Fairford Electronics is asked the question on a almost daily basis, "why do i need a soft starter when i can use a drive?"
The answer is simple, soft starters are the perfect choice for starting a motor that only works at one speed whereas VSD are the only choice when the user needs to run at a variable speed.
Many of the worlds motors run at a fixed speed so dont need the increased cost and features that a VSD brings, almost every factory or installation will have the need for both soft starters and VSD, the key is to select the right tool for the job.
The energy saving features of VSD's are good when the motor can be slowed down (pumps and fans) but if the application must run at the designed speed then VSD's cannot save any energy. Fairford energy saving soft starters can save energy on fixed speed applications (that work at a light or variable load) without changing the amount of work that the motor is doing.
Please see the attached example of the energy savings that can be achieved by using the Fairford Soft Starters on an application that runs at a fixed speed but at a light load.
 | SD0029302 - Energy Saving Example.pdf |