The Onicon System 10 BTU Meter puts certified calibrated precision metering for your building systems’ energy, flow and temperature data at your fingertips.

I’m afraid that I’ve already lost the interest of many with the summarization above… but for those mechanical engineers or facility managers still with me, listen up because you’re going to love this.

Onicon Incorporated, for anyone who isn’t aware, makes meters. Btu meters, flow meters, vortex mass flow meters… they offer competitive pricing, and a great product, but their customer service is what really sets them apart (as demonstrated by their impressive customer list http://www.onicon.com/Customer_List.shtml).

The Onicon System-10 BTU Meter is a “highly accurate microprocessor based instrument designed to provide full energy, flow and temperature data both at the front panel LCD and over a network compatible interface”. So to simplify that, the System-10 allows a facility to track the performance of their chilled water, hot water or condenser water temperature, flow and energy (Btu, which stands for British Thermal Units) and export that data to the building automation system (BAS), or view it at the user interface panel. Metering these systems will provide the building operations staff with a clear picture of how each system is performing and help identify any areas of deficiency before system operation is compromised.

All the necessary meter components (mechanical installation hardware, color coded interconnecting cabling, and installation instructions) come directly from Onicon – what they call “Single Source Responsibility” – and each system is individually calibrated using application specific flow and temperature data and then provided with individual calibration certifications.

System-10 includes two matched temperature sensors (accuracy better than ±0.15°F from 32-200°F), but the insertion or inline flow meters required must be ordered separately. The temperature differential and flow rate provide enough information to then calculate energy in Btus. These systems are ideal for applications like tenant billing, central plant monitoring, university campus monitoring, continuous commissioning, and energy audits. There are definitely some instances where these systems would be too advanced for users, but I can think of several projects that would be ideal fits for these. Those projects also happen to be LEED projects, where enhanced metering and sub-metering can even help a project earn credits in several rating systems.

Also worth mentioning is the fact that Onicon recommends the turbine insertion turbine and inline turbine flow meters are ideal for closed loop chilled and hot water systems where water quality is controlled, while their electromagnetic flow meters are ideal for open loop condenser water systems and any application where water quality may be less than ideal.