Fluke 1730 Service Guide

Monitoring energy

usage creates four

unique opportunities

Application Note

1. Quantifying available
panel capacity

When an electrician or technician
evaluates a panel, they start by
looking at its size—the number
and size of circuit breakers
installed vs. the number of empty
circuit breaker spaces. Based on
this observation, they estimate
how much power the panel is
using. However, there are times
when a panel that appears to be
lightly loaded with several empty
circuit breaker spaces is actually
overloaded, because of the size
of the loads on the other break­ers. Or, a panel that appears to
be heavily loaded may be only
partially loaded with ample spare
capacity. Logging actual energy
use eliminates the guesswork
and saves unnecessary expense.

2. Identifying energy savings

Power loads vary as widely as
the facilities they are in. Some
facilities operate non-stop, while
others have very specific times
of operation and are relatively
inactive the rest of the time.
Energy loggers create a chart of
those usage patterns over time,
so that facility managers can
analyze when and how energy is
being used and determine where
there is room for improvement.
For example, an air handler run­ning 24 hours a day may really
only need to operate during the
portion of a day when the space
is occupied. In other instances,
an energy-intensive process (e.g.
operating an industrial electric

From the Fluke Digital Library @ www.fluke.com/library

oven) may be able to be shifted
to the evening hours when elec­tric rates are lower. Monitoring
how and when energy is used
reveals opportunities to reduce
energy usage by turning loads
off or adjusting the schedule of
when they operate.

3. Documenting
hazardous issues

To connect an energy logger, a
technician has to open and/or
remove the covers of disconnects,
motor control centers, panels,
switchboards and other types
of cabinets that aren’t accessed
very often due their high voltage
levels and the difficulty of pow­ering down vital equipment. That
process creates an opportunity to
check the electrical equipment
for dangerous safety conditions
that may have evolved over time,
before they become disasters
(e.g. severely burnt insulation
on the conductor(s) feeding a
panel—a sign of an overload), or
serious electrical code violations,

such as fuses in a circuit that
are oversized for the conductors
they feed. Be sure to document
any hazardous issues found and
report them.

Safety note: technicians must
always wear the appropriate
personal protective equip­ment (PPE) and follow all safety
regulations when working on
energized panels.

4. Performing short
job surveys

Load studies are often conducted
when there is a specific need
for additional power. Setting up
the energy logger to conduct
the study provides an excellent
opportunity to perform a short
job survey for the project in
addition to monitoring power
use—document potential locations
for the new panel, installation
issues, the number of hours
required to complete the project,
and necessary material.

2 Fluke Corporation Monitoring energy usage creates four unique opportunities

Fluke Corporation
PO Box 9090, Everett, WA 98206 U.S.A.

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Eindhoven, The Netherlands

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©2013 Fluke Corporation.
Specifications subject to change without notice.
Printed in U.S.A. 8/2013 6000861A_EN

Modification of this document is not permitted
without written permission from Fluke Corporation.