Your Guide to Circuit-Level Energy Monitoring

Unexpected spikes in electricity use can significantly impact your bottom line, and without the right tools, it’s hard to know why they happen.

The good news is that with circuit-level energy monitoring you can identify what caused the increase and make sure it doesn’t happen again.

In this article we’ll explain what circuit-level energy monitoring is, the benefits, and how to roll it out across your business.

What is Circuit-Level Energy Monitoring?

Circuit-level energy monitoring allows you to monitor individual electrical circuits within your building. This could be a lighting circuit, a power outlet, an HVAC circuit or commercial refrigeration units.

Individual sensors on your circuit cables measure the current going through them. This data is then processed and sent to a monitoring platform so you can analyse the results.

Circuit-level energy monitoring makes it easier to break down the total energy consumption of your building (or buildings) and see where you’re using the most energy.

Circuit-level energy monitoring is the opposite of whole-site monitoring, which provides a general overview of a building’s energy use.

What is Granular Data?

The key benefit of circuit-level energy monitoring is that it lets you collect granular energy data.

Granular data is highly detailed information about the energy you use. So rather than just seeing your total monthly energy bill, you can break down how much energy each specific circuit, machine, or operational area consumes.

This data makes it easier to identify any inefficient devices or processes, meaning you can optimise how you use energy as a business.
As a result you save money, become more sustainable, and meet your energy-saving goals.

Granular Data in Action: Swire Energy

A global leader in offshore logistics, storage, and transportation, Swire Energy operates across 32 countries including the U.S., Qatar, Indonesia, and Brazil.

However, with so many sites to administer, the company didn’t know where to start in order to reduce carbon emissions and lower its energy bills.

We implemented tools to help Swire Energy measure energy use on a granular level so the team could precisely identify where energy was being wasted and take targeted action.

For example, we noticed an energy spike on one of Swire Energy’s sites. When we drilled down using the granular data we had, we discovered that logistics robots were being left on standby. This was drawing energy, leading to increased electricity use.

Swire Energy took action to turn the robots off when not in use.

By using granular energy monitoring, Swire Energy saved £300,000 in our first year of partnership and has identified further energy savings measures.

Check out more of our client success stories.

How Do You Implement Circuit-Level Energy Monitoring?

Here’s what to bear in mind if you want to use circuit-level energy monitoring to track your energy use.

Determine Which Circuits You Want to Monitor

You don’t need to track every circuit in your building. It’s best to focus on the areas that use a lot of energy or that you already know are inefficient. Carrying out a site audit can help you identify where to start.

The great thing about circuit-level energy monitoring is that it’s scalable, so you can add extra monitors as you need them.

Choose Your Sensors

There are lots of different types of sensors available. To determine which type of sensor is best for your needs, consider:

• What you want to monitor
• How often you want to monitor electricity use
• How you want to transmit data (for example, through the WiFi or the ethernet)

Set up an Energy Monitoring Platform

An energy monitoring platform will interpret the data for you, providing the information you need in an easy-to-read and understandable format.

You can set up dashboards and reports for each specific circuit and even create alerts to let you know if there’s anything out of the ordinary going on.

Our Energy Metrics system is designed to work at the granular level and is free if you procure your gas or electricity with us. Get in touch today to arrange your free, no-obligation demo.

Is Circuit-Level Energy Monitoring Right for You?

You may benefit from circuit-level energy monitoring and gathering granular data if:

• You use a lot of energy (for example, you operate a manufacturing plant or a data centre)
• You have significant energy-saving targets to achieve (for example, you have signed a CCA)
• You want more insights into your processes and how you use energy as a business

Still not sure if circuit-level energy monitoring is the right choice? We’d be happy to help you see if circuit-level energy monitoring can help you reduce operational costs and meet your carbon reduction targets.

Get in touch today to book a free Energy Metrics demo and see how much waste you could be cutting.