Locating high usage

[gladiatorsparks]

Hi, 

Ive been asked by a local business to locate high usage within their sports center. 

There are several DBs and they state their bill has increased 20% recently with no change in circumstances. 

To locate the high usage I've instructed them I'll need to visit during normal periods and quite periods to monitor each circuit for usage.  To build a list of what area of the building is using what. 

They are not keen on any installed equipment or changes and just want to find out if the increase is waste or normal usage. 

Anyone suggest another method to what I've proposed. 

 

[Sidewinder]

Stick a power logger on the origin to see what the overall usage is for a week, then the same across the sub DB's for a week at a time after that.

Takes a couple of hours to hook up, remove & download the data, and saves visits.

 

[ruston]

Compared to last year at this time I presume?  Or is it just an impromptu  exercise? 

 

[gladiatorsparks]

Thanks sidewinder ,  I'd have to rent that equipment.  The 1730 fluke looks ideal.

Wouldn't it be possible to visit during a busy period and take readings from each circuit using a clamp meter.  

Ruston , this is compared against the previous months. I've explained the changes in climate, etc etc but they insist it's something faulty. 

 

[ruston]

And consider feet through the door and any new equipment from their records.

 Unless you get a complete picture you are on a hiding to nowt, a snapshot is not really going to do you any good as busy periods will be hard to anticipate accurately.

 Previous yearly records and tariffs need to be considered too, one year is not really a good guide with that type of activity.

 

[Tony S]

Staff failing to turn off equipment is the usual culprit.

Without several months of power monitoring I can’t see how you can succeed. At the moment you have no baseline on which you can determine increased load.

Are the owner basing the increase on costs or kWHr usage?

 

[Lurch]

20%, of what?

I've managed to increase bills by 20% by installing a couple of new servers in a rack, and also seen duff PIR's/photocells add a fair chunk to the bill. Do a walk round, check for the obvious first. Also look for/ask about anything added/changed in the last 12 months. They will swear blind there has been no work done and then you will spot a new water heater in the corner that has been left on that they failed to mention.

Addendum: PIR does not stand for "Periodic Inspection Report". Thanks for the help, stupid computer.

 

[gladiatorsparks]

Tony they are basing the increase on kwhr usage over the last 4mths . 

I'm returning tomorrow and I'll get more details and conduct a walk round. 

 

[Tony S]

A change in energy usage from summer to autumn is hardly surprising, how do they compare to previous years?