How to keep an eye on your energy remotely

This year, changing Government guidelines as a result of Covid-19 have caused many businesses to shift their workforces from working on-site to working remotely wherever possible. This has meant many cannot simply check their on-site meters or conveniently access utility data in order to monitor their energy consumption and spend. How can energy managers keep an eye on their usage when they’re working outside of the office?

Research has shown that monitoring and targeting utilities usage can help the average business to achieve savings of between 5% and 10% on their annual utilities bills – which means it’s important to stay on top of your energy and water consumption wherever you are. If you’re not on-site to read meters and collect the information you need – whether that’s due to remote working measures or because you’re responsible for multiple sites within your business – then this can be complex.

That’s why we’ve designed SystemsLink’s software with a number of useful features to make it easy for you to monitor your usage wherever you are, such as:

Automatic data collection

With SystemsLink’s software in place, there’s no need for you to be physically present on site in order to collect the information you need on your consumption – our software does it for you.

Our in-built data automation feature automatically collects Half-Hourly (HH), AMR and BEMS data from your data collectors and transfers it to SystemsLink, enabling you to access all of the data you need on our platform. It can receive and automatically import metered consumption information from all major data collectors, AMR providers and suppliers so it can seamlessly update your dashboards as soon as the data is available. This is typically daily, so you can stay on top of your consumption from day-to-day.

Digestible, customisable dashboards

One of the most useful features of SystemsLink is the ability it gives you – and anyone else in your organisation – to obtain a clear view of a range of aspects of your utilities consumption through the web portal dashboards.

Through our Energy Manager software, you can reach your own custom dashboard in just a few clicks, as it is simply accessed through your web browser or smart phone. It’s easy to create an at-a-glance view of the key information you need about your utilities with our extensive widget library – so you can see data on everything from your electricity usage this year in comparison to last year to how much water you’re using on each of your company’s sites in highly visual, easy-to-understand charts. From your dashboard, you can also create a range of bespoke reports based on your requirements, which you can view and report on your consumption wherever you are.

Smart spaces

If you have Half Hourly / Automated Meter Reading (AMR) devices on site, you can monitor your usage even more closely by setting up abnormal usage alerts using our Smart Spaces feature.

Initially designed to support energy managers with multi-site portfolios, Smart Spaces has become an integral tool for energy managers of both large and small portfolio’s, as it automatically monitors your usage for you. This feature enables you to put bespoke boundaries in place for acceptable usage for every day or half-hour and for every meter on your site. If usage exceeds or falls below the acceptable threshold then the software can send an email to your designated site contact and create a notification within the customer dashboard. This way, you can quickly identify where there may be an issue on your site, such as a leak or a machine left on overnight, and take action to resolve them before they push your bills up unnecessarily. With Smart Spaces watching your consumption for you, you can rest assured that you’re not consuming too much water or energy even when you’re not on site to keep an eye on your usage in person.

Try it for yourself

If you’re struggling to stay in control of your consumption while you’re off-site, SystemsLink’s software could make your life much easier – so it’s worth exploring how SystemsLink could benefit your business. To arrange a free demo today, click here.