New Net Operating Losses Policy

In November 2009, the federal government introduced the “Worker Homeowner and Business Assistance Act of 2009.” The Act was designed to stimulate the economy by reducing the taxes for struggling businesses and homeowners. 

For businesses, the new law means that businesses can carry their Net Operating Losses (NOL) for five years, as opposed to the three years allowed by previous legislation.  NOL refers to tax deductions that exceed the company’s gross income.  Companies that claim NOL are eligible for speedy refunds that they can use for a variety of improvements including structural and equipment upgrades.

Green Energy Savings

Businesses can maximize their energy savings by using the windfall to purchase energy-efficient equipment including:

• Installation of green energy sources such as solar panels or wind turbines
• Improvements to insulation
• Replacement of old windows with airtight, energy-efficient ones
• Placement of energy optimization and power factor correction equipment

These types of equipment can ultimately save a business big money on a monthly basis through reduced electric bills, and decreased equipment downtime and maintenance costs. Also, some equipment may qualify for tax credits as well so be sure to tell your accountant all the energy efficient upgrades you made for your business.

Why Make Energy Improvements?

Many businesses have moved to make green improvements in the past decade, and there has never been a better time to go environmentally friendly in the workplace.  Aside from some tax credit benefits, business owners can realize significant long-term savings through energy optimization.

• Energy optimization decreases electrical waste directly from the breaker, improving overall efficiency.
• Green appliances significantly reduce electric bills, for long-term savings that last for the life of the appliances.
• Investing in energy-efficient lighting both reduces wasted electricity and eliminates the production of excess heat, which necessitates additional cooling.

For savvy business owners, the time is ripe for investing in energy efficiency.  Taking advantage of the current policies can translate into dramatic savings in the long run.

• Myth #1: Any kind of protection is better than no surge protection. Without any surge protection, the incoming blast hits only the main power supply and will not impact the system ground level at all.  On the other hand, an inadequate surge protector will distribute the surge throughout the system, potentially damaging equipment. 
• Myth #2: UPS offers reliable surge protection.  Most UPS units are designed for microcomputers, so they simply combine traditional metal oxide varistor (MOV) surge suppressors with back-up battery sources.  Although UPS protectors may be more expensive, they do not necessarily provide more effective coverage.
• Myth #3: Hardware damage is the only risk during an electrical surge.  Since computers send data as bit streams, a power surge actually interrupts data transmission.  The interruption can erase data and corrupt files.  That irreversible data loss can translate into significant economic losses, especially for businesses.
• Myth #4: Surge protectors last indefinitely.  Surge protectors use metal oxide to disperse power surges.  Over time, these components wear down and corrode, so traditional surge protectors must be replaced annually.
• Myth #5: More expensive products are more effective.  Most people assume that higher priced surge protectors must work better.  However, virtually all retail surge protectors use the same basic MOV components and offer the same level of protection, regardless of cost. 

Thus traditional surge protection products do not necessarily provide effective, reliable protection.  An alternative is a Transient Voltage Surge Suppression (TVSS) system.  Installed at the breaker box, a TVSS unit provides surge protection for the entire building.  Installing a TVSS system offers multiple benefits to both residential and commercial users:

• Long-term protection: Unlike traditional surge protectors, TVSS systems last for years.  The best companies offer warranties of up to 15 years. Installing TVSS units also means less expenditure on yearly surge protector replacements.
• Insurance discounts: Since these systems decrease the monetary impact of electrical surges, many insurance companies offer discounts to businesses and homeowners who install them. 
• Complete protection: Surges can occur from both lightning and other transient sources.  A TVSS protects against all surges, regardless of their source.
• Cost effectiveness: One TVSS protects an entire building, so consumers do not have to purchase a separate surge protector for each electronic device. 

Proper surge protection saves businesses and consumers both time and money.  The best option for comprehensive surge protection is a TVSS system, which protects the entire building directly from the breaker boxes.

V-Blox manufactures a surge protection unit that protects your electrical equipment from lightning and transient voltage surges. The equipment is installed at every circuit breaker panel and anywhere there are two or more pieces of electrical equipment getting power from. This protects all electrical equipment from any electrical surges from lightning and transient voltage surges no matter where they originate.

Benefits of Surge Protection:

1. Electrical Equipment Does Not Get Damaged
2. Electrical Equipment Runs More Efficiently
3. Energy Usage is Reduced
4. Maintenance Downtime & Costs Reduced
5. You Save Energy
6. Electric Bills are Reduced
7. You Increase Your Bottom Line

If you would like to have these benefits, contact V-Blox for an Energy Assessment and to see if you qualify for an energy optimization and surge protection system.

For all intents and purposes surge suppression does not save any measurable amount of energy, in and of itself. This is confirmed by asking any Electrical Engineer. But that is not the whole story. The real question should be “Do surges (transients) cause equipment to malfunction?” The answer is, of course, yes. According to Webster’s dictionary, “malfunction” simply means: to fail to function as designed. 

Nearly every single publication ever written on surges all say that surges cause equipment to malfunction. In many cases it causes equipment to fail suddenly. In nearly every case transients shorten equipment life. If the motor in your car is misfiring, does your mileage go down? Would that misfiring engine require more repair and service over the same amount of miles as a well-tuned engine? If your computer is confused, can it retrieve and use data properly? The equipment in your home or business is no different. When your equipment malfunctions because of surges, it will run hotter. The hotter it becomes the less efficient it will become. This is confirmed by asking any Mechanical Engineer. This excess heat will shorten its life. Malfunctioning equipment will always use more energy than it needs. 

Malfunctioning equipment can affect the power supplied to all the other equipment in your building much like a virus. Every surge generated in your building will contaminate your other equipment. This contamination is CUMLATIVE. This contamination creates a kind of “electronic rust”. Surges (transients) are absolutely catastrophic on computers and microchip processors. Do you own anything that doesn’t have some kind of microprocessor in it? Computer chips require clean power! ALL equipment prefers clean power. 

How many surges are there in a home or business? That would depend on how you measure them. Many devices on the market such as a Fluke 43 or some machines made by Dranetz BMI register surges and transients very effectively. The closer you get to the incoming voltage (sine wave) the more surges there are present. In a home, 900 or more surges occur per hour. Large facilities, such as office buildings, often times will generate hundreds of thousands per hour. It is measurable with the proper equipment. What is the right type of surge suppression to buy? Always insist on UL1449 Second edition certification. 

Besides that, there are three main things to look for, reaction time, recovery time and clamping voltage. Reaction time is simply how fast a device will recognize the existence of a surge. Less than one nanosecond (billionth) is always recommended, especially in Florida or lightning prone areas. Recovery time should be as fast as the reaction time.  

The clamping voltage is the point at which a suppressor recognizes the existence of a surge and then suppresses it. Most surge protection products on the market today clamp at a fairly high level. They usually clamp at 200 – 900% over the rated voltage of the device that they are supposed to be protecting. This is too high to protect you from the bulk of the surges. Any device that does NOT clamp close to the incoming rated voltage (i.e. 120, 240 or 480 Volts) won’t be able to greatly increase efficiency, thus won’t save any measurable amount of energy. 

However surge suppressors that do clamp very close to the incoming voltage on all service panels can greatly increase the efficiency of equipment and extend its life. Because when the ENTIRE building is protected (100%) there is NO cross contamination (electronic rust). This not only equates to dollars saved on maintenance costs, but also dollars saved on energy costs as well. This means if your profit margin is 10%, $1,000.00 saved by reducing maintenance and energy costs increases your profits as much as a $10,000.00 increase in sales. This is “passive” profit. It is earned without increasing sales, manpower, inventory, or advertising. When you factor in for downtime related to equipment inefficiency from poor power quality the dollar figures become STAGGERING. Complete protection is a prudent investment. 

I find it amusing that those who profit the most off your waste are usually the last to tell you how to do anything about it.

U.S. Department of Energy – “Low Power Factor is expensive and inefficient. Low Power Factor also reduces your electrical system’s distribution capacity by increasing current flow and causing voltage drops. Low power factor is caused by inductive loads (such as motors, transformers, etc.).” 

“Some of the benefits of improving your Power Factor are:  1) your utility bill will be smaller. 2) Your electrical system’s branch capacity will increase. Uncorrected power factor will cause power losses in your distribution system. You may experience voltage drops as power losses increase. Excessive voltage drops can cause overheating and premature failure of motors and other equipment.”

FPL – Florida Power and Light- “FPL is not responsible for damage to motors from power abnormalities (surges).   Surge protection should be considered for installation at any breaker panel that has motors attached to it. Surge protection can help reduce damage to a motor’s   windings from external spikes, as well as reduce damage to customer equipment from power spikes generated by large motors starting and stopping.”

Xcel Energy – “Save energy and lower operating costs when you optimize your motors.” “Improve Power Factor.” “even small improvements in motor efficiency will translate to significant energy savings”  “A power factor correction device can cut your costs” “Surges, transients, sags and momentary interruptions can damage your equipment – Protect your business equipment with transient voltage surge suppressors.”

Now you are probably asking youself how can you save energy for your business? It’s simple, contact V-Blox to have a Energy Specialist come and provide you with a free energy analysis.

Transient Voltage Surges, more commonly known as voltage spikes or voltage surges, are momentary changes in the voltage or current that occurs over a short period of time. Transients are generated by any disruption in the flow of electricity, such as an electric motor turning off, a compressor kicking on, or by as something as simple as turning on or off a light switch. Transients can also be large in magnitude, large enough to cause catastrophic damage to electrical equipment. They exist in virtually every electrical system and if left untreated, will damage electrical equipment and eventually cause equipment failure.

How do Transients gradually cause electrical equipment damage and eventually failure?

Transients cause stress to be induced on the electrical grid. Stress causes resistance and excessive heat buildup in electrical equipment. Think of it this way. If you, yourself, are under a lot of stress, what is that doing to your body? It is restricting the blood flow to the rest of your body, or your equipment, and that causes equipment damage and eventually failure. The same is for your electrical system. Transients cause stress, which causes equipment damage, which will eventually lead to equipment failure.

When most people think of surge protection, they think of the surge protector power strip for computers or other home electronics. Surge Protector Power Strips act on the same principal as Total Energy Concepts and V-Blox Transient Voltage Surge Protectors but on a larger scale. Our Transient Voltage Surge Protectors can protect the equipment in an entire house or entire business.

What are the benefits of Surge Protection?
If you own a house or business, especially in some of the nation’s highest lightning areas, you have undoubtedly experienced a power outage. If the outage was bad enough you may have had equipment get so damaged that you had to replace it. Replacing equipment is neither easy nor inexpensive. Having a surge protection comes with many benefits including:

• Reduces the loss of equipment due to voltage spikes
• Reduces equipment downtime
• Reduces maintenance costs
• Reduces Electric Bill
• Increases your bottom line

Transient Voltage Surge Protectors can benefit many people and the environment.  Going Green with V-Blox and Total Energy Concepts is just a little way to give back to the environment.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… Price: wait… C: wait…