Wireless energy management system makes it easy to spot spikes in usage

Wireless telemetry specialist Radio-Tech has developed an energy management system to enable organisations to monitor and ultimately reduce their energy consumption.

The company’s wireless data capture technology allows for 24/7 monitoring of remote assets and consumption of water, electricity and gas; regular reports on consumption allow usage to be cut, reducing both bills and environmental impact.

The Carbon Trust, the independent body set up by the government to combat the threat of climate change, highlights the importance of automatic meter reading in its document How to monitor your energy use: “Automatic meter reading systems provide accurate and timely data with the minimum of effort. These systems make it easy to take readings in real time and therefore identify savings opportunities quickly. They often pay for themselves in under a year.”

Radio-Tech provides a range of radio telemetry products ideal for sub-metering applications (where organisations wish to measure energy consumption within particular areas of their sites). Low-power radio transmitters and data concentrators allow simple collection of metering data. Whether data is being collected from individual occupiers of commercial sites or different areas of a business, consumption and usage can be monitored remotely, accurately and securely.

Radio-Tech’s market-leading technology not only includes meter reading but also network sensors that relay operationally beneficial data, such as humidity and temperature, to the central database. Core to the wide area product portfolio are the retrofittable pulse transmitters that have a range of 2km, or 12km if used with a repeater. They can be used in the UK on Radio-Tech’s exclusively licensed 153.100MHz band, or an alternative product range is available for use in Europe on the 169MHz ERMES band. A range of receivers is also available to interface transmitters with existing building management systems.

The hardware will output to Radio-Tech’s own or third-party software, and benefits from a 10-year battery life.

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The HydrINS 2 electromagnetic insertion probe from Hydreka has now been launched by Halma Water Management, building on the functionality, proven success and recognised accuracy of the original flowmeter. Chief among the new features is support for an optional LCD screen that gives readouts of all measurements.

As with Hydreka’s original HydrINS, the new product is a portable, easily deployable and remote-monitoring ready method of measuring bi-directional flow rates, using a highly accurate electromagnetic sensor suitable for a wide range of pipe sizes. ‘Hot tap’ installation means that supply is not interrupted, and in addition to the direct output to datalogging devices for result recording and wireless telemetry, the HydrINS 2 also supports an optional LCD display for local (<200m) viewing of readings, results and alarms. The battery life for both the probe and the display is up to 10 years, depending on the setup settings, and both units are watertight – rated to IP68.

The HydrINS 2 can be effectively used throughout the water distribution network, measuring accurate flow rates at reservoirs, treatment works, pumping stations, water pipes and DMA zones. Velocity profiling at the point of measurement validates the enhanced accuracy provided by the stainless steel electrodes. The flow data is easily downloaded and interpreted with the tailor-made Winfluid software (PC or PDA), which can also be used to program the device. Aids to help the physical installation include a reinforced stem, anti-ejection chain, locking nut and insertion point clamp. This product is also easily linkable to other HWM products, with for example a push-fit connector for pressure measurement, and a watertight military specification connection for dataloggers. For more information, the new HydrINS 2 brochure can be downloaded from the HWM website at www.hwm-water.com.

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