

ENGINEERING Global (/en/choose-

TO M O R R O W  Search English region/)

Products Markets we serve Service and support About Danfoss

Careers (/en/about-danfoss/careers/) Contact us (/en/contact-us/)

Home page (/en/) About Danfoss (/en/about-danfoss/) Our businesses (/en/about-danfoss/our-businesses/)
Drives (/en/about-danfoss/our-businesses/drives/)

What is a variable frequency drive?

A variable frequency drive (VFD) is a type of motor controller that drives an electric motor by varying the frequency
and voltage of its power supply. The VFD also has the capacity to control ramp-up and ramp-down of the motor
during start or stop, respectively.

Even though the drive controls the frequency and voltage of power supplied to the motor, we often refer to this as
speed control, since the result is an adjustment of motor speed.

There are many reasons why we may want to adjust this motor speed.
For example, to

Save energy and improve system efficiency

Convert power in hybridization applications
Match the speed of the drive to the process requirements
Match the torque or power of a drive to the process requirements
Improve the working environment
Lower noise levels, for example from fans and pumps
Reduce mechanical stress on machines to extend their lifetime
Shave peak consumption to avoid peak-demand prices and reduce the motor size required
In addition, today’s drives integrate networking and diagnostic capabilities to better control performance and


ENGINEERING Global (/en/choose-
increase productivity.TOSo,Menergy
ORROW 
savings, intelligent Search
motor control and reduction of peak-current drawn are three
English region/)
great reasons to choose a VFD as the controller in every motor-driven system.
Products
The Markets
most common uses we serve
of a VFD Service
are for control of and support
fans, pumps About
and compressors, and Danfoss
these applications account for
75% of all(/en/about-danfoss/careers/)
Careers drives operating globally. Contact us (/en/contact-us/)
Soft starters and across-the-line contactors are other, less sophisticated types of motor controllers. A soft starter is a
solid-state device and provides a gentle ramp-up to full speed during startup of an electric motor.

An across-the-line contactor is a type of motor controller that applies the full line voltage to an electric motor.

Please see Danfoss Drives products for more information. We offer both single-phase VFDs and three-phase VFDs

Find out more about soft starters from Danfoss Drives

What’s special about drives from Danfoss?

The difference between drives from Danfoss and other suppliers is that Danfoss is global market leader in VFDs,
specializing in drives only. You receive a high-quality drive which you have customized to your exact requirements.
And every single drive is thoroughly tested before leaving the factory. Our experts are focused on every possible
detail of drive optimization, and are always abreast of the newest technological developments. Often, we invent the
newest developments. Danfoss Drives has a broad offering of VLT® and VACON® drives, and you get much more than
the drive itself. You also have access to our application know-how and a range of maintenance services to keep your
systems running optimally throughout the drive lifecycle.

We offer you the best possible components and full flexibility so you can fine tune system performance to suit your
application exactly. An important aspect of this flexibility is the ability to use your drives with all typical motor
technologies, since VLT® and VACON® drives are designed for full compatibility. This enables significant savings in
spare part inventories and in retrofit situations.

Learn how Danfoss drives reduce spare part inventory at this Nestlé Waters smart factory (/en/service-and-
support/case-stories/dds/vlt-flexconcept-is-an-integral-part-of-nestlé-waters-smart-factory/)


 
ENGINEERING Global (/en/choose-
Motor
TO M Independence
 Search
O R R O W - One VLT® for all motors English region/)

Products Markets we serve Service and support About Danfoss

What is the main advantage
Careers (/en/about-danfoss/careers/) Contactof using a VFD?
us (/en/contact-us/)

A variable frequency drive can use VFD control to vary the power supplied to match the energy requirement of the
driven equipment, and this is how it saves energy or optimizes energy consumption.

The drive can dramatically reduce energy consumption when compared to direct-on-line (DOL) operation, where the
motor runs at full speed regardless of the demand. Using a drive, power or fuel savings of 40% are common. The roll-
on effect means that use of drives also the reduces NOx emissions and CO2 footprint of the systems in which it’s
installed.

How a VFD dramatically reduces energy consumption in this Crowne Plaza hotel (/en/service-and-support/case-
stories/dds/the-luxury-hotel-of-tomorrow-that-s-driven-by-drives/)

Can VFDs be used for power conversion?

Another use for VFDs is in power conversion for hybrid systems using battery storage.

How ferries in Amsterdam use VFDs to run on battery power (/en/service-and-support/case-stories/dds/hybrid-

ferries-connect-the-city-of-amsterdam-nonstop/)
 
ENGINEERING Global (/en/choose-
TO M O R R O W  Search English region/)

Products Markets we serve Service and support About Danfoss

Careers (/en/about-danfoss/careers/) Contact us (/en/contact-us/)

What’s the difference between a VFD, an AC drive, and a

variable speed drive?
None. All these names refer to the same kind of devices, also known AC variable speed drives, AC variable frequency
drives, VFD inverters or variable voltage variable frequency drives.

Types of VFDs
There are many diverse types of drives available since they are widely used in industry. Both single-phase VFDs and
three-phase VFDs have evolved to suit a wide variety of applications. The differences in drive types include the
methods used for frequency and voltage control; and harmonic mitigation technology.

Learn more about harmonic mitigation solutions from Danfoss Drives (/en/markets/marine-and-offshore/dds/drives-
for-propulsion-and-thrusters/)

The three major variable frequency designs used in drives are pulse-width modulation (PWM), current source
inverter and voltage source inverter. The PWM technique is the most common. The PWM technique requires
switching the AC drive’s inverter power devices – transistors or insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) – on and off
many times, to generate the proper root-mean-square (RMS) voltage levels. Controlling and varying the width of the
pulses is how PWM varies the output frequency and voltage to achieve VFD control.

Tap into the knowledge center to learn more about optimizing system efficiency with VFDs (/en/about-danfoss/our-
businesses/drives/knowledge-center/knowledge-articles/)

Want to socialize with us?

Get to know us and take part in the conversation

 (https://www.linkedin.com/company/danfossdrives)  (https://twitter.com/DanfossDrives)

 (http://www.facebook.com/danfossdrives/)

 (http://www.youtube.com/user/DanfossVLTdrives)
 
ENGINEERING Global (/en/choose-
TO M O R R O W  Search English region/)

Products Markets we serve Service and support About Danfoss

Follow our
Careers global channels
(/en/about-danfoss/careers/) Contact us (/en/contact-us/)

 (https://www.linkedin.com/company/danfoss)
Keep me updated

 (https://twitter.com/danfoss)

 (https://www.facebook.com/danfoss)

Markets we serve Service and support Our businesses About Danfoss

(/en/markets/)
Automotive
(/en/markets/automotive/)
Buildings - commercial
(/en/markets/buildings-
commercial/)
Buildings – residential
(/en/markets/buildings-
residential/)
District energy
(/en/markets/district-
energy/)
Energy and natural
resources
(/en/markets/energy-and-
natural-resources/)
(/en/service-and-
support/)
Documentation
(/en/service-and-
support/documentation/)
Downloads (/en/service-
and-
support/downloads/)
Case stories (/en/service-
and-support/case-
stories/)
Fix and troubleshooting
(/en/service-and-
support/fix-and-
troubleshooting/)
Learning (/en/service-
and-support/learning/)
(/en/about- (/en/about-danfoss/)
danfoss/our-
businesses/) Company (/en/about-
danfoss/company/)
Climate Solutions News and events
(/en/about- (/en/about-danfoss/news-
danfoss/our- and-events/)
businesses/climate- Insights for tomorrow
solutions/) (/en/about-
Drives (/en/about- danfoss/insights-for-
danfoss/our- tomorrow/)
businesses/drives/) Financial information
Editron (/en/about- (/en/about-
danfoss/our- danfoss/company/financial-
businesses/power- information/)
solutions/danfoss-
editron/)

Food and beverage Contact us (/en/contact- Emission monitoring

(/en/markets/food-and- us/) (/en/markets/marine-
beverage/) and-
Industry offshore/ixa/emission-
(/en/markets/industry/) monitoring-for-
Marine and offshore marine/)
(/en/markets/marine-and- Fire Safety
offshore/) (/en/about-
Mobile hydraulics danfoss/our-
(/en/markets/mobile- businesses/fire-
hydraulics/) safety/)
Refrigeration and air High Pressure Pumps
conditioning (/en/about-
(/en/markets/refrigeration- danfoss/our-
 g
and-air-conditioning/) businesses/high-


ENGINEERING Global (/en/choose-
Water and wastewaterTO M O R R O W  Search pressure-pumps/) English region/)
(/en/markets/water-and- Sensing Solutions
wastewater/)
Products Markets we serve (/en/about-
Service and support About Danfoss
danfoss/our-
Careers (/en/about-danfoss/careers/) Contact us (/en/contact-us/)
businesses/sensing-
solutions/)
Power Solutions
(/en/about-
danfoss/our-
businesses/power-
solutions/)
Silicon Power
(/en/about-
danfoss/our-
businesses/silicon-
power/)
Product Store
(/en/about-
danfoss/our-
businesses/product-
store/)

Privacy policy (/en/terms/privacy/) Terms of use (/en/terms/)

General Information (/en/terms/generalinformation/) Cookies
 Global English
(/en/choose-region/)