Energy Saving Tool

Thread Starter

GenJacks

Joined May 15, 2016
19
There is no denying that the retail industry is one of the largest consumers of energy around the world. Now that I'm involved with the management of one, we are taking advantage of every opportunity to save energy and costs. I belong to a multi-site retail company and we perform energy audit in an effort to quickly reduce costs and improve overall efficiency. However, energy audits are expensive and can take several weeks to complete especially when multiple retail locations are involved. Currently, we are looking for an innovative technology solution that can help us to find and capitalize on efficient energy-saving opportunities, as well as operational efficiencies. Something that includes energy usage profiles and can alert maintenance staff of possible equipment failures and maintenance needs before something catastrophic happens. If we could find an efficient one this will also be ideal for new construction facilities as well. If you have some recommendations please leave me a message or you can respond in here. I always get good responses in this forum :)
 

wayneh

Joined Sep 9, 2010
17,496
I have no idea about the scope of your project but I can share one small tidbit. I have one of these.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01D...smart+plug&dpPl=1&dpID=31vJSLnERVL&ref=plSrch
It allows me to control (on/off) anything plugged into it and it logs power consumption. Both functions are accessible over the Internet from anywhere. I'm sure it's not the only one to do that. Seems pretty cool for $20 (on sale).

But I'd probably start just comparing consumption per square foot for all the locations, and let it slip that you're watching. You may be surprised how much consumption drops when the local employees know you're watching. Then start to sort out and understand the outliers.
 

#12

Joined Nov 30, 2010
18,224
I have seen, "Smart Meters" for the whole building. They can log any usage and when it happened. You might not get any cooperation from the local utility company, but you don't have to. Hire a "real" electrician if you want a smart meter monitoring the whole building.
 

Thread Starter

GenJacks

Joined May 15, 2016
19
I have seen, "Smart Meters" for the whole building. They can log any usage and when it happened. You might not get any cooperation from the local utility company, but you don't have to. Hire a "real" electrician if you want a smart meter monitoring the whole building.

I'm not sure about smart meters but some friends are suggesting us to use a software for superior network management instead to monitor everything and we are taking it into consideration.
 
Top