Load Factor Analysis and Demand Control—
Practical Solutions for Big Savings on Your Electricity Costs
A low Load Factor indicates a certain usage pattern that can significantly affect a facility's utility costs. Any facility that sees short periods of high energy consumption followed by long periods of lower usage can benefit from a Load Factor analysis - whether an office building with its hot summer afternoons, or a foundry, such as the one pictured here, with its melting schedule.
Are the demand charges on your monthly electric bills two, three—or more—times the amount of your usage charges? If so, your company is suffering from poor electric load factor—and paying plenty for nonproductive electrical capacity!
Load Factor 101
Load factor is the ratio of average electricity use vs. maximum electrical demand for a given time period. For example, if you use 60.8 kWh of electricity in a 24-hour period, your average electricity use is 2.5 kW per hour (60.8/24). If during this period, your electrical demand spikes to a peak of 8.6 kW even briefly, your load factor is only 29.1% (2.5/8.6).
The closer your load factor is to 100% (load factor 1.0) the better. On the other hand, the lower your load factor percentage, the more you pay in demand charges. Why? Because your electric utility must ensure it has the generation capacity to meet your peak demand even if you need it for only a short time. This capacity is expensive to maintain—and guess who ultimately pays for it.
Effective Load Factor Analysis and Demand Control Services
D.L. Steiner’s load factor analysis services help you close the gap between average electricity use and peak electricity demand for a load factor percentage that means consistent, predictable kW demand and lower demand charges.
Along with identifying the causes and proposing solutions for low load factor, we can also design a demand control system that will allow you to stay consistently below your peak kW demand threshold. Versatile and practical, our demand control solutions include—
Economical manual demand monitoring systems.
Reliable indirect systems that use PLC technology to count electricity meter pulses and track demand.
Precision CT/PT-based systems offering direct monitoring and automated control of electrical demand.
Both services help reduce your charges for unused capacity so you can save big on electricity costs!
