Current Monitoring Devices to Improve Facility Management

Current monitoring measures the amount of current flowing to and from the circuits in a facility, but its applications are more dynamic than that. Not only will a current monitoring system help you measure the input and output of your circuits, but it can also equip you with insights that will help you improve the performance of your facility.

What Current Monitoring Devices Does Your Facility Need?

Power and current monitoring devices provide you with an easy way to retrieve, organize, and analyze the trends occurring within a facility’s network. While a building automation system (BAS) can track the number of events and fluctuations, it’s a current monitoring system that will educate you on the forensics behind those events. 

Here are some of the foundational current monitoring and facility management tools you will need to equip yourself with.

Current Switches

Current switches monitor the current (i.e., amperage) that passes through a conductor. They come in various formats—adjustable trip point, standard output, etc.—and are often used for the following applications:

• Detecting belt loss, coupling shears, and mechanical failure on vents, exhaust fans, and recirculation pumps
• Verifying the run times of lighting circuits 
• Monitoring the status of any industrial process equipment in your facility
• Observing the status of critical motors (compressors, fuel, etc.)
• Tracking VFD output and on/off status

For example, the Hx08 Series and H701 adjustable current switches offered here at Veris are small enough to fit inside small enclosures but precise enough to have a minimum trip point as low as 0.5 HP.

Current Monitoring Relays

These devices are designed to provide protection (and peace of mind) for mechanical equipment that can jam-up or overload due to excessive current or energy. The Hawkeye 5xx Series offered at Veris combines an industrial-grade load-switching relay with a current status switch, making it ideal for tasks like:

• Monitoring, controlling, and troubleshooting the control wiring found in fractional horsepower motors
• The management of devices such as exhaust fans, unit ventilators, fan terminal units, fan coil units, recirculating pumps, and others

Power and current monitoring relays can help you “predict” the future and preemptively inform you of any risks affecting the various motors, pumps, transformers, and other electrical equipment running throughout your facility.

Current Transducers

Despite being used interchangeably alongside terms like current monitoring sensor and transformer, current transducers serve a slightly different, yet no less crucial, function than other similarly named facility management tools. 

Transducers are meant to modify a primary conductor’s input to a different kind of signal, usually one from a secondary conductor. Current transducers can operate passively or actively with an external power source. For example, the 721LC, 721HC, and 921 models we offer at Veris come equipped with the following features:

• A self-gripping, split-core design used for fast, retrofit installations that won’t require you to remove the conductor
• Provides accurate load trending information via proportional 4-20mA output signal
• Three adjustable ranges (30, 60, and 120A)
• A removable mounting bracket for installation flexibility
• Will monitor motor controls and the status of both fans and pumps

How Will a Current Monitoring System Improve Your Facility?

Establishing a current monitoring system won’t automatically fix any problems you have with your facility’s energy bill. Still, it will begin to build a foundation that can lead to a dramatic drop in that bill. The closer you monitor the energy a building and its systems consume, the easier it will be to integrate current monitoring devices that streamline energy consumption. And the more streamlined the energy consumption is, the better able you’ll be to identify and resolve excess expenses.

Get in touch with us today if you have any questions about how our current monitoring devices can help you save money on your energy bill!