Episode 53: Five Quick Wins for Compressed Air System Efficiency

Lisa Saunders

Hey, everyone, welcome back to The Big Dog Podcast! I’m Lisa Saunders, and as always I’m here with Jason Reed. Today, we’re gonna dig into five practical quick wins for making your compressed air system way more efficient—no major overhauls, no nonsense. Sound good, Jason?

Jason Reed

Yeah, let’s get right into it, Lisa. You know, it’s funny—so much of what we see, especially on the shop floor, comes down to just doing the basics better. First thing: leaks. If you’ve heard us before, you know I talk about it a lot, but it’s wild how often it’s ignored. You can lose up to—what—the stats say like 20 to 30% of your compressed air to leaks. So that’s basically just money flying out of your plant.

Lisa Saunders

I mean, and it really adds up fast. Leaks can crop up anywhere—those quick connects, old hoses, drain valves, regulators… sometimes even those ancient FRL units nobody checks. Building leak detection and repair into your regular PMs is honestly one of the fastest ways to rack up savings. Just tag the big leaks, fix the worst ones first, and keep score. I’ve seen plenty of facilities drop their energy bills just by doing that one routine.

Jason Reed

Yeah, and not only are you saving energy, you’re reducing run time and extending equipment life. If you fix leaks, you’re not running your compressors as hard and your downstream tools aren’t starving for air during peak demand. I mean, we talked about this a bit in our episode on optimizing compressed air on a budget, but it really can’t be overstated.

Lisa Saunders

Totally. And then, the other big one: step your system pressure down, but do it slow. Every 2 PSI you dial up on your header? That’s about a 1% hit to your energy costs. So, instead, experiment—just drop your system pressure by a PSI each week, keep an eye on production and tools, and settle at the lowest stable set point. It literally takes so little effort and pays off right away.

Jason Reed

And, pairing that with proper storage and controls makes a difference, too, but we’ll get into that in a minute. But Lisa, I gotta tell the story from that Midwest plant I visited—

Lisa Saunders

Go for it!

Jason Reed

So, they had these old belt-driven units in place, running them ragged. We swapped in direct-drive rotary screws, right? Maintenance calls, which used to be this weekly nightmare, got cut in half within a year. Belt wear was gone, energy use was down, the machines just ran smoother. The trick is always looking at total cost—not just purchase price, but all those maintenance headaches, too. That’s where direct-drive and gear-coupled units shine as you grow.

Lisa Saunders

So, honestly, small steps: fix the leaks, dial down the pressure, and, when the timing’s right, upgrade to something efficient like direct-drive. You don’t need a new system—just some smart changes.

Lisa Saunders

That leads right into quality and reliability, which might sound less glamorous, but are non-negotiable if you want to keep things running. Let’s kick off with air intake—Jason, you wanna walk through why that’s such a game changer?

Jason Reed

Yeah, for sure. Think of air intake as the starting line. If your compressor’s pulling in dirty, hot, or humid air, you’re just stacking problems for yourself—and for your filters, and aftercoolers, and, really, everything downstream. The cleaner and cooler the intake, the less your compressor works just to keep up. If you’re near a hot process or in a dusty corner, move or duct that intake to a better spot—cut twenty degrees off the intake, and you’re winning on efficiency right there.

Lisa Saunders

And don’t just slap any old filter on it. Your process decides what filtration you need. Plant air? Sure, basic particulate and coalescing filter. But if you’re running, say, instrumentation or something even more sensitive—semiconductors, electronics, food—you might need tight coalescing or even a Kaishan KROF oil-free compressor. Especially for facilities that just can’t risk any oil or vapor in their end product.

Jason Reed

Filtration size matters, too. Regular checks on filter differential pressure? That saves your energy bill and your equipment. And point-of-use filtration for the really delicate spots, don’t neglect it. Trust me, a clogged or undersized filter adds costs and headaches.

Lisa Saunders

Speaking of headaches, one thing no one wants is a plant shutdown. Redundancy is your lifeline—a backup compressor isn’t just an “extra,” it’s your insurance policy for production. Even a smaller one that can cover your critical lines is game-changing.

Jason Reed

Yeah, and quick-connect tie-ins for electric portable units? That’s money well spent. Just label it, make sure your voltages and amperages match, and rehearse the procedure. When something fails, you don’t want to be fumbling. Kaishan’s KPE electric units are built for this—easy to deploy fast, no drama.

Lisa Saunders

This actually reminds me of an electronics plant I worked with—massive high-dollar production, everything’s just humming along. Main compressor trips, so they’re two minutes from panic. Luckily, backup was already piped and ready to go with a quick-connect. They swapped it over, kept their pressure, and the line never even missed a beat. Could’ve been so much worse.

Jason Reed

Yeah, and if you get nothing else from this: have a plan for the worst day, because it’s not “if,” it’s “when.” Backup, quick-connect, redundancy—not flashy stuff, but absolutely essential.

Jason Reed

So, looking at the whole system now—piping, storage, controls, the works. One place folks drop the ball often is piping layout. Too many elbows, long runs of skinny pipe, dead-ends—it just kills your pressure and stacks up those hidden losses. Going up a size on headers and keeping everything looped and tidy can make a surprisingly huge difference.

Lisa Saunders

Totally. A looped or properly sized main header keeps velocities steady and pressure stable across the shop, which means less energy to overcome all that chaos you just described, Jason. It’s all about getting clear flow with minimal restriction—if you start measuring pressures at far-end drops during peak, you’ll spot your pain points right away.

Jason Reed

And storage—don’t sleep on storage. Air receivers are like shock absorbers for your system, letting you ride out short surges without pressure plunging or firing up another compressor unnecessarily. Place your storage tanks smart, not just in the compressor room but near big demand points, too.

Lisa Saunders

Same story with controls and remote monitoring—use master controllers or even simple cascaded set points to make sure your compressors talk to each other. One VSD for trimming, base load units steady, all coordinated. I know we hit this in our earlier episodes on multi-compressor systems, but it’s worth repeating: predictive maintenance and energy savings live or die by how well your controls are set up. Remote monitoring catches trends you’d never spot just by walking by the panel.

Jason Reed

And while we’re on maintenance: keep the right parts in stock, and don’t get bit by the little stuff—a bad sensor, a missing filter, or the wrong oil can turn a little hiccup into a massive downtime event. Label your parts, know which sensor fits where, keep a buffer stock on the shelf, and log everything. Trust me, you’ll thank yourself when something goes sideways at 2 AM.

Lisa Saunders

So if you can optimize your piping, improve storage, tie everything together with smart controls, and keep your parts—like sensors, filters, and oil—organized and on hand, you’re way ahead in uptime and efficiency. Plus, less stress when the heat is on.

Jason Reed

Yeah, crazy how small moves just stack up to really big gains. And if you’re ever stuck, just reach out to your local compressed air pro—they’ve probably seen it all before. Anyway, I think that’s a solid wrap for today. Lisa, anything else before we close?

Lisa Saunders

Nope, I think that covers it. Thanks for hanging with us, everyone—hope these tips help make your next PM walk truly count. Jason, always good talking shop with you.

Jason Reed

You too, Lisa. Alright folks, we’ll catch you on the next episode of The Big Dog Podcast. Don’t be afraid to hit us up with your toughest questions—see ya!

Lisa Saunders

Bye, everyone!