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Measuring energy consumption

Jerry Rodgers on January 29, 2010 | 1780 Views | 16 Comments

The first step in reducing energy consumption is measuring how much you are using. Energy consumption consists of two primary components, power and demand. Power, measured in watts, indicates the rate at which energy is expended. Demand, measured in volt-amperes (VA), indicates the requirement that a customer places on the utility to deliver voltage and current without regard to the efficiency of that delivery of whether or  not it does actual work. Power is usually less than demand and the ratio between the two, kW/kVA is called the power factor. Utilities often collect a penalty charge based on the power factor. Three phase energy distribution used in most facilities further increases the complexity of energy consumption measurement. Measuring real power requires meter that can simultaneously measure voltage, current, power and demand over at least a one second period. Harmonic currents, produced by input rectifier loads and reflected back into the supply system, also reduce power factor. A power quality analyzer such as the Fluke 435 will measure all of these elements over time in order to provide an accurate picture of power consumption. Power quality analyzers typically measure energy usage for an hour while power loggers perform 30 day load studies to provide an even better understanding of power consumption over time.

16 Comments

#1 by Laura Etipio on May 26, 2010 at 11:26 a.m.

Sure, I have a device to measure power consumption and it's really good. It can give the instant consumption, so you can see what each device consume by simply turning on and off... It had help me a lot to have some understanding in which device could let in stand by or not.

#2 by Joy Smith on July 11, 2010 at 7:09 p.m.

I have no such device to measure it but for reducing consumption you describe here good factors
1)Power
2)Demand.
And these ratio make it effective and make to know all requirement which needs to carry on.

#3 by Ricky Marsh on July 17, 2010 at 1:59 p.m.

There is a need for power conservation.And hence to check the powere consumption we need to measure it.Thanks for sharing.Waiting for more updates....

#4 by Pramod Kr on July 20, 2010 at 7:07 p.m.

There is a need for energy conservation and for this we have to check the power consumption.A much awaited updates.Information like the one you mentioned here will be very useful to me!.Good contents.I just visit your blog.The articles are quite good and I have already used to visit this site regularly.A nice one...
Regards.

#5 by Laci Nelson on July 25, 2010 at 3:21 a.m.

It is really important we know exactly how much energy we are using because if we know this then we can tell how much we are wasting. I really appreciate your article and I find this very interesting.

#6 by Delila Pian on July 25, 2010 at 10:20 p.m.

We should start measuring our energy consumption because we really need to see how much we waste.  Once we can measure our waste then we can start to find ways in which to reduce our waste in order to conserve energy and save our planet.

#7 by Sallie Lee on July 25, 2010 at 11:45 p.m.

Thanks for this great post. Its about time that people started using electricity correctly and conserving it so everyone can benefit from this. I love conservation and protecting the environment. Hopefully we can all make a difference together.


#8 by Katelin Foster on July 26, 2010 at 4:13 a.m.

This is really cool. Im glad that people are trying to conserve electricity and really make a difference. I need to do this myself and save some money on by bills and make the environment better.


#9 by Dani Cosmo on August 2, 2010 at 8:42 p.m.

we should focus our efforts and use solar energy as much as posible.

#10 by David RAUL on August 5, 2010 at 7:24 a.m.

Love reading about how to measure energy cosumption. I need to read more on this topic...I admiring time and effort you put in your blog, because it is obviously one great place where I can find lot of useful info..

#11 by Mathew King on August 10, 2010 at 8:38 a.m.

Just great, thx for your fine blog and healthy tips.

#12 by Laura Etipio on August 15, 2010 at 5:21 p.m.

Sure solar energy is really the future.

#13 by Mathew Dempesy on August 17, 2010 at 8:39 a.m.

These days the amount of energy consumption is getting high and high while the quantity of energy source is getting reduced day by day in maby sectors like Mig welding. So the time to think about energy conservation has already exceeded. This post discusses about the importance of calculating the energy consumption in reducing it. Many valuable points regarding the energy consumption measurements and calculation are provided in this post. Many tips to reduce the power factor and hence to reduce the total power consumption are discussed here.

#14 by Joan Kelly on August 17, 2010 at noon

We all need to make a conscious effort to conserve energy. You have a lot of great content here. Thanks for sharing your post.

#15 by Laura Etipio on August 18, 2010 at 7:39 p.m.

Yes it's too bad, that we have the feeling, that it needs to be really urgent before we do something about it...

#16 by Nathan Cafearo on August 30, 2010 at 8:06 p.m.

It's great to see that people really are starting to be energy conscious now. It just get more and more fashionable with each year that passes. I great thing in my aml book.

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