5 Reasons to Monitor Power Consumption

23 Dec.,2024

 

5 Reasons to Monitor Power Consumption

The ability to quantify energy use is critical for your facility and your team. Monitoring power consumption of your plant provides you with the data needed to make important energy management decisions.

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Why monitor power consumption with a power logger?

  • Understand the capacity of your existing electrical panel
  • Troubleshoot circuit breaker trips
  • Identify energy costs
  • Uncover energy waste

Preparing to perform a load study using the Fluke Power Logger.

1. Plant safety

Electricians are often required to conduct a load study before adding a new electrical load to an existing panel or service. Why? The requirements come from the electrical Inspector, the electrical engineer who designed the project, or the customer adding the new load and the reason is to determine if there is enough capacity to add new loads.

A load study involves using a power logger to document existing load levels (three-phase current draw) over time. That&#;s where safety comes in. On the positive side, a load study can be used to ensure adherence to local safety regulations. On the negative side, failure to perform a loads study before adding new loads can result in overloading an existing electrical source, creating electrical safety and reliability hazards.

2. Manage energy costs and realize savings opportunities

While energy expenditures are a significant portion of overall operational cost, many companies don&#;t really know where their energy dollars are being spent, since all they get is one overall monthly bill, with no indication of whether that use was standard or excessive compared to operations that month.

By logging power use at the main service entrance and then at large loads and secondary supplies, facilities can see how much power is being used when, by what, and at what hourly cost. Without fail, the data will turn up several energy wastes that can be rectified by operational changes alone, such as turning off certain loads, reducing loads during peak rate periods, or adjusting the schedule so that loads operate during non-peak rate periods.

3. Accuracy of electrical bill

Owners of large and medium sized facilities often install electrical sub metering to bill tenants for their specific electricity usage. However, these sub meters are commonly installed improperly, putting that billing into question. Installation issues vary, from current transducers installed backwards, current transducers on the wrong phase, and errors in configuring the sub meter.

A good business practice is to double check the reading with a portable energy logger. Logger data provides a rough order of magnitude comparison of what is being billed versus what is used. A significant deviation between the amount charged for electricity usage and the logger data would signal the need to investigate the sub meter setup.

4. Rebates and financial incentives

Utility companies offer incentives and retables to encourage their customers to decrease energy sue. The goal is to service more customers with the same existing power supply, since building new power generation plans is prohibitive. Many incentives and rebates are available for retrofitting existing buildings, such as energy efficient lighting and high-efficiency motors, as well as replacing motor starters with variable frequency drives.

To receive the financial incentive, the utility company will often require verification of the energy savings&#;an ideal scenario for a load study. A pre-retrofit load study will document the existing energy use to provide baseline data, while a post-retrofit load study verifies the energy saving achieved upon completion of the modifications.

5. Troubleshooting power quality issues

There are many times when the only way to troubleshoot a problem is to capture and analyze data over an extended period. For these advanced troubleshooting scenarios, energy loggers are invaluable&#;and they are much more affordable and easier to use than a more complex power analyzer.

A good example is when a circuit breaker trips randomly. Obvious events, like a large motor starting up, may not be the cause. In fact, what causes the trips might appear to be totally random or many occur when technicians are not around to observe (like the middle of the night). Because it&#;s impractical for a maintenance technician to monitor the load until the circuit breaker trips, connecting an energy logger to the load side of the circuit breaker to record the current draw over time can help troubleshoot the trip.

Related resources

What Is Three-Phase Power? Applications & Benefits

Do you need a more steady and secure power supply to operate heavy equipment on the job? Three-phase power is what you&#;ve been looking for. This form of alternating current (AC) electricity provides the reliable power you need to tackle your demanding applications. Keep reading to learn more about what three-phase power is, how it works, and the amazing benefits you will enjoy when you decide to make the switch from single-phase power.

What Is Three-Phase Power?

To understand three-phase power, you first need to understand the basics of how electricity works.

Alternating Current and Direct Current Power

  • AC (alternating current) Power:

     

    Most standard power outlets supply alternating current (AC) power, which is a form of electricity that changes the direction of charge flow periodically (i.e. from negative to positive and vice versa).
  • DC (direct current) Power:

     

    For more 3 phase power monitorinformation, please contact us. We will provide professional answers.

    While alternating current (AC) power changes directions frequently, direct current (DC) power provides a constant flow of energy that moves in a straight pattern. Devices such as batteries and cell phones use direct current (DC) power.

Understanding Three-Phase Power

Now it&#;s time to get a better picture of what three-phase power is and how it operates. Alternating current (AC) power comes in two main power forms, single-phase and three-phase. Three-phase power contains three separate alternating current (AC) voltages which enable it to provide more power than single-phase electricity&#;which contains only one voltage. Three-phase power is common in industrial and manufacturing settings because it provides a steady, strong electricity supply to power heavy equipment.

How Three-Phase Power Makes Electrical Installations Cheaper

The great thing about three-phase power and systems is that they provide three times more electricity than single-phase systems without requiring three times the conducting materials. Three-phase systems use four to five conducting wires whereas single-phase systems use two to three. That means three-phase systems only require roughly 50-66% more wiring to provide three times as much power. That&#;s a pretty good trade.

If your business uses heavy machinery, this is a game-changer. Since three-phase systems provide three times more power than single-phase systems with less than three times as much conductive material, you can operate heavy machinery at a lower cost. The daily savings associated with utilizing three-phase electricity may be small, but over time they will add up.

5 Benefits of Using Three-Phase Supply

If you&#;re considering a switch to three-phase electricity, check out the following benefits you&#;ll enjoy.

  1. Versatility:

     

    You can always get single-phase power from a three-phase supply, but you can never get three-phase power from a single-phase supply. If you need any amount of three-phase power, you need a three-phase supply.
  2. Efficiency:

     

    Three-phase systems supply a greater voltage at a faster rate with little to no power loss.
  3. Cost Savings:

     

    A stronger, more efficient power supply will save you money on monthly electricity bills and lengthen the life of your heavy equipment.
  4. No Power Failure:

     

    Three-phase power provides a steady, stable, reliable power source
  5. Self-Starting System:

     

    While single-phase systems require an external power source to start, three-phase systems start by themselves.

Three-Phase Supply Applications

You can use a three-phase electricity supply for various applications, particularly for industrial, manufacturing, and commercial sites to power heavy machinery. And remember, three-phase systems also can power smaller household appliances&#;like microwaves and blenders&#;if needed. Here are several examples of different types of equipment that use three-phase power.

  • Power Grids
  • Cell Towers
  • Data Centers
  • Aircraft
  • Shipboards
  • Construction Equipment
  • 3D Printers

What Is a Rotary Phase Converter?

Rotary phase converters provide three-phase electricity on-demand to power your big projects. Investing in a rotary phase converter is a good idea if utility three-phase power&#;which you get from your electricity provider&#;is too expensive.

Remember when we said you can&#;t get three-phase power from a single-phase supply? Well, you can get it with a rotary phase converter. This device converts three-phase power into single-phase power as well as single-phase power into three-phase power. Whatever type of power you need, a rotary phase converter will get the job done. You can use a rotary phase converter on practically any kind of equipment.

Shop For Rotary Phase Converters

If you&#;re looking for a high-quality, customized, reliable rotary phase converter, the team at Phoenix Phase Converters has what you need. We offer a large selection of single phase to three phase converters and will help you choose a system that meets the requirements of your specific application. We guarantee that no competitor can beat our prices for the same exceptional quality. If you have any questions, feel free to give us a call at (866) 418-. If you know what you need, shop our phase converters online today.

Build Your Own Phase Converter: Try Our Phase Converter Selection Tool!

For more information, please visit single phase smart meter.