All energy efficiency articles
14 ways hidden air leaks wreak havoc on equipment
How the ii900 Acoustic Imager air leak detector can help you find the root cause of equipment issues and prevent costly downtime.
Energy auditing and weatherization with thermal imagers
The first step in evaluating a building's energy use involves an energy audit. This consists of various home performance tests which identify opportunities to reduce energy use. Once the audit is complete, various weatherization techniques are performed to improve the energy efficiency of the building, often called 'weatherizing'.
Energy logger helps cut utility surcharges and power waste
At commercial buildings and industrial plants, energy costs can quickly add up, especially when older lighting systems are in place, motors age and the compressed air lines snaking around the plant leak, requiring unnecessary cycling of compressors.
How to Identify the Easiest Energy Savings in Your Facility
ROI for industrial energy efficiency programs. How manufacturing plants can identify energy waste, save on utilities, and industrial energy costs.
How to detect compressed air, gas and vacuum leaks AND find hidden profits
What if there were a leak detection technology that could pinpoint the precise location of a leak from up to 50 meters away? The Fluke ii900 Sonic Industrial Imager, a “gamechanger” in the pursuit of finding compressed air leaks.
Solar panel safety: lockout / tagout for solar power systems
How to LOTO a PV system. Guidance for electrical safety in solar power plants, PV installation and solar panel safety considerations.
Global wind energy growth driving demand for wind turbine technicians
As wind turbine technician jobs are growing, and new wind tech schools are popping up to provide training. Fluke has the tools to help wind turbine technicians troubleshoot wind energy problems.
Fluke Tools + Future of Wind Power and Solar Energy
Watch this video to how Fluke tools are supporting the future of solar energy, wind power and renewable energy.
True RMS tools for energy efficient HVAC systems
HVAC technology true-RMS meters are essential test tools for accurately measuring and troubleshooting complex HVAC control systems.
The art of automation and energy efficiency
Using Fluke tools for energy efficiency and cost savings. How the Figge Art Museum automated their HVAC control systems, reduced energy consumption and saved on annual energy costs
Why microgrids are the future of energy management
Microgrids combine solar, wind, battery, and diesel/natural gas generators to form a shared supply for local demand. Benefits include energy management independence and security for local communities.
Retro-commissioning: The missing link for improving commercial facility performance
Improving energy efficiency and building performance through retro-commissioning entails commissioning older buildings that need fine tuning or were not properly commissioned initially.
Tips and tools for indoor air quality and efficiency in building envelopes
Best tools for monitoring heat loss, detecting moisture, indoor air quality and HVAC systems to improve energy efficiency in commercial buildings.
3D Printing Turbocharges Rapid Prototyping
Development of 3D printing and rapid prototyping at Fluke for new tools and for small part runs.
Peak Efficiency Cogeneration
“Cogeneration” captures heat from energy-intensive industrial processes and puts it back to work—to make steam that drives a turbine generator or that heats other parts of the facility, for example. Heat recovery can increase energy efficiency by 30 percent or more. Cogeneration has garnered a lot of attention as a result, and sophisticated, almost turnkey cogeneration solutions are now available in a range of sizes. Even the most sophisticated cogeneration system, however, is an electromechanical system that requires regular maintenance for reliable operation at peak efficiency.
Measuring battery state-of-health over time to ensure optimal uptime
Although most batteries used in uninterruptable power supply (UPS) and battery back-up systems are touted as “maintenance free,” they are still susceptible to deterioration from corrosion, internal shorts, sulphation, dry-out and seal failure. But how do
Recommended battery tests and testing schedule for battery back-up systems
Healthy batteries should main¬tain a capacity above 90 % of the manufacturer’s rating; most manufacturers recommend replacing the battery if it falls below 80 %. A series of regular tests are recommended for ensuring that batteries are maintaining capacit
What is battery impedance?
Battery impedance is a combination of internal resistance and reactance where internal resistance + reactance, or (L+ C), equals impedance when using an ac stimulus.
Inside a Wind Energy Tower Tech Community
As the wind energy industry evolves, so does the wind technician community. Learn how a unique wind tech community shares troubleshooting and solutions online.
What new California solar law means for workers
As California approaches a state-wide mandate to add solar to all new residential construction, the skilled labor gap and solar installation expertise will be top of mind.
If you knew how much it cost to run that equipment
If you knew how much it cost to run that equipment
Your Low-Cost Electrical Audit: What to Test, and How
Your Low-Cost Electrical Audit: What to Test, and How Energy conservation programs don't have to entail major investments in new equipment and systems. Often facilities maintenance teams and/or outside contractors can achieve significant savings in electric power used and billed just by testing and tuning up the systems they have today. With just operational changes or different maintenance practices, they can find savings to strengthen the bottom line, reinvest for even greater savings, or both.
Using a single-phase VFD to run three-phase fans
Kiln-drying wood is a 24/7 process. That is why Zena Forest Products mill owner Ben Deumling was so anxious to ensure that the new dry kiln he was setting up was as energy-efficient as possible. Deumling started with a 24-foot kiln built from a repurposed refrigerated shipping container, and installed a set of three ¼-horsepower single-phase fans to move the warm air over the wood.
Save money with best practices and an energy inspection checklist
With the economic downturn, many facility managers are facing very tight operation and maintenance budgets. Capital expenditures for new HVAC mechanical equipment have likely either been frozen or eliminated.
One way to free up financial resources is to tune up existing HVAC equipment. Follow best maintenance practices and the increased operating efficiency will reduce energy consumption.
Say goodbye to the incandescent lightbulb (as we know it)
One approach to getting full life out of a CFL bulb would be to leave it on longer, reducing the heater- filament-stressing on-off cycles. In my experience, described above, you could leave it on five times as long as an incandescent lamp and not use any more energy.
Considering cogeneration?
Cogeneration - also known as combined heat and power or CHP - is the process of generating electricity and usable heat at the same time. The term has a modern, "green energy" ring to it, but cogeneration has been around since Edison's Pearl Street Station used heat from its turbines to warm the buildings of lower Manhattan in the 1880s.
Find industrial energy waste
With energy savings, there's intent and then there's plan. Industrial facilities in the United States show a sustained interest in energy management. That's the intent: Reduce overall energy usage or sustain usage but increase the amount produced per kW used.
In manufacturing, a plan will only stick if it has both the wisdom of experience guiding the vision and the ROI numbers to back up the effort. But in energy, there just isn't the body of research out there for an industrial plant manager to use to set baselines for what "reasonable" energy usage looks like in a manufacturing facility.
How much does energy waste cost you?
Managing energy efficiency in your facility can save money. Conducting an energy inspection can show you how to reduce energy costs by up to 25 percent.
Energy is a critical issue for facilities around the world. Undiscovered and uncorrected energy waste represents tremendous potential savings.
Fluke developing smart grid technology
You may have read about the new Smart Grid currently in development by various manufacturers, utilities and government agencies worldwide. At the highest level, the idea behind the Smart Grid is to add far more "intelligent" devices to the transmission of high voltage across a large power grid such as the continental U.S.
How to calculate the payback of test tools
Now that budgets and staff are smaller, it's not uncommon for management to ask for justification before authorizing tool purchases. The key phrase here is return on investment (ROI), or how long will it take to save enough money, using the tool, to cover the cost of purchasing the tool.