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Product category: Electrical Services
News Release from: Moeller Electric | Subject: Electrical distribution installations
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial Team on 18 September 2007

Cut costs not corners with Moeller
Electric

Mike Laycock from Moeller Electric, believes that it is possible to save money on electrical distribution installations, but that the most obvious ways of doing this are usually not the best.

In every area of business today, there are constant pressures to cut costs Electrical contracting is certainly no exception

It's understandable, therefore, that contractors are tempted to resort to sourcing the cheapest possible components for their distribution installations, simply so that they can submit a competitive tender to increase their chance of winning the contract.

The problem, of course, is that cheap components often compromise on quality.

The metalwork used in distribution boards may, for example, be thin and lacking in strength, and the breakers themselves may offer a very limited range of options.

That said, the pressure to cut costs isn't going to go away, so how can it be addressed without affecting quality and performance? As is so often the case, advances in technology provide the answer.

Take, for example, an ordinary TPandN distribution board.

For applications with loads up to 63A, the automatic choice is a board with an MCB.

However, with today's proliferation of electrical equipment, there are an increasing number of instances where larger loads are involved.

The standard answer is to move up to a board that uses MCCBs.

Technically, this approach can't be faulted but, unfortunately, there's a substantial price difference between an MCB board and one based on MCCBs.

A better solution is to use one of the recently introduced distribution boards that can accommodate MCBs rated up to 125A for the outgoing circuits.

It's also worth bearing in mind that component cost is not the whole story.

A board which is heavy will require two people to install it, whereas a board with a removable pan assembly can be installed single-handed.

This leads to useful savings in expensive site labour.

Another important factor is wiring space.

Cheap boards can be notoriously difficult to wire, which means that any savings made on buying them are quickly outweighed by the extra time taken on site, not to mention the increased risk of wiring problems and errors.

The drawbacks of supposedly cheap components are becoming even more marked as the demand for intelligence in power distribution systems grows.

As well as low initial costs, specifiers want security of supply and minimal downtime, and are quickly realising that intelligent breakers provide the key.

The ability to monitor real-time current information is, for example, an important aid to setting up and maintaining the installation, as is, in the event of trip, a clear indication of why that trip has occurred.

Warning of an impending trip is also invaluable in applications, such as hospitals and industrial plant, where supply failures can have serious and expensive consequences, since the warning gives time for action to be taken to prevent the interruption to the supply.

For enlightened specifiers who consider not only the initial price but also the lifetime costs when choosing electrical systems, the attraction of reducing expensive downtime is clear.

Intelligent breakers can, however, do even more by facilitating energy monitoring and management.

With the introduction of Part L of the Building Regulations and the certainty of further legislation of this type being enacted in the future, these monitoring and management features are set, before long, to cease being options and move firmly into the category of essentials.

While intelligence in breakers is clearly desirable, many suppliers offer intelligent features as factory-fitted extras.

These add significantly to the basic cost of the breaker and can potentially extend delivery times.

A simpler and more cost-effective approach, which has been adopted by Moeller Electric, is to build in intelligence as standard in selected product ranges.

There's no doubt that competitive pricing is essential to success in electrical contracting, but I firmly believe that using cheap components is not a good way to achieve this, especially because, as the contract progresses and the equipment enters service, they often turn out to be a rather expensive option.

Hopefully, however, I have been able to show that there is a better way to cut costs by taking full advantage of the possibilities opened up by the innovative power distribution products which are now entering the marketplace.

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