When you want to ventilate your premises, you can choose to install roof fans. Roof fans fall under the heading of mechanical ventilation and ensure that polluted air is exchanged. But do you opt for roof fans with EC or AC technology? We list the most important things for you.
In recent years, EC technology has gained popularity in the ventilation world. This is because EC motors, or electronically commutated motors, use DC voltage from an integrated control technology. As a result, the motor runs on a DC voltage, but with an AC supply, which ensures that EC technology gets the best out of both voltages.
All motors use magnetic field changes between rotor and stator to rotate. EC motors use a permanent magnet with its own magnetic fields which then rotates through the electromagnetic fields of the other part. AC motors create magnetic fields for both the rotor and the stator using currents controlled by electrical conductors.
But which technology do you choose now?
Directing current through electrical conductors gives heat and loss. The efficiency of EC motors is higher than AC motors because only for one part of the motor the current is sent through the electrical conductors. As a result, the motor has less loss and the efficiency is estimated between 90% and 95%. We can say up to 30% more efficient than AC motors at partial load. When you choose for an EC motor you choose for a larger investment compared to the AC motors. But because of the increased efficiency and the cost-saving use of the EC motors, you will more than recoup this investment. In addition, EC fans generally last longer, due to a lower temperature in the motor.
EC motors do not need a frequency inverter but have an integrated motor control so they will not run above the desired speed. This is in contrast to many installations with AC motors. Traditional AC motors can sometimes run at a higher speed than eventually required and this leads to large energy losses. This makes the speed modulation makes the EC motors a lot more efficient than the AC motors.
Our EC roof fans also have the external rotor motor design. Because of the compact motor there is more space for the airflow of the fan. The extra space and the high efficiency of the motor lead to energy savings for you.
Read also: “How do mechanical roof fans work?”