Energy Consumption Analysis
Where does the energy go? A bill total never answers that, only measurement that says which feeder, which hour, which department. What you cannot see, you cannot manage.
Hierarchy
Where does the energy go?
Every kilowatt entering from the grid is followed down to substation, system and machine. Ribbon width is share; a clicked node opens the level below.
Values can be shown as MWh, kW or pounds; in the pounds view every node is priced at the half-hourly rate, so an area drawing the same kWh by day looks dearer. Hovering a ribbon opens the node’s share, the period total and the change against the previous period.
- Substation, area and system breakdown
- Sub-metering down to machine level
- Cost and carbon on the same screen
Every node is a metering point: a substation analyser, an area board or a machine meter. A node with no sub-metering stays a leaf; the gap between metered and unmetered is written separately as “unallocated”, so the metering gap stays visible.
Live Power Flow and Hierarchy
grid → substation → system → machineHour
When does the energy go?
The day × hour heat map shows out-of-hours load at a glance: a line running at night, air conditioning on at the weekend, a machine idling between shifts.
The colour threshold is learned per site: the historical average for the same hour band counts as normal, and the deviation sets the colour. A site that works nights is not painted red at night; unusual means unusual for that site.
- Normal / abnormal hours against the site calendar
- Passive consumption: energy used with no production
- Per site, area or line
The map also switches to a daily view: daily total and out-of-hours share side by side. Clicking a cell opens that hour’s device breakdown; which line burns at night is found in two clicks.
Consumption Heat Map
HourlyDailyProfile
When the days are laid on top of each other
Each day’s curve goes on the same axis; the outlier shows itself. Weekly and monthly views separate a repeating pattern from a one-off event.
In the monthly view the same curves spread over four weeks and the base-load line appears: the part that never drops overnight is fixed consumption independent of production. As the base load’s share of the total falls, the effect of an efficiency project is read from this chart.
- Base load: the 02:00–05:00 average
- The outlier day is flagged automatically
- The shift calendar is part of the profile comparison
Consumption Profiles
Weekly viewMonthly viewAreas
When the bill is split across areas
The total bill is apportioned to areas and tenants by measured share. Passive consumption sits in its own column: the part that goes while production is stopped.
Apportionment uses metered kWh, not estimated factors; the report to a tenant carries the metering point’s name. Because the cost column is calculated with half-hourly prices, an area that works by day carries more pounds for the same kWh.
Clicking the table opens the area’s sub-metering points; in the tenant view the same table lists tenant names. At period end the apportionment report is produced in one click; if a tenant disputes it, the metering point’s half-hourly data is attached to the report.
- Tenant report goes out monthly as a PDF
- Passive-consumption threshold set per area
- Areas defined on the panel, no code
Main Panel
site summary · live- Power factor approaching the charge threshold14:32 · main meter
- Weekly generator test passed11:05 · GEN-1
- TX-2 analyser communication lost09:47 · substation 2
What we measure, and from where
Measurement provenance
- Consumption
- kWh
- Main meter + substation and area analysers · minute-level
- Cost
- £
- Half-hourly consumption × that period’s actual price
- Carbon
- kg CO₂e
- GB grid carbon intensity · updated periodically
- Out-of-hours load
- kWh · %
- Derived · from hours outside the operating schedule
- Reactive
- kvarh
- Import and export separately · from the main meter
- Breakdown
- %
- Substation / system / area hierarchy
- Profiles
- kW
- Derived · days overlaid on one axis
The out-of-hours calculation rests on the site’s operating schedule, shifts, weekends and holidays are defined per site. At a site that works Saturdays, Saturday is not counted as “out of hours”; no one-size-fits-all assumption is used.
Frequently asked
We already have meters, and our supplier measures consumption. What is different?
The settlement meter measures for billing: one point, half-hourly, total. Managing energy needs the breakdown, which substation, which area, which hour. The main meter tells you whether the bill is right; the area analysers tell you where to look. They answer different questions.
Does the cost figure match the bill exactly?
The energy line comes out very close because it is calculated the same way: half-hourly consumption × the half-hourly price in your contract. Add network charges, levies and taxes and you get a full bill simulation, that is the job of the Bill Validation module. The 'estimated cost' here is a live in-period indicator; it shows where you are heading before the month closes.
Is reducing out-of-hours load realistic? Some things must run overnight.
Of course, cooling, server rooms, security lighting. The goal is not to zero the figure but to see inside it: once the legitimate loads are separated, what remains is usually equipment somebody forgot to switch off. At the sites we measure, that 'forgotten' share alone is worth several percentage points of saving, and it costs nothing to fix.
Which factor do you use for the carbon number?
The GB grid carbon intensity (kg CO₂e/kWh), and the screen states which year and source the factor comes from. If your corporate reporting requires a different factor (for example, supplier-specific), it can be changed per site. Full Scope 1-2-3 carbon accounting is on the way as a separate module.
Are the numbers on screen real?
The period KPIs and the substation split come from a working site; the heatmap and day profiles are drawn with sample series that reproduce that site's pattern, publishing a site's actual day-by-day profile would expose its production schedule.
Let us measure what is happening on your site.
In a one-hour call we look at your existing setup and set out exactly which measurement points are needed and what you would be able to see.