Anybody know of a power monitor for 3 phase?

[Mufwapo]

I'm looking for something that can tell me how long current is passing through an electrical line. Preferably something that I can attach to a 480V 3 phase power line to figure out what is using all of my power. Ideally something cheap that I can get several of and leave them on for a week to tell me the how many hours each was run for. I can measure the current myself but I don't know how to figure out the time they are running. I'm trying to get a rough idea of where all of the kWh's on my bill are going to for some ideas on how to save on power. Thanks

 

[wash4me]

ezesys.com does this. They will walk you through setting it up. It will report to the cloud so you can log on and see your usage. If you want individual circuits you can put a ct on each one and report current amperage readings back and graph things automatically. If you want cheap you can get a clamp on amp meter that's handheld and just put it on each circuit and read the current amps. Most of the time your power sucks are lighting and heat elements.

 

[wash4me]

View attachment 823

Pic of Eze system screen

 

[wash4me]

View attachment 824

Graph on Eze

 

[wash4me]

As you can see i check marked water meter and then also hot water temperature which isn't in the picture. The system will also send you emails if you have a leak...ie if water usage hasn't gone to 0 in 24 hours or if you have over x number of gallons in a 24 hour period.....pretty much whatever you can think of. The system calls me if floor heat goes off, temperature goes to low, air pressure goes to low in the compressor, if compressor has run more than 30 minutes continuous...indicating a leak. It will graph power use in the same manner. Either the whole panel or individual circuits.

If you talk to them I would focus on putting ct's on circuits versus a full blown energy system. Exact wattages, power factor etc are not of value to us in this case. You can just install currrent transformers on wires and get how many amps are being drawn where. I would think you could use a clamp on meter to get the guess then just monitor the circuits with usage to determine about how much. You can get an email, phone call or text at whatever you want to alarm or you can just look on the graphing function and see what's been going on.

 

[Mufwapo]

That system looks amazing, and expensive. I'm guessing it's not for me though for several reasons. I need to monitor things for only a short period of time and most aren't in my facilities. None have internet and most don't have cell service. Also a days worth of data would be plenty for me before I'd move to another device. So far I'm looking at This Clamp MeterI realize it's a cheap chinese meter but I'm guessing it will be accurate enough for my use and it has kwh data logging through serial. And for the 3 phase motors I am considering trying this vibration meter Again, I'm not sure how this is going to work out but hopefully for about $200 I'll be able to get a good idea of where the bulk of the power is actually going and possibly reduce demand charges a bit with a day or two of testing and then I can move everything to the next site.

 

[wash4me]

t5-100 fluke is the smaller one i have. 3 phase is irrelevant for what you want. You just need to put it on a wire and see the amps. Motors you can't change the load unless something crazy is going on. Your high bills come from electric resistance heating situations and lighting unless you have an extremely busy wash. You probably can't change demand unless high demand is reached at night with security lights then putting in more efficient lighting or timers that shut off all or part of the lights would help. The eze main controller is 4-500 and will hook to several things then you buy expansion modules for however many more inputs you need.

 

[Mufwapo]

I agree with you on many points but I'd like to clarify what I want to do. I have many guesses as to what is going on. I want to be able to have measurements and real data to go along with them. For the carwash alone, measuring the 3 phase current might not be as important. Except that I'd like to monitor the whole system for a day or so and see when I'm hitting peak demand. Is it because all of the lights are on, or is it because two ss bay pumps and the automatic pump are running when the air compressor decided to kick on? But beside the carwash I have 3 phase loads that I have trouble quantifying without some data logging. Such as welders, transformers, bailers, compressors, and things like that. The electric bills I'm trying to lower aren't "that" high. That's what makes it difficult. I'm hoping to cut about $50 - $100 a month at each location. So professional energy audits and expensive equipment won't really help. But in my opinion, gathering all of the information as accurately as I can is key.

 

[wash4me]

If you spent $1000 there would be less than a 6 month payback if you saved 50-100 per month or location. That would be a 200% annual return.

 

[Mufwapo]

That's what I'm shooting for. But that $1000 is total and would have to include the tools, expenses to make changes, and time.

 

[MEP001]

Talk to your electric provider about removing you from demand service, or find another company who will. The city called me one day and just offered to reduce our rates. We were at 14.5¢/kWh for regular and 16.5¢ for demand, and they took it to a flat rate of 10.5¢ (Probably to keep us from shopping for someone who could offer the same). It cut the electric bill by about a third.