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16 February 2016 | MWA Technology Ltd

Can you trust your data? - MWA Technology

UK businesses are missing out on millions of pounds worth of energy savings as a result of poor specification of utility meters. Martin Wardell, founder of MWA Technology Ltd, offers advice on meter choice.

Installing the wrong meters is costing millions of pounds of wasted energy every year. There is a growing trend of the industry not specifying or installing the right type of meters on projects.

Currently, the market does not having the necessary knowledge to rectify issues before installation, according to Wardell. This is leaving building management specialists in the unenviable position of having inconsistent data and poor life expectancy on their meters. Building operators need accurate data from the meters to make informed decisions. If they cannot trust the meters, then they cannot trust the data they are studying.

There is also the very real risk of the safe and efficient operation of gas appliances being compromised. “It’s not a new problem. However, we have definitely seen an increase in the last six months of organisations coming back to us to rectify the wrong installations,” explained Wardell, who has more than 20 years experience in the industry.

“The industry has a much bigger workload and is under pressure to keep costs down on building services. A lot of time they are leaving it to the market to advise and they are often going with the option that suits them best rather than what will be the most effective solution in the long-term.”

The industry will tend to choose the lowest cost option without understanding the full implications to the long term accuracy and reliability of the data that the meters will provide.

As a good “rule of thumb” if you follow the practice of UK utilities and install meters according to their criteria you will not go wrong and you can trust the data for many years, believes Wardell. “It might make sense at the time, but if the meter is selected correctly in the first instance then you will never be able to make informed decisions on energy usage and how you can improve it.

“We have examples of firms that can’t account for £200,000 of electricity, or low grade mechanical water meters giving up the ghost after 18 months.”

Other Press Releases from MWA Technology Ltd

10/12/2015 - MWA chief warns £millions of energy is being lost with growing number of wrong specifications Installing the wrong meters is costing millions of pounds of wasted energy every year according to one of the sector’s leading experts
04/12/2014 - MWA and Oxford University : 6 years of successful energy management When Oxford University found its heat meters were not working correctly they contacted MWA for help and advice.
03/12/2014 - Reducing costs for Bath University Bath University was experiencing problems with the existing on-site metering. The inconsistency of meters installed lead to operational issues and low flow rates.
07/10/2014 - NEW: S&S Merlin 1000S The Merlin 1000S gas pressure proving system is designed specifically for use in School and University Laboratories. This panel is to be used to carry out a gas proving test on the pipe work in order to highlight if there is a gas appliance open or a gas leak in the laboratory and gives the teacher full control over the incoming gas supply with the lockable key-switch operation.
03/10/2014 - The Nottingham Electric Bus Project Earlier this year Mel Greenfield and Andrew Brain were approached by EIC(Alcester) to look at supplying Electricity panel meters for a new switchboard being built for EON reference Nottingham Electric Bus Project, after reviewing the requirement we came to the conclusion that the Multicube meter system was ideal for this application, this was put forward to both EON and Nottingham Council who agreed.