Clean, reliable power quality is critical to smart home performance. Common electrical problems like voltage sags, surges, and harmonic distortions can cause downtime, damage equipment, and degrade the performance of smart home devices. Many integrators take action to remediate and prevent these problems with a robust power management system, but even best practices aren’t always foolproof. Power can change quickly even if the system delivers pristine performance at set-up.
The ideal power protection system prioritizes connectivity, incorporating a range of tools and software integrations that provide insights into the power entering the home and establish remote access for management. IP-connected monitoring and resolution are crucial to preserving the connected home’s value. Understanding how modern tools deliver continuous insights about power performance will help integrators take control of their clients’ power environments.
Data-Driven, First-Time Right Assurance
Unfortunately, power is unpredictable. Technicians cannot anticipate whether a power event will occur, let alone be on-site to resolve a problem in real-time when it does. And the list of potential issues is exhaustive: Heavy grid dependence, large-draw appliances, local electrical noise, weather and more can disrupt voltage regulation and power performance. Without data, there’s a risk of misdiagnosis – which can be frustrating and costly for customers investing in the smart home.
The good news is that monitoring and diagnostic solutions help integrators precisely identify and resolve power problems to ensure that interruptions are swiftly resolved. Many systems report, log, and time-stamp power events for various measurements, including neutral to ground voltage, crest factor, power factor, and line frequency metrics to guide informed decision-making and prompt restoration.
Proactive Power Event Prevention
The value of monitoring solutions with remote connectivity extends beyond client-reported problems. Integrators can detect and address power quality issues before they escalate into significant shutdowns or permanent damage, ensuring that critical systems are always up and running. They can also report key patterns by continuously collecting and analyzing performance data and offer long-term power quality assurance solutions.
Power quality monitoring helps integrators proactively prevent power quality issues based on visible trends instead of hunches – especially with the latest advancements in automation technologies. For example, suppose analytics reveal frequent surges or outages in a homeowner’s area. In that case, the integrator can program a system to automatically switch to a backup power source or reduce the load on the affected equipment when problems occur. This keeps systems running smoothly without the homeowner noticing an interruption or the integrator needing to act.
Save Money, Time, and Frustration
Remote monitoring and resolution can significantly reduce maintenance costs and downtime. In the event of a problem, non-IP connected power quality systems require manual inspection, testing, and adjusting, which can be time-consuming, labor-intensive, and costly. In contrast, remote monitoring systems can perform real-time monitoring and analysis of power quality data without requiring physical access to the equipment – meaning homeowners don’t need to stop what they’re doing to receive services.
It’s a win-win: Homeowners save time and money by reducing the need for truck rolls, blind troubleshooting, and equipment replacements, and integrators can save on labor costs and reduce client wait times.
Take Control Over Clients’ Power Environments
There are many ways to protect your clients’ devices from power anomalies, but connectivity is the key to bolstering any power quality assurance. The opportunity to remotely manage and monitor your battery backup, power conditioning, and surge elimination solutions enables you to make informed decisions about system care, resolve problems before the client notices consequences, and maximize the longevity, reliability, and uptime of systems for years to come.
Thanks to a range of third-party integrations and innovations in fleet management, it’s possible for integrators to incorporate IP-connected tools into power management systems of any scale or scope. Get in touch with SurgeX to learn more.
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