Sub-metering role

Metering energy use is vital for any organisation that is serious about gaining a better understanding of how it consumes this resource, and in the UK it is at the centre of some key changes to electricity and gas markets. Although metering has been used by utility companies to measure and bill for the quantity of a utility for many years, sub-metering allows energy consumers to collect their own detailed consumption data. 

Installing sub-meters to measure selected areas of energy use in a building or estate is an excellent way to find out how consumption is distributed around an estate, to benchmark an individual building’s performance and identify where opportunities for savings are greatest.  A field trial by the Carbon Trust showed that, on average, organisations that switch to using advanced metering reduced their carbon emissions by 12% and achieved financial savings of 5% through reduced utility consumption. Sub-metering is also covered under Part L of the Building Regulations, which requires at least 90% of each incoming energy source to be accounted for through sub-metering and additionally in larger buildings (over 1000M2) to include automatic meter reading and data collection facilities.

In response to these developments, Trend has introduced a new range of four easy to install and simple to use electricity sub-meters that can be integrated into the Trend BEMS. These multi-phase devices can be supplied with the option of either open-collector pulse outputs or Modbus communications. They are also available for either direct connection to the measured supply or connection using 5A current transformers.

These new sub-meters conform to the requirements of EN 50470-3 (Class B) and IEC 62053-0    (Class 1).  All meters feature a seven-digit backlit LCD displaying total energy, power, voltage and current for each phase.  They also feature a kWh pulse indicator and dual tariff recording capability.