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As businesses face growing pressure to cut costs and reduce carbon emissions, understanding exactly how energy is being used has never been more important. One of the most effective tools for this is the smart meter — a device that provides real-time visibility of energy consumption and supports smarter decision-making.

By integrating smart meters into an energy management installation, organisations can move beyond estimated bills and general assumptions to gain granular insights into their business energy usage.

What Are Smart Meters?

A smart meter is a digital device that records energy consumption in real time and transmits data directly to energy suppliers or management systems. Unlike traditional meters, which require manual readings, smart meters automatically provide accurate, up-to-date information on how much electricity or gas is being used and when.

Smart Meters in Energy Management

When combined with advanced energy management solutions, smart meters become more than just billing tools. They can form the backbone of a strategy designed to improve efficiency and reduce costs.

• Granular Data: Track business energy usage at different times of day or across different processes.
• Accurate Monitoring: Eliminate reliance on estimates and base decisions on precise data.
• Actionable Insights: Identify inefficiencies and spot opportunities for reducing business energy.
• Integration with EMS: Feed data into wider energy management installations, linking to sub-metering and monitoring platforms for a complete picture.

Designing the Right Installation

To maximise the benefits of smart metering, careful planning of the energy management installation is essential. Simply installing a meter is not enough — businesses should consider:

• Coverage: Ensuring smart meters are deployed across the most energy-intensive areas.
• Integration: Linking smart meters with sub-metering, LoRaWAN systems, or a BMS for a holistic view.
• Reporting Tools: Using dashboards and analytics to turn raw data into actionable information.
• Scalability: Allowing the system to grow with future energy management requirements.

A well-designed installation creates a comprehensive knowledge base, giving decision-makers the clarity needed to optimise efficiency.

Reducing Business Energy with Smart Insights

Armed with accurate, real-time data, businesses can make targeted changes to reduce consumption and costs. Examples include:

• Adjusting HVAC schedules to match occupancy.
• Optimising lighting and equipment usage.
• Identifying high-energy processes that could be streamlined or rescheduled.
• Tracking the impact of energy-saving initiatives over time.

By using smart meters as part of an integrated energy management solution, businesses can reduce waste, cut costs, and move towards more sustainable operations.

Smarter Energy Starts with Smart Meters

At Elcomponent, we specialise in energy management installations that bring together smart metering, sub-metering, and advanced monitoring tools. Our systems provide businesses with a complete, data-driven view of their energy profile, making it easier to identify savings and achieve long-term efficiency gains.

 

Factories and industrial units are some of the UK’s biggest consumers of energy. With production lines, heavy machinery, and around-the-clock operations, it’s no surprise that energy bills represent one of the largest overheads for manufacturers. But with the right monitoring in place, these costs don’t have to be fixed — they can be measured, managed, and reduced.

At Elcomponent, our clients in the manufacturing sector have already made significant savings through the deployment of advanced energy management systems. By monitoring energy usage at departmental and equipment level, they’ve gained the insights needed to cut waste and streamline operations.

Where Factories Use the Most Energy

A typical large factory relies on a wide range of energy-intensive equipment. High-consumption areas often include:

• Production Machinery – Heavy-duty motors, presses, and conveyor systems that run for long shifts.
• Compressed Air Systems – Often one of the largest single energy costs in an industrial environment.
• Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) – Essential for maintaining temperature and air quality but a constant drain on electricity.
• Lighting – Particularly in facilities operating 24/7, where inefficient lighting quickly drives up bills.
• IT and Control Systems – Though smaller by comparison, still contribute to overall usage across shifts.

Without accurate data, it’s difficult for operators to know which of these areas presents the biggest saving opportunity.

How Energy Monitoring Delivers Savings

Elcomponent’s energy monitoring systems allow factories to track consumption down to individual departments or even specific pieces of equipment. This granular insight reveals inefficiencies that would otherwise remain hidden, such as:

• Compressed air leaks wasting thousands of kWh annually.
• Machinery left idling outside production hours.
• HVAC operating on outdated schedules.
• Lighting not aligned with occupancy or daylight hours.

By addressing these issues, clients have collectively reduced energy consumption across their estates, cutting costs while improving sustainability performance.

The Role of Shift Patterns in Energy Costs

In factories where energy consumption cannot be reduced without affecting output, another cost-saving strategy is to look at shift patterns. Moving energy-intensive operations away from peak tariff hours can deliver substantial savings without impacting production volumes.

For example, running high-demand machinery during off-peak hours can reduce unit energy costs significantly. Smart monitoring highlights when and where energy is most expensive, allowing factories to optimise operations accordingly.

A Cost-Saving Exercise All Large Factories Can Adopt

Every large factory or industrial unit has the potential to reduce its energy bills. By combining operational adjustments with insights from a well-designed energy management system, savings can be achieved across every department.

Elcomponent’s clients have demonstrated the power of data-driven decision making — turning energy monitoring into a cost-saving exercise that pays dividends year after year.

Smarter Factories, Lower Costs

Energy will always be a major input cost for manufacturing. But with the right tools in place, businesses can reduce waste, optimise usage, and save money.
Contact Elcomponent today to learn how our energy management systems can help your factory reduce consumption, cut costs, and improve efficiency across your operations.

 

As businesses look to gain greater control over energy usage and costs, energy management systems (EMS) have become an essential investment — but how do they actually work? From the installation of sensors and meters to the delivery of usable insights through software, the process is highly technical and depends on precision and expertise at every stage.

At Elcomponent, we don’t just provide the technology — we deliver a complete service, guiding businesses from installation through to full utilisation of their energy data. Here’s how it works.

1. System Installation: Connecting Devices, Meters, and Sensors

Every energy management journey starts with a detailed site assessment. Elcomponent’s experienced engineers work with you to understand the building layout, infrastructure, and monitoring requirements. This planning stage ensures optimal positioning of all metering equipment.

Next, monitoring hardware is installed — this may include:

• Sub-meters for electricity, gas, water, and heat
• Pulse or Modbus meters for specific circuits or equipment
• LoRaWAN or wired sensors for temperature, flow, or environmental readings
• Gateways and communication devices to transmit data to the cloud

Elcomponent uses a combination of wireless and hard-wired devices, depending on site needs, ensuring the system is robust, scalable, and low-maintenance. Devices are carefully configured to capture high-resolution interval data across all measured utilities.

2. System Configuration and Commissioning

Once installed, the system is configured to ensure all devices are communicating properly with the central platform. This involves:

• Assigning logical names and locations to each meter or sensor
• Setting the correct pulse values or Modbus configurations
• Testing communication pathways (e.g. LoRaWAN signal strength or TCP/IP connections)
• Verifying data collection intervals and synchronisation

The commissioning process is critical. Elcomponent engineers test and validate each device to confirm accuracy and ensure data integrity from the outset.

3. Data Capture and Storage

After commissioning, the system begins collecting data continuously — often at intervals as frequent as every 15 minutes. This allows for detailed energy profiling and trend analysis.

The data from all meters and sensors is transmitted securely to a central server, where it is stored and timestamped. Elcomponent uses its MW2 software platform as the heart of the system — capturing, storing, and managing this high-volume dataset.

MW2 provides the flexibility to monitor one site or a multi-site estate, with built-in tools for filtering, comparing, and managing data from hundreds of devices simultaneously.

4. Data Analysis and Visualisation via MW2 Software

MW2 turns raw data into meaningful insight. Through a web-based interface, users can:

• Visualise live and historical energy use
• Compare usage across departments, zones, or time periods
• Identify spikes, trends, and abnormal consumption
• Benchmark performance against targets or other buildings

For businesses with sustainability goals, cost-reduction targets or ESOS/SECR reporting obligations, this level of visibility is invaluable. MW2 helps convert data into action — supporting better decision-making and investment planning.

5. Additional Support Services from Elcomponent

Energy monitoring is just the start. Elcomponent offers a suite of additional services to help you get full value from your system:

Energy Analysis

Detailed reviews of your energy data, conducted by our experts, to help identify inefficiencies, highlight cost-saving opportunities, and validate energy-saving initiatives.

Tenant Billing

Where buildings are sub-let or shared, we offer accurate energy billing based on sub-meter data — ensuring transparency and fair cost allocation.

Energy Manager Assistance

Our team can support in-house energy or facilities managers with system management, data analysis, and reporting — providing peace of mind and reducing resource pressure.

System Management & Reporting

We can manage your MW2 system on your behalf, including data integrity checks, automated reporting, and tailored dashboards to meet your internal KPIs.

Alert Tracking

MW2 supports configurable alerts — from excessive usage spikes to device communication failures. Elcomponent monitors and resolves issues, often before clients are aware.

Support & Maintenance

Our UK-based technical support team is available for remote troubleshooting, firmware updates, or scheduled maintenance visits — keeping your system performing at its best.

Why Choose Elcomponent?

With four decades of experience in energy monitoring and metering, Elcomponent offers more than just installation. We provide ongoing partnership — combining technical accuracy, user-friendly software, and human expertise to help businesses turn energy data into measurable value.

Whether you're managing a single commercial property or a complex multi-site portfolio, we deliver a complete, dependable solution — from the meter to the dashboard, and beyond.

Ready to get started with energy management?

Talk to Elcomponent today about planning, installing, or upgrading your system — and start unlocking the full potential of your energy data.