Imagine being able to know exactly how electricity is being used in your facility and then applying that knowledge to lower your energy costs and prevent device failures without ever having to leave your desk. This is all possible with electrical power monitoring. Read on to find out what it is and how you can use the technology to track and regulate your power consumption down to the device level and increase the energy efficiency of your facility.
What is electrical power monitoring?
An electrical power monitoring system provides a holistic view of the energy consumption of your facility. Power monitoring gives you valuable, granular energy intelligence that can help you save money, manage consumption, improve efficiency, detect anomalies in your equipment, and prevent downtime and disruptions to your operations.
While you can’t see electricity, power monitoring offers a visual representation of your overall electricity use by analyzing information from your site’s electricity meter and tracking the power usage of devices in your building.
Power monitoring systems are wireless and self-powered. They offer detailed real-time data on the health of your electrical system at the site and individual circuit level. Wireless power monitoring sensors can track virtually everything that zaps energy from your facility, including gas, heat, and water devices. The data can be accessed remotely through a phone, tablet, or computer. You’ll know your facility’s power quality and energy usage. This helps you determine how to reduce energy and maintenance expenses as well as monitor energy consumption.
Power monitoring systems are installed without disruptions to your current operations or equipment. An electrical power monitoring system is made up of the bridge, a cloud-based analytics platform, and sensors.
Each sensor is attached to a circuit breaker’s outgoing wire in the electrical panel. The sensors monitor the flow of electricity. There is no need to cut wires or disrupt your employees or their jobs. The sensors send the power consumption information to the bridge. The bridge transfers the circuit level information and readings from the power meter to the analytics platform. You can remotely collect detailed reports from the software platform. These reports can help you determine where you are wasting energy and with your energy saving and money slashing efforts.
A single bridge can collect data from hundreds of sensors and two meters, but if you need more at your facility you can always use several bridges to track your site.
How do you monitor electricity usage?
You can monitor your facility’s electricity consumption by installing an electrical power monitoring system and then applying the data you collect to how you control your devices.
You may know how the power at your facility is being consumed and how much you spend on your electricity bill but not how you can control or change that – with energy monitoring you can. You’ll know if your critical assets are turned on at the correct times, if they’re cycling, or if they’re idle.
An energy monitor system can analyze energy trends and detect anomalies, usage patterns, and signs of potential stress. Notifications can be sent directly to your device (smartphone, tablet, or computer) to let you know when anomalies occur. For example, through a power monitoring system’s tracking of your energy meter and site devices, you may find out the lunchroom lights are being left on when the room isn’t occupied or the air conditioner isn’t running efficiently. The built-in artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms will alert you if preventative maintenance is required or imminent failure may occur.
By installing a power monitoring control system at your facility, you’ll even have the ability to benchmark and assure all your assets are working at the same capacity and performance, even if they are located in different facilities.
By installing a system at your facility, you’ll know with confidence how your assets are performing at the granular, device level. This will help you determine how to lower the energy cost and energy use of each device, ensure your equipment is running properly with predictive/preventative maintenance, justify investments, slash your site’s energy bill, and meet sustainability goals.
How do you get started with electrical power monitoring?
The best way to get started is to connect with a trusted electrical power monitoring installer, like WattLogic. WattLogic is on a mission to maximize the potential of every watt and that is why we are committed to installing power monitoring systems at our customer’s facilities. We know it can be hard to figure out how to lower your energy costs but we know what an impact intelligence from power monitoring can provide a facility. We provide a turnkey package that includes installation and determining the best ways to incorporate power monitoring into your site. All it takes is a simple discovery meeting to begin the process. Send us a message so you can start tracking your energy usage!
