At Businesswise, we’re passionate about energy data. Ok, that sounded cooler in our head, but the point stands – it’s important! Energy data points are the building blocks of any energy management strategy, or at least any good one, and cannot be ignored. So why does no one care about it?

• It’s Complicated

No, we’re not talking about your relationship status on facebook here, raw energy data can be very hard to understand and harder sometimes to comprehend. Different fuels are metered using different units of measurement and at different frequencies, some half hourly, some daily etc. With the units of measurement, most commonly a kilowatt-hour (kWh) but for gas sometimes measured and displayed in ‘therms’. The trouble is, our electricity and gas consumption has risen so much since these units of measurement were invented, you’ll often be talking about hundreds and thousands of kWh, so it’s a bit like trying to talk about periods of time in minutes, rather than using a more appropriate measurement of months, for example; “so when is the baby due?”, answered with “oh, not for another 216 thousand minutes”…you see, awkward.

• There’s a lot of data points

Half hourly meters collect data every 30 minutes (obviously), 24 hours a day, 7 days a week – that’s 17,520 readings for just one meter per year. And when you multiply this by how many electricity meters you have in your portfolio you could quickly be drowning in data. If your business has asset level monitoring, that’s even more data!

And the more sensors you have, the more accurate, granular picture of consumption you can get. This is the difference between finding out your consumption per site, to per machine or even per kettle boil (rises significantly at 8:50 on a Monday morning no doubt). The sheer amount of data points can make energy data a scary prospect for the uninitiated. It’s only when put into a visual format that it can really make sense to the untrained eye.

• It can be difficult to manage

What do Gareth Bale and energy data have in common? They’re both impossible to manage without the correct strategy. Although energy data won’t bad mouth you in the press or play endless golf, it can be incredibly difficult to get on top of if you aren’t using the correct processes.

Employing an all-encompassing energy management system is the key here, something that can help you track the data in a simple yet meaningful way. This lays the foundation for changes that maximise efficiency, which in turn can be demonstrated in the energy data, which will show how effective your strategy is, it’s an upward spiral, the flip side however, is a downwards one.

• You may not know what you’re looking for

As we’ve mentioned, there is a lot of data energy to be had and trawling through, this can be a very difficult task, especially if you have no idea what you’re looking for. Finding the data that’s actually relevant to your project with no systems in place amongst raw data is like finding a needle in a haystack, in the dark, blindfolded, in a straitjacket (that’s hard).

Luckily for you, there’s a business out there who can crunch the data, evaluate it and relate it to you in a way that isn’t just the equivalent of The Matrix’s green code, and this business is very wise… have you gotten it yet? It’s us, Businesswise Solutions and we’re on hand to assist you with any and all of your energy data needs, just get in touch to see how we can help.