Are you wondering how can energy (including water consumption) be easily monitored? Here are several tips on efficient energy monitoring and on approaches and processes that are applied in the development of Enectiva – a complete tool for on-line energy monitoring.
Rules of energy monitoring
A simple and comprehensible energy monitoring means more users will understand it and be able to use it, which consequently means more people will be motivated to save energy and reduce consumption. It is a mistake to see energy monitoring as a highly technical discipline intended only for corporate power engineers. Energy management, as well as monitoring which is related to it, are closely connected to economics. The makers of systems of energy monitoring should keep this in mind – the monitoring systems should be comprehensible even to people engaged in financial matters. Moreover, if the system is kept simple and easy to understand, costs of training of new users are significantly reduced. The rule of thumb is that a good system of energy monitoring should serve the needs of the user, not the other way around as we often see in corporate ERP information systems.
Availability means seeing data on-line. Your data should be available anytime anywhere, especially today when flexibility and promptness of decision is a sought-after commodity and a competitive advantage. Having your energy data on-line makes it is possible to have automatic reports and wasting alerts sent directly to your e-mail address or even your mobile phone.
An open, but safe system based on open interfaces provides the user with the option to choose and to make changes in the future. Implementing proprietary solutions which are based on closed-source interfaces deprives the user of the option to either change the software components of energy monitoring or to make changes in the hardware used for reading meters.
Affordability of the system means quicker return of investment into energy monitoring. The general assumption is that detailed and continuous energy monitoring is able to reduce expenses on energy consumption by 12 per cent in the long run. This is achieved by detections of wasting, breakdowns or incorrect settings of technology, as well as thought motivating people to be more conscious about the ways they consume energy.
The importance of the above mentioned points and aspects is indeed arguable and it may vary in different segments and fields of industry, but from our point of view these are the essential rules of a functional system of energy monitoring which is sustainable and efficient in the long run.