An intelligent metering and monitoring system can detect the wasteful use of gas, electricity and water, and represents a very low cost method of saving energy.
How does the system work?
The Data Bird System uses low-power radio to automatically transmit meter readings to a central receiver/data logger. The system measures half-hourly data for electricity, gas, water, heat and temperature. The meter reading data is then automatically downloaded to a computer in Leicester City Council’s Energy Management Team, where it is analysed.
Benefits of intelligent metering:
The example above shows how signature profiles are used to set target consumption levels for energy and water.
It concerns electricity consumption at the Leicester City Council Offices at 16 New Walk. The red line shows actual electricity consumption and the green line shows target consumption or the ‘signature profile’ for the building, based on historical trends.
A system alarm is set to activate if actual consumption is 15% or more above the target. In this case, the alarm was triggered when electrical equipment was left on over the weekend.
