CE Pro October 2023 - 46

TECHNOLOGY | Power Management
More Power
to the
Integrators!
When it comes to electrical power
management of a home's utilities,
CE pros are primed to spark
customer interest thanks to
today's wide-ranging solutions
for increased energy savings,
efficiencies, alternative source
power storage, backup batteries,
and more. By Orrin Charm
MOST PEOPLE regard
electricity as a
wonderful thing on most
occasions. There are two
exceptions: One is when it
goes out, and the other is
when we get the bill. For
most of us, we just pay the
bill blindly, not knowing what
we used or when we used it,
and even if we want to know,
it is difficult to find out
where the money was spent.
In recent years, power and
energy management have
come to the fore as ways in
which custom integrators
can provide meaningful
and actionable insights for
their clients. Such systems
not only monitor electricity
usage so customers know
where their utility costs are
coming from in their homes,
but also can be programmed
46 | CE Pro October 2023
to manage it all efficiently.
Additionally, through
networked power devices,
dealers can tap into potential
recurring revenue by
delivering valuable data while
also maintaining their systems
without having to roll trucks
all the time for service. Let's
take a closer look at this increasingly
attractive category.
First, Let's Do the Math
The main reason it's challenging
to know exactly
what we are paying for is
a mysterious commodity
called kilowatt-hours, or
kWh. Kilowatt-hours is a
difficult quantity to understand,
and even harder to
measure effectively.
Energy is generally measured
in Watts (W), which
are the product of Voltage
(V) and Current (I). According
to Ohm's Law, W = V x
I, so multiplying the Voltage
(usually 120V or 240V in US
residences) by the current
usage in Amps gives us the
Watts used by each device at
that moment.
But most devices don't
use full power all the time.
Lights get turned on and off
or dimmed; air conditioners
and refrigerators cycle on and
off; and most appliances and
electronics are used intermittently.
So, knowing how much
electricity a device consumes
at maximum power only tells
half of the story.
Measuring the operating
cost of a device requires
monitoring the power
usage over a period of time
and accumulating those
readings for each device.
For each home, the electric
utility company provides
a device that does exactly
that, but for the entire
home, and only for the
duration of their " billing
period. " The information
is useful to the utility
for billing purposes, but
not particularly useful for
consumers to manage and
conserve their usage.
Utilities bill for kWh, which
is a calculation of the power
drawn multiplied by the time
it is drawn. So, a 100W light
bulb burning for 10 hours at
full brightness will consume
1kWh of power (0.1kW x 10hr
= 1kWh). Calculating the
total kWh for every electrical
device in a home for an
entire month would be a
daunting task!
Fortunately, there are
cepro.com
http://www.cepro.com
CE Pro October 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CE Pro October 2023
