Electricity monitoring - Northern Built

This post first appeared on the Green Building Advisor Website.

Part of my job working as an energy auditor is educating homeowners on electricity usage, reviewing and analyzing historical electricity usage is part of the process. Checking service conductors and individual branch circuits in an electrical service panel is also sometimes needed. This information lets me know if an appliance, motor, or other device is operating as expected. How about electricity usage of an appliance or other equipment over time? My visit to a home is usually under four hours, hardly enough time to figure out how often a device operates. For this, we need tools that can record data.

Continue reading “How to Track Appliance Electricity Use”

Randy Williams and Travis Brungardt

This post originally appeared in the November, 2022 issue of Fine HomeBuilding Magazine. You can read the FHB print version here: Options for Smarter Home-Energy Tracking – Fine Homebuilding

A home’s electricity use is affected by many factors. The efficiency of the home, the type of equipment in the home and the habits of the occupants all play a role. Up until recently, monitoring electricity use took complicated equipment. That’s all changing. New technology allows for monitoring whole electrical panels or individual circuits through technology included the electrical panel or the overcurrent device (breaker). Other technologies that have been around a while are aftermarket products that can be installed inside panels. There are also options that include point of use metering or utility usage monitoring performed directly though the utility meter. These electrical monitoring options can be installed in both new and existing construction. Continue reading “Diagnostic Tools-Monitoring Electricity Usage”