When you are in the business of designing and setting up an electrical system the reliability of the system you design is greatly dependent on the quality or the power that is to supplied to and then used by the system. If the system is plagued by poor quality power it will suffer from blown breakers and overheated equipment which can in turn create safety hazards and the possibility of fires. Power quality analyzers if used properly can help you to locate potential problems and eliminate them. As the technological world has placed more and more demands on existing electrical systems, the need to be able to pinpoint problems in the power supply system has become far more critical.
Electrical technicians use Power quality analyzers to pinpoint these power bottlenecks and other potential problems. By doing this they can help to redesign the system and be able to provide a stronger smoother supply of power to keep everything up and running. Power quality analyzers take measurements of the power consumption, the power demand and the power cleanliness and performing several calculations to arrive at a power quality figure. With the information and figures on both consumption and demand, consumers can take a look at the various areas and pieces of equipment to find where they can make changes to improve overall efficiency in their homes or businesses. Power consumption as measured by Power quality analyzers is reported as the total amount of power used over a period of time whereas power demand is recorded as a moment by moment view of power usage for either the whole system or individual parts of the system to pinpoint usage that is over limits and may cause problems.
Measure the consumption of electricity in units called watt-hours (WH) or in bigger units called kilowatt-hours (kWh) the cost of which is calculated in dollars per kWh. Once you know what your power consumption is you can then calculate the Power Factor which is the ratio of power used compared to the power supplied. There is usually less used than the apparent power delivered due to loss in the system caused by heat loss, friction in motors and various other losses of energy within the system. Once you have used the Power quality analyzers to figure out where the losses in your system are occurring it is possible to make adjustments to your system to store the apparent excess energy that you are being charged for and not able to use. Devices such as capacitors can be place into the system to store the excess energy and make it available for later use when there is surge in demand. To calculate these figures takes superior Power quality analyzers like the ones sold by Tek-Inst. They carry a full line of digital electrical test equipment and digital multimeters to help you set up and maintain all of your electrical systems. Whether you are in the market for a new multimeter or the latest in power quality meters you are sure to find what you need to get the job done.
