A recent study conducted by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office found that electric motors consume nearly one-third of all electricity in the United States. They inventoried all three-phase AC and DC motors greater than 1 horsepower in commercial and industrial equipment including fans, blowers, air compressors, refrigeration, and material conveying and found that there are nearly 53 million of these motor systems in the U.S. today. Of these motor systems, more than 41 million are found in commercial facilities including hospitals, universities, restaurants, retail, and hotels. These motors account for 26% of overall energy consumption.
With so many electric motors in use, finding ways to reduce energy consumption and improve efficiency is important. In recent years, we’ve seen the government create energy efficiency standards and rebate programs to support this focus on efficiency. Taking steps to make your building more efficient can drastically lower operating costs.
Two important pieces of legislation relating to commercial building energy efficiency are the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 and the Energy Act of 2020.
View all Electric Motors
Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, Section 179D
Section 179D of the Consolidated Appropriations Act provides a tax deduction for Energy Efficiency improvements to commercial office buildings of $1.80 per square foot. Commercial building owners or designers must demonstrate a 50% reduction in energy usage with improvements to the building systems including heating, cooling, ventilation, hot water, and lighting. Improvements that don’t reach the 50% reduction can still qualify for partial deductions up to $.60 per square foot.
For a 100,000 sf commercial building, this tax credit can add up very quickly and, in many cases, the payback would pay for the upgrade of your electric motors and fan blades. For example, you could retrofit an ECM motor (variable speed motor) and better fan blades, or you could choose a fan motor assembly (ECM and fan combination). For a rooftop AC unit, by running low stage AC instead of running it at either 100% or off, you can vary the speed and take it down to a lower percentage. This can save 25% efficiency. Or when you want to use ambient air, you can stop running the compressor that pulls a lot of energy, and can pull outside air, allowing a gain of 40-50% efficiency by reducing the speed of the blower motor.
Energy Act of 2020, Section 1005
Section 1005 of the Energy Act of 2020 directs the Secretary of Energy to establish a rebate program to encourage replacement of inefficient electric motors 1 horsepower or larger. The section defines a motor, electronic control, and extended product system. Requirements include variable speed or multispeed operation, partial load control that reduces input energy requirements, has greater than one horsepower, and uses extended product system technology. Both the minimum base level of efficiency and “extended product system” are still to be set by the Secretary of Energy within six months of the enactment of the bill.
Qualified extended product systems include commercial or industrial machinery or equipment that:
Include electric motor and electronic control
Reduce the input energy (as measured in kw-hours) by no less than 5 percent as compared to base levels to be set by secretary
Incorporates system that has greater than 1 horsepower into redesigned machinery or equipment
Did not make use of extended product system prior to the redesigned as described/defined by the secretary
Was in service prior to and was placed back into service during calendar year 2021 or 2022
The rebate amount is determined by multiplying the sum of the nameplate rated horsepower (qualified motor and electronic control) and $25. The maximum rebate amount per qualified entity cannot exceed $25,000 per calendar year and the total appropriation is $5,000,000 per fiscal year 2022 and 2023.
With the available tax credits and rebates, now is a great time to consider a replacement motor strategy or retrofit energy efficiency improvements for your business. Regal’s Marathon® SyMAX-i® line offers direct drop-in replacements to deliver enhanced savings in your air moving operations. For more information on the SyMAX line and Marathon distributors in your area, visit our Where to Buy section below!
With the available tax credits and rebates, now is a great time to consider a replacement motor strategy or retrofit energy efficiency improvements for your business. Regal’s Marathon® SyMAX-i® line offers direct drop-in replacements to deliver enhanced savings in your air moving operations. For more information on the SyMAX line and Marathon distributors in your area, visit our Where to Buy section below!
This name is used, please enter another
{0} was created successfully.
{0} was deleted successfully.
New password and confirm password do not match.
The password entered does not comply with our password policy. Please try again.
The password entered does not comply with our password policy. Please try again.
You have already access to entered account.
Account already added
Your selected account has been changed probably in different window. Please refresh page and select correct account.
Please select an account
The entered account number is not valid or the account is not yet transitioned for use at Regalrexnord.com.
You must provide a valid account number to be added. Please contact your Sales Representative or Account Administrator if you don’t know your Account Number.
Please select Additional Access checkbox.
Please enter your address.
Please enter your address cont.
Please check to agree with Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Please enter your city.
Please enter your company name.
Please enter confirm password.
Please select your country.
Please remove the discontinued item from cart to proceed to checkout.
Your order contains discontinued items. Please remove from cart and proceed with rest of the items.
Please enter a valid format for your email address.
Email address required
Please enter your email address.
Please enter your first name.
Please review and select a warehouse for Catalog/Part Numbers: {0}
Please enter your job title.
Please enter your last name.
Please note: Your order contains Made to Order (MTO) items. Return requests on MTO products are subject to review and not guaranteed.
The current password entered does not match your password or new password is the same like one of the previous or password changed last 30 days.
Profile updated successfully.
Error while request access.
Registration Information has been received. Thank you for your interest in Regal Rexnord.
Please enter new password.
Please enter old password.
Please enter a valid format for your phone number.
Please enter your phone number.
Please enter a valid format for your extension.
Please select at least one product category.
Please verify you are not a robot.
Registration Information has been received. Thank you for your interest in Regal Rexnord.
Internal users can not request access for customer accounts. If you need access, please route through the customer service representatives.
All estimated shipping dates have a local warehouse cutoff time for shipment date shown. This time is displayed to the right of the date.
The account you are currently on does not have access to purchase this product. Please change to your {0} account to purchase.
Key Features
The following item(s) have been moved to {0}: {1}
Quantities over {0} may require additional lead time. A Regal representative will contact you if this occurs.
You can only order in multiples of {0}. Please enter a valid quantity for this item.
NEW
You have no products selected for comparison. Please select at least two products to compare using the 'Add to Compare' checkbox found on product list pages or product detail pages.
Sorry, this item is no longer available.
POPULAR
Product Specs
Discontinued
Related Products
Resource Center
Available warehouses not found.
The item requires a minimum order of {0} pieces.
The item requires a minimum order of {0} {1}.
The item must be ordered in multiplies of {0} pieces.