For every property owner, it is critical to have a basic understanding of their property’s electrical load. The concern becomes much more prominent in case you are renovating your property or moving to a new place to set up your home or a commercial business.
If you understand the fundamentals, getting an electric load letter seems easier. There are companies that offer similar services as soon as you upload your architectural floor plan and information related to your property like area, occupancy, equipment type, etc.
Before we get into the details of obtaining the services, let’s first understand the basics of an electric load letter.
What is an Electric Load Letter?
In essence, electric load refers to the amount of energy required to power electric appliances like kitchen equipment, lighting fixtures, washing machines, dryer, water heaters, ACs, etc. Shortly any equipment which is essential at home or for businesses to run smoothly.
The electric equipment we use in our residential and commercial set-ups gets power from within the building. Whereas the utility companies like National Grid, and Con Edison share specific energy with these buildings. This is the reason why electric load calculations are important to be performed by an experienced service professional to request and demonstrate any additional power supply.
An electric load letter, on the other hand, is a document of rating that provides all the information regarding a facility’s overall electric load to determine what components could run with the load within the premises. There are electric load letters for commercial as well as residential buildings. Usually, the tenants or floor owners share an electric load letter with the building management company or upload it on the utility company website directly.
Get an Electric Load Letter in The Shortest Turnaround Time
Why is an electric Load Letter Required?
Heating equipment, ACs, chillers, computers, and lighting are the kind of appliances that demand specific loads. When the electric load is known accurately, an adequate supply of electricity can be obtained from power companies. By knowing the accurate electric load, the building owners can save money by getting installation with the optimal capacity.
Appliances with electric motors are generally considered the largest loads in any building (commercial and residential included). Moreover, the compressors of ACs have the highest power consumption. In order to find the accurate load, service from a professional engineering firm is required.
Another reason to consider the services is a case when building renovation is required. There may be some old wiring that is not sufficient to carry a projected load. This means that the electrical infrastructure needs an upgrade to match up to the requirement of the premises.
What Information does Electric Load Letter Contain?
Regardless of the type of load letter, both (residential & commercial) documents will have general as well as specific information regarding the building type, details of the customers, square footage of the building, type of electric service supplied, specified voltage (whether commercial or residential and as per the local codes demand), details of the load management devices and backup power to mention a few.
How is the Electric Load Calculated?
Calculating the electric load requires having a basic understanding of the ampere load of all the appliances in a property. It is recommended that a total load of your premises should never exceed 80 percent of the electrical service’s capacity.
To get a deeper understanding, it is essential to get familiar with three common electric terms (Watts, Amps, Volts) commonly used for finding out a premise’s electrical load. There is a simple formula (written below) to calculate the load of an entire electrical circuit.
Volts x Amps = Watts
Watts/ Volts = Amps
While these calculations will help you with an idea of the ideal load allowed on your premises, it is best to get services from qualified engineers. Such services are easily available with MEP design companies that offer end-to-end services.
NY Engineers’ 3 Steps Process to Get an Electric Load Letter
Here is a brief of NY Engineer’s 3-step process:
1. Getting the required data from the customers
The very first step starts by checking the fuel requirement for big equipment. These include a dryer, cooking equipment, and a water heater. The professionals need to find out whether the equipment will use gas or electricity to run.
Another important concern is to find out the type of HVAC systems in order to calculate the load as per the system or standard model number. Getting the floor plan, specific area (sq. ft), and occupancy type are also included in the very first step.
2. Doing All the Calculations
By having the estimates of the accurate load, the professionals are then required to calculate the entire energy requirement and supply.
The next concern for the professional is to check system consumption in case-specific details are available from the manufacturer’s website or catalog.
3. Letter Preparation and Submission
The last step for the professionals includes letter preparation and stamping based on the calculations.
After stamping, the electric load letter is shared with the customers or is uploaded on the power company’s site like Con Edition, National grid, and DTE energy to initiate further processes performed by these companies.
Thinking Ahead
A simple electric upgrade in your premises can make any future electric expansion possible. As soon as you will add new utilities to your home, the electric load should also be increased. The right electric upgrade can help to improve the appearance of any premises plus it will ensure there won’t be any overload issues happening.
Know more about NY Engineers' electric load letter service by connecting with us at (646) 776-4010.
