Question 1

What is a power quality survey?

Accepted Answer

It is a period of recording rather than a single test. Monitoring equipment is connected at an agreed point in your installation — usually the incoming supply or a distribution board — and left in place while the building runs normally, logging what the supply and the load are actually doing. The recorded data is then analysed and you receive a written report of the findings. It is used to investigate problems that a one-off visit is unlikely to catch.

Question 2

Why would I need electrical load monitoring?

Accepted Answer

Two common reasons. The first is a problem nobody can pin down — breakers tripping, equipment resetting, lights flickering — where the fault is not present when an electrician attends. The second is a decision: you are planning to add EV chargers, air conditioning, machinery or another significant load, and you need to know what spare capacity the supply actually has rather than estimating it.

Question 3

Can monitoring help identify intermittent tripping?

Accepted Answer

Often, yes — that is one of the main reasons to use it, because the recording continues when nobody is on site. It is not a guarantee. If the fault does not occur during the monitoring period, or its cause lies outside what the equipment is measuring at that point, the data may narrow the possibilities rather than identify a single cause. We would rather say that up front than promise an answer.

Question 4

How long is the monitoring equipment left connected?

Accepted Answer

Typically around seven days, so that a full working week including weekend and overnight behaviour is captured. Where a problem is occasional or tied to a particular process, a longer period may be more useful. We agree the period with you before starting, based on how often the problem appears.

Question 5

Will my electricity need to be switched off?

Accepted Answer

Usually only briefly, and often not at all. Connecting monitoring equipment is electrical work on a live installation and is carried out accordingly, with the appropriate isolation and safe working procedures for your site. Where a short shutdown is unavoidable we agree the timing with you in advance and can work outside your operating hours.

Question 6

Can you measure maximum demand before we install new equipment?

Accepted Answer

Yes — this is one of the clearer uses for monitoring. Recording the existing load over a representative period shows the peaks your installation actually reaches, rather than a figure calculated from assumptions. That is useful evidence when you are deciding whether a supply will take an additional load, or when a supply upgrade is being discussed.

Question 7

Can you investigate three-phase load imbalance?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Where a site has a three-phase supply, monitoring can record how load is distributed across the phases over time and whether that distribution changes through the working day. Uneven loading is one of the things the analysed report will identify where the recorded data shows it.

Question 8

What happens if the report identifies a problem?

Accepted Answer

It depends what the problem is. Where the findings point to ordinary electrical remedial work — the kind of installation work we do every day — we can quote for it separately, with no obligation. Where the findings call for specialist power-quality engineering or mitigation design, that sits outside what we do, and we will say so and refer you on rather than attempt it.

Question 9

How much does commercial power monitoring cost?

Accepted Answer

Commercial monitoring investigations start from £595 + VAT. That is a starting point, not a fixed price: the final cost depends on the site, how long the equipment needs to stay connected, how many measurement points are involved and how much investigation is required. A larger or multi-point investigation is quoted individually. We confirm the price with you before anything is booked.

Electrical faults nobody can explain?

Request a monitoring quote

Problems this is meant for

Breakers that keep tripping

Equipment resetting or shutting down

UPS alarms and supply warnings

Flickering or dipping lighting

Electrical equipment running hot

Faults that vanish before we arrive

Nobody can say what capacity is left

Problems that started after a change

Why recording beats another visit

What can be recorded

Voltage

Current and loading

Three-phase balance

Maximum demand

Power factor

Dips and swells

Harmonics

Events over time

How the investigation works

1. You tell us what is happening

2. We assess whether monitoring is the right tool

3. We agree the scope and the price

4. We hire in suitable monitoring equipment

5. We install it at the agreed point

6. It records while you carry on working

7. The data is analysed by a specialist service

8. You get the report, and a plain-English explanation

Premises this suits

What happens after the monitoring

What it costs

Common questions

Tell us what your building is doing