This may be a dumb question, but do you try to nail the VFD size on the head or go up a size?
I can see the value in going up a size of VFD in case you need a little more muscle for an application and then you don't have to buy a new drive. However, I think there are some merits to sizing the VFD directly to the motor size.
For one, the smaller drives have less of a heat loss and multiple small drives (such as three 1/2 HP motors) won't supply enough of a heat loss to worry about panel cooling, but three 1HP drives would double that.
If you size up one, do you size the rest of your circuit for the larger drive? (IE - wire size?) I understand that the VFD provides some overcurrent protection, and the manufacturer typically calls out a recommended fuse size per drive anyway.
I can see the value in going up a size of VFD in case you need a little more muscle for an application and then you don't have to buy a new drive. However, I think there are some merits to sizing the VFD directly to the motor size.
For one, the smaller drives have less of a heat loss and multiple small drives (such as three 1/2 HP motors) won't supply enough of a heat loss to worry about panel cooling, but three 1HP drives would double that.
If you size up one, do you size the rest of your circuit for the larger drive? (IE - wire size?) I understand that the VFD provides some overcurrent protection, and the manufacturer typically calls out a recommended fuse size per drive anyway.