What is sub-metering?
Sub-metering involves the installation of additional meters downstream of your main utility meter.
It allows you to monitor individual areas of buildings, equipment and even individual tenants.
To help our customers understand their sites, their buildings and manage their energy, we have a range of business metering services available through YLEM Energy Optimise who have over 20 years experience in this field and have saved businesses millions with their solutions.
The benefits of sub-metering
Sub-metering industrial sites in the UK offers numerous benefits, making it a strategic and financially prudent decision for businesses. By installing sub-meters throughout their facilities, companies can gain detailed insights into their energy usage, identify areas for optimisation, enhance operational efficiency, and achieve significant cost savings. With YLEM Energy Optimise you can explore the advantages of sub-metering in the context of industrial sites and how it can lead to improved sustainability, increased productivity, and a competitive edge in today’s dynamic business environment with no upfront cost.
Enhanced Energy Management
Sub-metering enables industrial sites to have a comprehensive understanding of their energy consumption patterns. By dividing a facility into distinct zones or equipment-specific areas, sub-meters provide granular data on energy usage, allowing for effective energy management strategies. These insights empower businesses to identify energy inefficiencies, peak usage periods, and potential areas for improvement. Armed with this information, companies can implement targeted energy conservation measures, reduce waste, and optimize their operations for maximum efficiency.
Accurate Cost Allocation
Industrial sites often comprise multiple departments, processes, and production units. Sub-metering allows businesses to accurately allocate energy costs to specific areas, providing transparent data on energy consumption and usage. With precise cost allocation, companies can determine the energy usage and associated expenses of individual processes or departments. This information can be used for internal cost analysis, budgeting, and even to incentivise energy-efficient practices among different departments. Moreover, accurate cost allocation can help identify cost-saving opportunities and support investment decisions in energy-efficient technologies.
Compliance with Regulations and Standards
The UK has stringent regulations and sustainability goals in place to combat climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Sub-metering industrial sites helps organisations monitor and report their energy consumption accurately, ensuring compliance with relevant legislation and environmental standards. By having precise data on energy usage, companies can measure their carbon footprint, track progress toward sustainability targets, and make informed decisions regarding energy reduction initiatives. Compliance with regulations not only avoids penalties but also enhances a company’s reputation.
Proactive Maintenance and Equipment Optimisation
Sub-metering software offers real-time visibility into industrial equipment performance. By monitoring energy consumption patterns, businesses can detect inefficiencies, malfunctions, or abnormal spikes that signal equipment issues. Early detection enables proactive maintenance, minimising downtime and preventing breakdowns. Sub-metering data also highlights energy usage trends for optimising operations, streamlining processes, and identifying opportunities for energy-efficient upgrades, reducing overall consumption and costs.
Benchmarking and Continuous Improvement
Sub-metering facilitates benchmarking and comparison of energy consumption across different sites, departments, or even specific equipment. By establishing energy benchmarks, industrial sites can identify best practices, set energy reduction targets, and encourage healthy competition among departments or facilities. The availability of accurate and reliable data enables businesses to track progress over time, implement continuous improvement measures, and evaluate the effectiveness of energy management initiatives.
How can YLEM Energy Optimise help you?
Whilst working with you to explore energy generation solutions which include solar, gas generation and energy storage systems, we will explore how much sub-metering will be needed at your site to give you the granularity of energy usage that you need. We will book one of our site auditors in with yourselves for a site visit to do that initial assessment.
Following this we will present to you what the project looks like and then you have a number of options available to you;
- We can install the sub-metering after you have signed the energy generation contract and install it whilst we undertake tasks such as planning and installation. The sub-metering will give you granular information prior to the energy generation project going live. Any costs for the sub-metering will be factored into the energy generation project so there will be no upfront capex.
- We can install the sub-metering prior to the energy generation contract signature and provide you with real-time information on your energy usage whilst we go through the technical and commercial analysis allowing you to begin your energy efficiency journey prior to your energy generation journey. Again, the cost will be factored into the energy generation project and therefore no upfront cost.
- If you don’t proceed, with the energy generation project, then we will set up an independent subscription (typically 5 years) for the metering and monitoring software from when we first installed it.
We offer a turnkey sub-metering solution with comprehensive visibility of energy usage; Through our online portal, you’ll have real-time access to live meter dashboards, historical data, automated custom reporting and 3rd party access through our API.
Why is sub-metering right for your business?
Sub-metering industrial sites in the UK offers a multitude of benefits, including enhanced energy management, accurate cost allocation, compliance with regulations, proactive maintenance, and continuous improvement. By investing in sub-metering infrastructure, businesses can gain a comprehensive understanding of their energy consumption patterns, identify areas for optimisation, reduce costs, and improve sustainability. In today’s competitive business landscape, sub-metering provides a strategic advantage, enabling organisations to enhance operational efficiency, meet regulatory requirements, and drive long-term success.
