can also provide savings on a domestic level now that cheaper products designed for this market have become available. Larger scale voltage optimisation devices do offer additional features such as protection against power surges but these products are much more expensive and designed for larger premises.
Some domestic gadgets such as mobile phone chargers operate at very low voltages and already have in-built transformers to reduce power input, but voltage optimisation can offer real savings on energy use for larger domestic equipment. There are of course many variables but it would not be unreasonable to expect overall energy savings of about 10% which of course also means lower carbon emissions.
