Monitoring your energy consumption is very important. Many people simply choose to allow the authorities to read their electricity meter at the end of every month and deliver them with an invoice for the energy used.
However, there are various factors, some universal and some unique to South Africa, that make the monitoring of electricity usage by the user an extremely important task.
Let us look at some of the reasons why you might want to monitor your own electricity usage.
Verify Meter Readings
It has sadly become a fairly common problem for people to get faulty billing, where a reading is clearly inaccurate, but it is difficult to prove. In such cases, disputes with the power utility or the municipality can drag on for ages without resolution.
These faulty billings can be wildly inaccurate, with stories of customers being charged millions instead of thousands due to a billing error and being unable to rectify it owing to a lack of evidence to challenge the bill.
To avoid disputes and to ensure that you have evidence in any potential disputes, it is advised that you roll out your own remote electricity monitoring system so that you can verify the bills that you receive.
Reduce Energy Consumption
Owing to the extremely high cost of energy as it stands today, as well as the ongoing need to reduce emissions, there is increased pressure on all stakeholders and businesses to reduce their energy consumption as a way of reducing their contribution to greenhouse gas emissions ‒ particularly if you are dependent on the national grid, which in turn is dependent primarily on coal-fired electricity.
By implementing remote metering systems, you can check your energy consumption regularly and make adjustments when needed or as often as you feel might be necessary.
Remote monitoring of your electrical system can allow you to see in real-time how much electricity is being used and therefore help you to determine what items are responsible for the most energy consumption. With your own monitoring system in place, you no longer have to guess or play a game of trial and error to make your operations more energy efficient.
Identify Issues Early On
It is very common for businesses to run machinery that is extremely energy inefficient and not know it. Inefficient machines or systems can cost the business a significant amount of money. Without the correct monitoring technology in place, this can continue for some time without detection or correction.
With a proper energy metering system in place that allows you to monitor consumption in real-time, you can make actionable, measurable and notable changes to your equipment lineup that can help you save big on energy costs. In many cases, it could be something as simple as a machine requiring servicing, refurbishment, or perhaps a replacement.
The big takeaway is that at least you will know what the issue is and what needs to be done.
At Energy Management Solutions, we offer remote metering devices to help you track your energy consumption in real-time. Contact us to get set up today!