Power Factor Correction

Cut demand charges, free capacity and stabilise your supply — Hull, Yorkshire & nationwide

Operate high-load electrical equipment? Power Factor Correction could save you thousands each year. SC Humber designs, installs and maintains PFC and harmonics filtering solutions for commercial and industrial sites across the UK—reducing kVA demand, improving efficiency and protecting sensitive equipment.

Based in Hull and Yorkshire, delivering across the UK.

What we deliver

Power Factor Correction (PFC) systems

End-to-end solutions tailored to your load profile:

• Automatic capacitor banks with detuned reactors (to avoid resonance)
• Fixed and stepped PFC for motors, compressors, chillers and plant rooms
• Panel-mount or floor-standing systems for LV switchboards and MCCs
• Integration with BMS/EMS and remote monitoring
• Upgrades and refurbishments of legacy PFC equipment

Harmonics filtering

Cleaner power for modern, non-linear loads:

• Passive detuned filters to mitigate 5th/7th harmonics and beyond
• Broad-band and tuned filters for VFDs, welders, UPS and LED drivers
• Active filters for dynamic compensation on variable processes
• Compliance-driven designs aligned with UK guidance (e.g. ER G5/5)

Survey, logging & verification

• Portable power quality logging (kW, kVA, kvar, PF, THD, voltage dips)
• 1–4-week studies to capture shift patterns and seasonality
• Clear reports with savings forecast and payback period
• Post-install verification showing measured improvements

How PFC reduces costs (in plain English)

• Lower kVA demand: Utilities size charges to your apparent power (kVA), not just kW. Improving power factor (PF) reduces kVA, which can lower capacity/demand charges and standing capacity fees.
• Reduced reactive power charges: Poor PF (low lagging PF) attracts reactive power charges. PFC supplies the reactive kvar locally, cutting or eliminating those fees.
• Lower system losses: Better PF reduces current for the same kW, which cuts I²R losses—less wasted heat in cables, transformers and switchgear.
• More usable capacity: Lower current frees headroom on transformers, switchgear and cables—supporting expansion without immediate infrastructure upgrades.
• Improved voltage stability: Equipment runs cooler and more reliably, reducing nuisance trips and premature failures.

Why harmonics filtering matters

Modern drives, welders, UPS and LED gear distort waveforms (harmonics). High Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) causes overheating, nuisance tripping and premature capacitor failure. Filtering:

• Protects PFC banks (detuned/reactor-based designs)
• Reduces THD to acceptable levels for DNO/insurers
• Stabilises voltage and reduces losses
• Extends asset life for transformers and sensitive electronics

Typical results

• PF improvement from ~0.72–0.85 to 0.95–0.99
• 10–20% reduction in kVA demand (site-specific)
• Elimination or major reduction of reactive power charges
• Payback often within 6–24 months, depending on tariff and utilisation

(We’ll confirm projected savings with data from your site’s logging before proposing works.)

Sectors we support

• Food & beverage processing
• Manufacturing, plastics & packaging
• Cold storage & HVAC-heavy facilities
• Logistics & warehousing
• Engineering, fabrication & workshops
• Commercial estates and multi-tenanted sites

Our process

• 1. Site survey & data logging — install temporary loggers (kW, kVA, kvar, THD)
• 2. Analysis & proposal — savings forecast, equipment specification and programme power charges. PFC supplies the reactive kvar locally, cutting or eliminating those fees.
• 3. Installation — PFC/filter equipment fitted, tested and commissioned
• 4. Verification — post-install logging and report to evidence results
• 5. Aftercare — periodic inspections, cleaning, capacitor health checks and re-tuning