While there are many benefits of V-belts, synchronous belts continue to rise in popularity. That’s partly due to their performance characteristics and their ability to help with energy savings. Not only do they produce less heat and require less torque to bend around the sprocket, but they start at an efficiency level of 98-99% and remain there.

That means companies can gain significant energy savings by upgrading applicable machines to synchronous belt drives. At a minimum, converting mechanical drives to use synchronous belts would save 5% in energy usage per drive. That’s because a chain or V-belt is at a maximum of 94% efficient compared to 98-99% for a synchronous belt. It may not sound like a big difference but when you factor in the amount of energy most industrial machines consume, companies can experience significant energy savings over the long term.

For example, if an industrial plant spends $1 million every month on electricity, and of the top 80% of machines in the plant ($800K potential usage), half can be switched to a synchronous drive, this plant could save $20,000 per month, which is $240,000 per year, in electricity by converting those machines.

In addition, there are other cost saving factors that come with the use of synchronous belts. They do not require re-tensioning like V-belts and can last up to three years untouched. They also weigh less – which means less torque and less stress on other components. See more on Dayco’s full line of synchronous belts here.

Below is a chart that outlines savings based on efficiency and horsepower. The Dayco team can help determine what combination of belt products would make the most ideal sense for your organization. Email [email protected] to inquire.