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Spotlight on Power Management 2019

Some examples of this up-and-coming product category.

Power is typically handled well before the integrator gets involved in a job. Still, it is a key contributor to the overall quality of the system, and is more frequently coming into discussion with clients. In fact, the HTSA recently identified energy management as an area of growth for its members. Not surprisingly, Joe Piccirilli, managing partner and founder for Rosewater Energy Group, agrees:

“The question becomes how can integrators get involved earlier in the project planning process,” he says. “One way is to become a power quality and energy management expert. Once you have established your knowledge on power protection, quality, and management, you are brought in at the electrical design phase of the project. And you are given a higher priority for space and budget allocation.

“By engaging the client in a conversation about power quality and the effects of poor power quality on the equipment in the house, and through presenting a high-quality, whole-house, panel-level solution to those problems, you have established yourself as the power and energy management expert for the entire project,” Piccirilli continues. “Because your solution covers more than the equipment you typically install, you are granted early access to space and budget.”

Here are some of the latest product introductions designed to keep your systems humming (but without hum…).

BlueBOLT 2.0
Providing integrators with new tools to manage installations and opportunities to generate recurring revenue, Nortek Security & Control introduced BlueBOLT 2.0 IP Power Management at the recent InfoComm in Orlando, FL. This is a major update to its real-time, cloud- and LAN-based control and monitoring platform.

BlueBOLT can be paired with Panamax and Furman power conditioners, which are also brands under the Nortek umbrella, to deliver the power protection, performance, and management for projects. The BlueBOLT IP power management platform reduces service calls with remote reboots of problem devices; maximizes network health with scheduled power cycles; and self-heals network devices — all managed from anywhere with an internet connection.

BlueBOLT 2.0 includes a new UI and additional features such as Watchlist, which enables tagging of high-priority locations and devices; Super Search, which provides a faster search engine to find customers, locations, and devices; and Advanced ADMIN, which allows users to manage access rights for individuals as well as groups.

 

Middle Atlantic Products Premium+ PDU with RackLink
Middle Atlantic Products’ Premium+ PDU with RackLink is a power distribution and management solution. More than power distribution, the Premium+ PDU features RackLink, Middle Atlantic’s remote management system. RackLink allows integrators control either locally or virtually through third-party AV control systems, cloud platforms, RESTful API, and SNMP for flexible management. In addition, it’s developed around Raritan’s XERUS platform, a proven solution for secure networks

Available in horizontal rackmount and compact models, the new solution provides under/over voltage, filtering, and surge protection with Middle Atlantic’s Series Protection (SP). It also provides accurate power monitoring and logging for current, voltage, watts, and power factor at the outlet level. This system insight enables integrators to understand exactly what any AV system is doing at any moment. Helping to curb the problems that heat and humidity in the rack can create, it features enhanced environmental monitoring capabilities with up to 32 individual sensors that can connect to a single unit to keep tabs on temperature and humidity.

RoseWater Energy Group HUB SB20 Energy and Storage System
We couldn’t start this article with a quote from Joe Piccirilli and not include his product! The HUB SB20 Energy and Storage System is an all-in-one residential and light commercial power quality solution that integrates three industrial-grade capabilities into one ubiquitous platform to serve the complete power quality needs of an entire premise.

The HUB SB20 outputs 100 percent pure sine wave power to protect and enhance the performance of all home and office electronics. It also features an uninterruptible power supply with zero transfer time and a large amount of battery backup and industrial-grade surge protection.

The HUB SB20 replaces point-of-use UPS strips and boxes with an integrated whole-house backup plan. The HUB SB20 provides a seamless backup plan for any household. Users can stay connected and online during power outages and shortages with the HUB SB20.

The Savant-Racepoint Connection
Savant has partnered with sister company Racepoint Energy to provide their clients with a custom-designed, turnkey energy microgrid. Microgrid technology is designed to provide home owners with energy independence during grid outages. Racepoint Energy, combined with Savant’s control platform, takes microgrid technology a step further by being able to dynamically manage all electrical loads and rethink how energy is delivered, measured, managed, and consumed.

Racepoint Energy provides design, engineering, and commissioning of solar, generator, and battery systems. Integration with Savant gives users smart energy control, including complete dynamic environmental control of climate, lighting, and other electrical loads. A Savant and Racepoint Energy system is designed to connect to all circuits, allowing the user or conditional logic to determine which modes or devices are needed based on current consumption, pricing, and/or onsite energy capacity. Choices can be made and adjusted using the Savant Pro App and Savant Central Management.

Sense Intelligent Energy Monitor
The Sense intelligent energy monitor installs in the home’s electrical panel and uses machine learning to automatically sense the electricity in the house, tracking it in real-time. In the Sense app, homeowners can tell how much energy they are using and how much it costs. They can check energy usage by day, week, month, or utility billing cycle.

Sense lets the homeowner set goals, track progress, and get alerts at specific billing or usage levels. Sense also learns the energy “signatures” of appliances so that it can track their usage and energy consumption in real time. Homeowners can see how much electricity they’re using, what time their kids got home, or when a basement light comes on. Sense identifies patterns in your energy use to help customers be more efficient, informed, and secure.

Sense integrates with the Phillips Hue lighting system, so you can track and control Hue lights, and also with Alexa using IFTTT, so your clients can ask Alexa to check on their homes.

SurgeX Defender Series
The SurgeX Defender Series line includes the SX-DS1011i, a 10-amp/230-volt plug configuration with 11 IEC outlets, and the SX-DS-1611i with a 16-amp/230-volt plug configuration with 11 IEC outlets. Designed with patented Multi-Stage surge suppression technology, the Defender Series line protects AV equipment from electrical transients that can cause harmful system disruptions with three-stage protection and filtration that virtually eliminates normal and common-mode electrical noise interference that can cause frequent reboots and downtime.

The SX-DS-1011i and SX-DS-1611i models provide comprehensive power protection and conditioning in a compact, shallow, and rack-mountable form factor, with each model at 8.5 inches/22 centimeters deep and taking up only 1U of rack space.

 

Torus Power PB 5 Toroidal Isolation Transformer
Torus Power’s PowerBlock PB 5 toroidal isolation transformer is designed to power and protect TVs, projectors, receivers, and source components in compact AV systems. Ideal for isolating digital components from analog equipment, the PB 5 is designed for residential and light commercial applications.

The PB 5’s surge suppression and noise filtering through proprietary narrow bandwidth technology (NBT) allow AV components to deliver a high-quality performance. Audio has a lower noise floor, better dynamics, imaging, and bass, and video is notably crisper with brighter colors, deeper blacks, and a more compelling overall image.

PB 5 PowerBlock units use a 5-amp toroidal isolation transformer to physically decouple the equipment from the power supply, delivering a lower noise floor and cleaner power for AV systems.

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