Improving our own energy efficiency – Part 2
In the previous issue of Energy Manager Magazine, we described the beginning of a journey to improving the energy efficiency, and so reduce the consumption, of the Chauvin Arnoux UK offices. Following that initial logging session, and the subsequent changes that were made, more logging was performed using a PEL104 Power and Energy logger. This second part looks at the resulting data, and reveals the effects that the initial changes had on our consumption.
So many businesses unknowingly throw money away on Reactive Power!
Based on recent feedback from a specialist power quality improvement service business, the issue of high reactive power and poor power factor is becoming increasingly common in the UK today, an issue which apparently used to be considered much more widely by electrical engineers and facility managers.
The Streamlined Energy Carbon Reporting scheme (SECR) is here
For some time now, the UK has been on a mission to become a low-carbon nation. It all started with the Intergovernmental Panel on climate change in 1988, and was further reinforced with the United Nations Framework Convention on climate change, established in 1992.
An inspired way to solve your energy monitoring problems
We all know that we need to measure and monitor our energy use, and for a variety of reasons. Rising energy costs are more and more justifying the savings that can be made by identifying inefficient equipment and out of hours use. Then there is our own desire to improve our green credentials by reducing emissions, along with edicts like the imminent Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) regulations, to make sure we do.
There are great savings to be made in electricity costs…however…
In recent years there has been a steady increase in the number of businesses that have been created to help other businesses save energy, through either renegotiating existing contracts, or switching suppliers to get a better deal.
Power and Energy Logging
Monitoring power and energy usage in a facility or installation can often identify hidden issues that affect both operational and environmental quality, can pinpoint the reason for higher than desired energy costs, and can reveal the causes of more frequent equipment repair and replacement.
Monitoring your way to higher profits
There has never been a better time to measure and monitor your energy use. Rising energy costs are having a serious impact on some businesses, and the imminent Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) regulations, which take effect in 2019, will require some 12,000 UK businesses to make their energy use, carbon emissions, and energy efficiency actions, publicly available alongside some reference comparison metrics.
Harmonics – don’t let them ambush your energy efficiency
Harmonics only create problems in big industrial installations, right? Wrong, says Julian Grant of Chauvin Arnoux, who explains how nowadays harmonics can, and are, causing problems and reducing electrical efficiency in most buildings and facilities.
Can you afford to ignore harmonics?
In our September issue Julian Grant of Chauvin Arnoux introduced the topic of harmonics, explaining what they are, where they come from and why they matter. Here he provides more detail about harmonics and the problems they create, as well as their relationship with the Wiring Regs.
Rocketing energy prices driving efficiency improvements
For a while now we have been promoting the advantages and opportunities, both financial and environmental, of reducing energy consumption in an installation through the measurement, identification, and resolution of electrical issues. These include a variety of solutions for improving equipment efficiency, as well as other factors such as the identification of “out of hours” electricity use, and the effects of harmonics, load balance, and power factor.
