What just two weeks of electricity data revealed about a sports center
Latest findings from electricity data: a 22% phase imbalance, base load that doesn't drop at night, and predictable peaks that can be lowered by 30 kW.
- The customer wanted a better view of the property's own electricity consumption
- A 22% phase imbalance was wearing out L1-phase equipment and generating loss energy worth roughly 200 € every month
- Nighttime base load did not drop the way it should — something was running when it shouldn't
- Predictable peak power could be lowered by 30 kW by adjusting the start-up sequence
The situation
We started monitoring electricity data more closely at a sports center. Originally there was only a need to better understand the property's own consumption.
We delivered our measurement device to the customer, who plugged it into the HAN port of the electricity meter. No electrician was needed, and we let the data accumulate.
The first few days already told more than years of billing history.
What the electricity data revealed
Two weeks of 10-second data uncovered three concrete issues — each measurable, each fixable, each with a clear euro impact.
Findings
The three phases are not running together. L1 carries a clearly larger load than L2 and L3 almost around the clock. A 22% imbalance means that the equipment on phase L1 — compressors, pumps, ventilation — wears out faster than it should. At the same time loss electricity is generated, which turns into heat and does nothing useful. Estimated monthly loss: roughly 200 euros every month.
A few weeks of monitoring revealed that nighttime consumption stays surprisingly high — even during hours when the property is empty and everything should be at a minimum. Something is running when it shouldn't be. Without this data it would have gone completely unnoticed.
Consumption spikes are not random. They rose repeatedly at the same times — in the mornings around 6 when the property starts up, and in the afternoon as the number of users grows. This is good news: predictable peaks are manageable. By adjusting the start-up sequence the peak power could be lowered by 30 kW, which means a real reduction in peak demand.
The person responsible for the sports center put it well: "The worst situation isn't that problems are found. The worst situation is that they aren't found."
Outcome
In just two weeks, billing-level invisibility was replaced by a measured picture of the property: a quantified imbalance, a documented nighttime base load, and predictable peaks with a concrete reduction potential.
That is exactly why measuring is worth starting before problems grow too big and too expensive.
- Phase imbalance stays invisible and wears equipment
- Loss electricity flows out month after month
- Nighttime consumption goes unnoticed
- Peak power feels random and unmanageable
- Imbalance is quantified and can be corrected
- Estimated monthly loss is known in euros
- Nighttime base load is visible and explainable
- Peak power is lowered by 30 kW with simple changes