Energy is the single most important attribute for everyone in the world – regardless of whether you’re into manufacturing, IT, communications, or any other line of business.
However, despite such a huge demand for energy, its supply is limited, and if we do not optimise our use and continue to burden the supply ever more, we can end up facing seriously steep prices for the same commodity that we seem to take for granted at the moment. Another aspect to consider for most businesses is that most developed nations in the world have become very aware of their carbon footprint these days. More energy consumption means a higher carbon footprint, therefore, if you’re using a certain amount of energy, you better have good reasons for doing so. Otherwise, not only would you be throwing away all the potential savings you could have made, but also adding a carbon tax component to your overall bills. Of course, this can be avoided if you simply monitor your energy consumption and learn exactly where it is you’re spending most of your energy supply. Now that we’ve seen the importance of trying to monitor energy consumption and optimizing it, let’s look at some of the ways in which you can do that.
Smart Meters
Sometimes called electricity AMR meters, these are truly revolutionary devices, and if until now you’ve been hiding behind the excuse that your old clunky meter never gives you an exact reading, you can’t do it anymore. A smart meter can precisely calculate the energy consumption on your premises and provide you with a detailed report on your usage patterns. Using this information, you can easily figure out whether it’s possible for you to change your operating time to a slot when the energy supply is cheaper or identify wasted energy during non working hours. Optimal’s ISX system collects and makes the data available to view in real-time. A major advantage of the company’s solution is that the information processed from the incoming data streams can be delivered through Internet-enabled PCs to an unlimited number of users at an unlimited number of locations without the need to install additional hardware or software.
Choosing a good supplier
This is obviously quite an important step. If you’re doing everything right and monitoring your energy usage daily to keep it under check, why not go a little further and see if there’s someone who can supply you the same energy at a lower cost?
Searching for energy leaks
If you don’t need it, why waste it? Enlist professional help and ensure that no part of your precious energy supply that comes to your premises gets wasted simply due to a fault or a leak in your supply chain system. These are some of the most important reasons for keeping an eye on your energy consumption and some basic ways of doing it.
