Three phase power installations are made up of 3 separate phases which have different loads on them, if the loads that they support are all 3 Phase loads such as motors, then the load on the grid will be equally balanced across all 3 of the supply phases. However this is rarely the case with most installations being made up of a mixture of single and three phase loads all with different power ratings, this causes an imbalance across the loads that your site is pulling from your power supplier.
In a mixed environment it is almost impossible to get the loads at a site perfectly balanced, although electricians and engineers try their best to do so initially, some imbalance inevitably creeps in as new devices and power outlets are added.
Why is it important to balance your loads?
Electricity utilities such as Eskom charge a peak demand penalty/tariff or Network Access Charge which is based on the Maximum demand required by your site and is measured as an average every 30 minutes. What this means for your company is that if your power is out of balance then you will be paying the charges relating to the peak demand based on the usage of the highest phase.
Your power utility needs to cater for the maximum amount of load that your organisation requires, in order to do this they will charge you for the peak load required, it therefor makes sense for your company to reduce this to the minimum required.
What Can We Do?
With the use of measuring and monitoring tools we will be able to establish if your organisation is drawing power equally across all 3 of the phases being used. Based on the readings received over the period of a week we will then advise you on how single phase loads can then be spread equally across all 3 phases in order to balance the loads and bring down your peak usage. This will in turn assist in reducing your monthly power bills going forward.
What Do You Need To Do?
Contact Power DOT Data to arrange for a monitoring system to be installed and let us monitor your site for 7-days and provide a feedback report to your company that can then be analysed. We will then be able to assist you with any corrective action that may be required to balance your power usage and save you money.