Power load readings- Do it yourself or wair for electrician

[d3wh34d]

We currently have load readings (amps used) done on our branch circuits every quarter.

Between then of course lots of things change.


It's been suggested that we just go into the panel and do our own load readings, but I wonder on how widely done that is, and how safe/legal is it.

Anyone do their own load readings from time to time? Or is it an licensed electrician thing only.

[KenB]

I'd recommend an electrician. Next time you hire one, have him install a meter, so you can read the loads yourself anytime you want. We have some E-Mon (http://www.emon.com/emondmon.htm) meters, which are quite handy for keeping 3-phase panels in balance and checking loads vs. capacity.


KB

[d3wh34d]

Thanks alot for the tip on the monitoring.

I've been searching for awhile for something like that.
Most everything else I've found requires the rewiring or disruption of power to a customer. This looks like it should be able to be added into current running systems with little issue.

I agree that an electrician should do that type of work. Just wanted to get a feel for what others were doing. I don't think the risk to personell or power to customers is worth the money saved from and electrician doing the load readings.

Now to just find a way to justify cost on the monitoring product...

[Keith]

Good Evening. Another option you may want to invest in would be metered power strips. Not only will these offer you on demand AMP readings but you will also be able to add a reboot functionality to your datacenter. This will make it so you only need to do a reading on your feeder circuits as opposed to the circuits to your racks. This will also give you the advantage to remotely load shed incase of a critical issue. APC offers a product that I have found to work very easily and for a reasonable price.

--Keith

[d3wh34d]

Well, our data center is not totally for us.

We're an ISP, and so alot of the space is sold to customers colocating.
So shedding them off really isn't an option. Also the cost of those units is too high to put them in cabinets that we sell/lease to customers.

For our hosting cabinets it has been considered, and we're looking into options like that. But the biggest problem is our current infrastructure, mostly customers that we need to keep track of.

What you posted will be very helpfull. If they can be installed "hot" then that will be the best option. I've seen a few other deals like this, but they all require the wires to be run through it first. These seems to have the ability to clamp on, much like an meter would. So if this can be used as a permanent fixture, then I'll be happy. Heck if it has to be temp, that will work as well.
Just have those installed at locations that need monitoring till the load can be balanced or whatever. Once done take it out for the next place. I could probably easily justify the cost of a set of those.


Thanks for you help!

[Rmgill]

There are Branch Circuit Monitor CT's that can be installed while the wires are hot. They measure individual circuits for amperage draw. They're not cheap, but they can be monitored on the network.

[d3wh34d]

Thanks for the tips.