Hospitals and medical centers have an overwhelming responsibility to provide consistent, quality care to their patients. Administrators must carefully balance costs and consider each piece of equipment carefully. That also means hospitals need to think about pieces of electrical infrastructure, like transformers.
Why are they so important and how can you choose the right transformers for your organization?
How Transformers Work
Many industries rely on industrial transformers to power their devices and machines – and we even use transformers as residential consumers. Unfortunately, most people don’t understand the fundamentals of how transformers work.
You can think of a transformer as a kind of electricity conversion machine. When electricity is generated, we need a way to carry it across many different areas and eventually deliver it to end users. Unfortunately, the best way to do this is to rely on high voltage lines – but the high voltage electricity running through these lines is unsuitable for most residential and industrial applications. We need a way to convert that electricity into a lower voltage, so it can be used appropriately.
This is the fundamental purpose of a transformer. By using primary and secondary wirings wrapped around an iron core, we can convert the voltage of the running electricity into a more suitable voltage. While transformers can be considered passive appliances, electricity is constantly running through them in most situations.
Why Hospitals Need Transformers
Hospitals need transformers for the same reason that most businesses and homes need transformers. They need access to lower voltage electricity for most of their electrical devices and applications. But hospitals have a few extra considerations to bear in mind.
Medical-grade isolation power transformers are designed to offer additional protections and functionality, providing a stable and predictable supply of power that won’t be affected by power surges or other fluctuations. These types of transformers are critical for use with MRI machines, CAT scan machines, hospital beds, monitoring equipment, portable medicine drip controls, oxygen pumps, and more.
In other words, hospitals need excellent, high-capacity transformers to continue providing a steady supply of electricity to their most critical powered assets.
The Complexities of Choosing Transformers for a Hospital
Choosing a transformer isn’t like choosing what color paint you want to apply to your living room walls. For a hospital, there are many complexities to bear in mind.
· Reliability. A transformer in a hospital setting needs to be extremely reliable. While most hospitals are equipped with generators and backup measures to provide electricity in a wide range of situations, it’s still important to keep a transformer up and running as consistently and reliably as possible. If you choose a transformer from an unreliable manufacturer that cuts corners during production, you could end up with a premature failure just a few years into the lifespan of this machine.
· Safety. You’ll also need to think about safety. Not all types of transformers are suited for all tasks, so you’ll need to seek out a transformer that’s properly rated for the purpose it’s going to serve.
· Cost. Finally, you’ll need to consider the cost. It’s usually more expensive to work with a reputable manufacturer that employs proper quality control strategies, but it’s almost always worth the money to ensure higher safety and maximize the lifespan of your purchase.
How to Choose a Better Transformer
These steps can help you choose a better transformer for your hospital environment:
· Be willing to pay for quality. A transformer that’s been properly manufactured and inspected is going to be more expensive than one that’s been churned out quickly with automation. Most hospitals benefit from being willing to pay more for quality work.
· Do your research. Make sure you understand what goes into transformer manufacturing, at least on the basic level, so you can effectively do your due diligence.
· Work with a partner you trust. Shop around for transformer manufacturers and work with a partner that you can genuinely trust.
· Invest in quality control/quality assurance. When you have the option, always be willing to spend more for quality control and quality assurance.
· Closely control delivery and installation. Disruptions and problems during transportation, delivery, and installation can damage the internal components of your transformer and set it up for a premature failure. Closely monitor and control these steps of the process.
· Practice routine maintenance. Transformers need regular maintenance to continue functioning reliably. Make sure you have a routine for maintenance in place after your transformer is installed.
For many hospitals, transformers are merely secondary considerations – and they don’t always get the scrutiny or attention they deserve. But if you take your transformer selection seriously, and you’re willing to do the necessary proactive work, you can end up with a device that’s much safer, more reliable, and less expensive in the long run.