I need to fairly divide the cost of electricity for 12 live-aboard
boat slips. What is available for under $1500 (installed) and
preferably computerized to do this? I would like to see several
alternative products.

Chris,

Thanks for your question.  I found most of what you're looking for,
but I'm afraid I can't accomodate your request for several
alternatives -- there does not seem to be many companies making the
specific products you need.

A search on:

"electric meters" boat slips 

leads inevitably to a company called EZ Meter at:  

http://www.ezmeter.com/html/order.html

They seem to be one of the only ones around making metering systems
specifically designed for use at marinas with or without a computer
interface.

Some companies that distribute EZ Meters are:

ALX Technolgies at www.alxtechnology.com/electricmeter.htm.  They
describe the meters as:


"These  watt-hour electric meters are available as  stand-alone
(EZMeter) or computer readable (EZMeter Plus) types for single or dual
circuits (slips). The  standard meters attach to 120v - 240v, single
phase circuits."

Another distributor is
http://www.davidgecontrols.com/html/lowcost.html#meter
who notes that you might save yourself some $$$:

"EZ on the Bottom Line  
 Installing any electric meter system can quickly recover its cost in
reduced electric usage. The Southwest Yacht Club in San Diego reduced
its electric usage by almost 70% several years ago when it installed
electric meters."

 

The low-end meters are the right price for your budget and, happily,
are cheaper by the dozen (although note that some auxiliary equipment
(interfaces, etc) might also be needed depending on your particulars).

ALX quotes the following prices:
Stand Alone Sequoia (Single 120v) $108 
Computer Readable Sequoia (Single 120v) $157 

The EZ Meter site also offers comprehensive pricing info.  

As a check, I also looked at other marina-oriented sites like
http://www.marinas.com/.

To the extent they mention anything about metering, they all seem to
refer back to EZ Meter distributors such as ALX Technologies.

Check them out.  If this doesn't do the trick, let me know by posting
a comment here, and I'll do some more digging.

---

Request for Answer Clarification by chris2002micrometer-ga on 07 Jun 2002 18:58 PDT

Davidsar - I want to leave this open for a week or so to find more
choices. As Tom pointed out (thanks for your informative comments,
Tom), vendors are closed for the weekend. EZ-meter apparently requires
some extras that will likely go well beyond my (installed) cost cap
and seems to be geared towards larger users. I know this stuff is
around and should be fairly cheap ($500-$1000 plus an electrician for
one day). I saw a news article a few years ago. Just put little donuts
on the wires for $50 per tenant and read it all with a computer. I
just didn't need it until I acquired this boat house. The bills are
not that big (yet) but I need to stop the fighting with something
simple and quick. They all plug into 110 volts but run their g#$%^ AC
units 24 hours. Please try to turn up 4 or 5 reasonably priced vendors
to choose from. I considered conventional meters but they require a
major rewiring job that is out of the question.
Thanks, Chris

---

Clarification of Answer by davidsar-ga on 11 Jun 2002 07:23 PDT

Chris,

I haven't forgotten about you!  I have queries in to some suppliers,
but no responses thus far...if I hear from them, I'll add a comment
here.  Mean time,  I'll give you some links here to suppliers of
marina electric meter systems.  I don't know where you are,
geographically, so I can't narrow down the list for suppliers in your
area.

I noted during my searches that, in a lot of areas, the jurisdiction
of the power company basically stops at the main meter to the marina. 
Any sub-metering done by marina management is a legitimate resale of
electricity, at a price decided by the marina, not the utility (a
frequent source of complaints by boat owners who feel the marina is
gouging them!).  Anyway, check the rules in your area -- you can
perhaps add a surcharge to the electricity fees to make up the cost of
metering.

Hope these links help:


http://www.marinadockage.com/buyersguide/electrical.htm

ALLTEL INDUSTRIES OF SOUTH FLORIDA, INC. dba MARINA & DOCK EQUIPMENT
425 Industrial St. #4, Lake Worth, FL, 33461
877/ALL-DOCKS or 561/540-2520
fax: 561/540-2522
e-mail: info@alltelindustries.com
www.alltelindustries.com

ACCURATE ELECTRONICS
P.O. Box 900, 169 S. Main Street, Orrville, OH 44667-0900
330/682-7015
fax: 330/684-1190
e-mail: contact_us@willburt.com
www.willburt.com

A.J. KREUZKAMP ASSOCIATES
586 Broadview Road, Orange CT, 06477-2167
203/877-2595
fax: 203/877-4636

CDI ELECTRONICS, DIVISION OF RAPAIR INC.
111 Commerce Circle, Madison, AL 35758
256/772-3829

CHARLES MARINE PRODUCTS
5600 Apollo Drive, Rolling Meadows, IL 60008
847/806-6300
fax: 847/806-6352
e-mail: pteah@charlesindustries.com
www.charlesindustries.com

COLE HERSEE INDUSTRIES
20 Old Colony Ave., South Boston, MA 02127
617/268-2100
fax: 617/268-9490
e-mail: info@colehersee.com

HENDERSONMARINE SUPPLY, LLC
644 Marina Way South, Richmond, CA 94804
510/235-2050
fax: 510/233-3995
e-mail: chris@hendersonmarine.com
www.hendersonmarine.com

INTERNATIONAL DOCK PRODUCTS
3101 S.W. 25th St., Bay 106, Pembroke Park, FL 33009
800/909-DOCK
e-mail: info@dockproducts.com
www.dockproducts.com 

MILBANK WEST
1541 S. Page Ct., Anaheim, CA 92806
714/939-9786 or 800/422-4260
fax: 714/939-9786

NEWPORT MARINE SYSTEMSINC. 
12-1 Technology Drive, Setauket, NY 11733
877/850-8824
fax: 631/689-2127
www.newportsystems.com

SEAWORTHY MARINA PRODUCTS
LLC
644 Marina Way S., Richmond, CA 94804
877/269-3625
fax: 510/233-3995
e-mail: sales@seaworthymarina.com
www.seaworthymarina.com

TMP MARINE PRODUCTS
98 Canal Road, Port Jefferson Station, NY 11776, USA
631/473-0382
fax: 631/473-0382
e-mail: tmpmarineprodut@aol.com
www.tmpmarine.com

---

Request for Answer Clarification by chris2002micrometer-ga on 15 Jun 2002 08:29 PDT

Davidsar -
I tried some of your latest links to no avail. What I am looking for
isn't necessarily a "marine" item. Have you tried "utility submeter"
or "electric submeter" for general purpose use in any locale? I need
products and prices (to submeter 12 outlets).

Thanks, Chris

---

Clarification of Answer by davidsar-ga on 15 Jun 2002 09:33 PDT

Hello Chris,

Yep, I've searched twelve ways to Sunday (whatever THAT means) on this
one -- meters, submetering, watthour meters, etc. all with and without
marinas or boat slips.  The information that's out there is pretty
much the information that the commenter and I have already provided.

I'll add one more lead here which looked promising, but the company
has not yet replied to my request for information...you might want to
contact them yourself.  They're a firm in Texas that refurbishes
electric meters/submeter systems, and sells them at a discount:

http://www.texasmeter.com/english/remanufactured.asp

Also, I hope you haven't dismissed my first response out of hand.  The
EZ Meters seem to meet your needs and they are in the right price
range...yes, there may be additional equipment needs beyond the meters
themselves, but not necessarily very much.  Please check it out.

unsatisfactory, no follow up. I allowed 29 days to gather info bit by bit.

Hi Chris!

I am posting a comment in lieu of an answer because I haven't any
success of meeting your $1500 bogey. Any researchers wanting to use
this info, please feel free!

I have been kicking around the outskirts of the electrical business
for quite a long time, but this was a new topic for me - thanks for
the opportunity to look into it for you.  I must admit though that I
don't have much in the way of pricing - I am conducting this search at
7:30 p.m. EDT, Friday evening; the sites don't include pricing and the
shops that I am finding tend to be on the east coast and are closed
for the weekend.

The popular name for this class of equipment is "sub-metering"
equipment, and a Google search using that parameter is very
productive.

Here are a number of sites for you to review:

Separate metering &sub-metering equipment:
http://ablegroup.net/html/40b.html

This company, Continental Control, located in Boulder, Colorado, has
the computer interface. They do have pricing listed, although their
list price is higher than your bogey:
http://www.ccontrolsys.com/WattLog.htm

Ozz Utility Management Co. in Canada has the whole bit, too:
http://www.ozzutility.com/sub_metering.asp

Here is a Wonderful catalog site listing many suppliers - the Open
Directory Project:
http://dmoz.org/Business/Industries/Electronics_and_Electrical/Substation_and_Transmission/

One of their sites that specifically addresses marinas is:
http://www.imsmeters.com/Energy-Meters.htm

http://americanenergyservices.com/

http://www.radiopath.com

Now this site has pricing: http://www.ccontrolsys.com/LonWN.htm Their
120volt, single or two phase, 2 or 3 wire, retails for $399/unit
although they quote discounts for multiple unit orders.


Search Techniques:
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&querytime=QOjd0B&q=electrical+metering

Good luck!

Tom

Chris,

Fair enough.  Give me some time to poke around some more, and I'll get
back to you with additional details on this.

See www.micrometer.com. This is well within the cost criteria.