Client opens at 6am. Every morning the attendant walks the row and starts dryers to preheat, and the
interval data shows a spike that sets the monthly demand almost every single month. Billed demand
runs 20 to 26 kW above the average of the rest of the day.
The thing is these are gas dryers. The electric load is motors and controls, so we are talking maybe
1/3 hp per unit plus the blower. That should not be producing the spike I am looking at.
My working theory is the makeup air unit and the booster heater are cycling on at the same time as
the dryer bank and the coincidence is what sets the peak, not the dryers themselves. If that is
right, staggering the preheat by a few minutes does nothing and the fix is on the HVAC side.
Before I go back to the client with a recommendation I would like a sanity check. Has anyone
separated a laundromat morning peak into its actual contributors without submetering the panel? I
have 15-minute data, not 1-minute, and I am worried that resolution is hiding the sequence.
interval data shows a spike that sets the monthly demand almost every single month. Billed demand
runs 20 to 26 kW above the average of the rest of the day.
The thing is these are gas dryers. The electric load is motors and controls, so we are talking maybe
1/3 hp per unit plus the blower. That should not be producing the spike I am looking at.
My working theory is the makeup air unit and the booster heater are cycling on at the same time as
the dryer bank and the coincidence is what sets the peak, not the dryers themselves. If that is
right, staggering the preheat by a few minutes does nothing and the fix is on the HVAC side.
Before I go back to the client with a recommendation I would like a sanity check. Has anyone
separated a laundromat morning peak into its actual contributors without submetering the panel? I
have 15-minute data, not 1-minute, and I am worried that resolution is hiding the sequence.