RIB Power Meter Provides Power Monitoring Solution

Earlier this year, Functional Devices released a BACnet® MS/TP, revenue grade, energy sub-meter - RIBPM413-BC. Check out this Tech Tuesday to learn more about it!

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Whether it is for tenant billing or monitoring power consumption of equipment in a building, sub-meters have been used for a long time and are becoming more common. Earlier this year, Functional Devices released a BACnet® MS/TP, revenue grade, energy sub-meter – RIBPM413-BC. This week’s blog will provide an overview of this product and highlight some of its features and capabilities.

The USA Made, RIBPM413-BC works with any UL or ETL Listed 333mV current transformer. Conveniently, we offer current transformers (CTA 1 Series). This BACnet devices can be used on 3-Phase, 4-Wire or Single-Phase, 2 or 3-Wire systems from 120 – 277 Vac. It is only intended for Category III installations or less. This means it cannot be used in a Category IV installation. It is also capable of NET metering, which means it can differentiate between energy being generated or consumed by the load(s). You saw it right, that little “s” at the end of “load” means you can meter multiple loads (up to three) at once, with a single RIBPM413-BC. The Installation Guide explains how this can be accomplished.

The RIBPM413-BC has two on-board LEDs that provide some general information when viewing the unit, like a heartbeat blink, some energy usage information, and MS/TP communication status. Detailed information, however, is all transmitted over BACnet® to the front end. A complete list of all supported objects can be found on pages 3-5 on the installation guide linked above. All the measurement data is provided via Analog Input (AI) objects. They range from line voltages, current, and frequencies to active, reactive, and apparent power.

If you would like more information, check out the Power Monitoring section of our website. If you have any questions, just contact us. We will be happy to help.

Henry Smith
Henry Smith

Henry Smith is the Product Design Manager at Functional Devices, Inc. He has a BS in EET obtained from Purdue University in 2014 and a lifelong interest in electronics. As an engineer at Functional Devices, he gets to provide Technical Support to our customers, from distributors to specifying engineers and installers.

Henry enjoys providing tech support, as it allows our company to assist at every level of our product’s lifecycle and exposes us to interesting and unique applications. While not every technical question is unique, even answering a simple question or providing someone with the information in a timely manner can go a long way to helping them meet a deadline.

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