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If you run a factory, the air you can’t see is costing you the most.
A compressed air system that has been running for a few years almost always leaks. Hard. The British Compressed Air Society (BCAS, we’re members) says 20 to 30% of compressed air made in UK plants is wasted through leaks. That’s not a typo. One pound in every five you spend on compressed air is hissing out of a pipe joint nobody can hear.
We can hear it. That’s what our ultrasonic air leak detection services do.
What a leak actually costs you
Picture a 22kW compressor running a single shift, about 3,000 hours a year (roughly 250 working days at 12 hours each). At 30p/kWh, that’s roughly £20,000 a year in electricity. Per compressor. Run it 24/7 and the bill nearly triples.
If 25% of that air is leaking out, you’re spending £5,000 a year heating up a warehouse with wasted air. Some sites run three or four compressors. The number gets ugly fast.
The annoying bit: most leaks are tiny. A 3mm hole in a pipe joint is invisible from two metres away. But it pumps out enough air to run a small grinder all day. You won’t hear it. The factory is too loud.
You can size up your own system in two minutes with our compressed air usage calculator. Plug in your kW and your hours. The number shocks most plant managers the first time they see it.
How ultrasonic air leak detection actually works
Air rushing through a hole makes a high-pitched noise. Most of that noise sits above what humans can hear. An ultrasonic detector is a microphone tuned to that pitch.
Our engineer walks the site with the detector. When it picks up a leak, it points to the spot and shows the size. We tag it, log it, and give you a written report. Each leak comes with:
- Exact location (line, machine, fitting).
- Size of the leak in litres per second.
- Cost per year, in pounds.
- How long the fix takes.
No production stoppage. No teardown. We do it while the line runs.
What we find on a typical site
After 45 years and more than 100,000 service visits, we’ve seen most of it. On a first survey we almost always find more leaks than the customer expected. The usual suspects:
- Pipe joints and fittings.
- Quick-connects and couplings.
- Old hoses that have hardened or split.
- Valves, regulators, and filter drains.
Most of these are quick fixes. Most surveys pay back in weeks, not months.
A real example: Costco
Costco trusts us with compressed air at their UK sites. We run regular surveys, fix what’s failing, and stay ahead of breakdowns. Across the whole estate we’ve cut compressor faults by 43%. Leaks are a big part of that. Find them early, fix them, and they stop turning into bigger problems.
The model is the same whether you have one site or thirty. Walk it, log it, fix it, repeat.
Where we run compressed air leak detection
We’re based in Nuneaton but we cover the whole UK. We run regular compressed air leak detection across:
- Yorkshire: Leeds, York, and the wider Yorkshire region.
- Lincolnshire: Stamford and Spalding.
- Cambridgeshire: St Neots and the surrounding sites.
- Bedford and the South Midlands.
- Birmingham and the Midlands.
- London and the South East.
If your site sits somewhere not on that list, ask anyway. We’re probably already on a job nearby.
How a leak survey fits into the bigger picture
A leak survey gives you the cheapest energy savings you’ll ever buy. But it’s only step one. Two common follow-ups customers ask about:
- System pressure check. Many sites run 1 to 2 bar higher than they need. Every extra bar costs about 7% more energy.
- Air quality testing. For food, pharma, paint, or breathing-air sites, we run ISO 8573-1 compressed air testing so the air at the tool meets the standard.
The leak report tells you what you’re losing. The pressure and quality work tells you what to do next.
Book a leak survey
Two things to remember:
- The longer you leave it, the more it costs you.
- The first survey is usually the biggest single energy saving you make this year.
We’ll come out, walk your site, and give you a written report with leak locations and pound costs. No obligation to use us for the repairs. Most customers do, because we’re already there with the kit.
Book your leak survey. Or call us on 024 7634 5658.