Cut costs, not corners

In all areas of business today there are constant pressures to cut costs. Electrical contracting is no exception. It’s easy to understand that contractors are tempted to resort to sourcing the cheapest possible components for distribution installations, simply so that they can submit a competitive tender to increase their chance of winning the contract.

The problem 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 also performance?

Advances in technology can provide the answer. Take an ordinary triple pole and neutral distribution board. For applications with loads up to 63 A, the automatic choice is a board with an MCB.

However, with today’s proliferation of electrical kit, there is 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 125 A for the outgoing circuits.

Component cost is not the whole story. A heavy board will require two people to install it, whereas a board with a removable pan assembly can be installed single-handed.

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.

Specifiers want security of supply and minimal downtime, and are quickly realising that intelligent breakers provide the key

The drawbacks of supposedly cheap components are becoming even more marked as the demand for intelligence in power distribution systems grows. 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 an important aid to setting up and maintaining the installation, as is, in the event of a trip, a clear indication of why that trip has occurred.

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

For enlightened specifiers who consider the lifetime costs, the attraction of reducing expensive downtime is clear. Intelligent breakers, however, can do even more by facilitating monitoring and managing energy.

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 to cease being options and move firmly into the category of essentials.

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 that are now entering the marketplace.