On May 28, 9:03*am, Home Guy wrote:
Smitty Two wrote:
Something seems a tad fishy, but I don't think sampling some
current readings is going to help sort it out.

It's a start.

400 amps of 3-phase is a lot of juice to run a few computers,
lights, and soldering irons.

The main disconnect switch before the meter is name-plate rated at 400
amps. *It doesn't mean we're going to ever draw that much.

OP needs to spend less time fantasizing about how many hours are
in a month and more time inventorying the equipment in the building

I know exactly what equipment is in the building - I work there.

talking to its occupants

I talk to them every day. *

and looking for wires running off across the parking
lot to a secret garage lab that glows in the dark.

What-ever.

Another example of a usenet post that starts with a question, and
devolves into "why are you asking?".

I have to waste more time explaining why I want to do something or why I
want certain information about measurement techniques, and instead I get
a bunch of arm-chair blow-hardts that think they know better.

@Home Guy:

You are the one being the UseNet douche here guy...

Commercial electricity is metered based on peak demand
I don't care where you are in the US, it is the way federal
laws on the buying and selling of energy are written...

That first given established, you totally blew off the source
of the *most* qualified electrical advice on this newsgroup
supplied by RBM because you didn't like the 'format' of
his posting method and so called 'etiquette' violations
when your postings actual content is way out in orbit
of some other planet...

Now let us address the specific issues you seem to
be experiencing:

-- Your electrical meter is locked within a cabinet
enclosure where *you* the consumer are unable
to observe the cumulative readings on it at various
points during the billing period to determine any
abnormal usage issues...

That is *highly* abnormal for a meter to be locked
inside a cabinet like that where the indicator of
the amount of electricity you are going to be billed
for is concealed from you... I would place a call
to the local public utilities official and explain your
situation and that your meter is hidden away from
you where you can not read it but once a month
when the power company unlocks its cabinet,
that install does not sound kosher -- at the very
least an observation hole can be made in the
cabinet so you can see your meter...

-- Is there only *one* tenant in this "building"
as it sounds like there is only one meter...
That is an abnormal way to pay for electricity
in a commercial building if there are multiple
tenants irregardless of whether the lease
terms are gross or net (NN) (NNN)...

With one meter all you would be able to do
legally without some sort of sub-metering
involved (the emon demon that RBM mentioned)
is divide the total cost by the square footage
of the building and apportion it to the tenants
based on the tenant's square footage...

-- You are so caught up in the minutiae of how
you can home brew a way to calculate your
power use by simply calculating all the wattage
of all the devices and appliances used in your
occupancy that you seem blissfully unaware
that many things require a "starting current"
like your furnace motor and the ballasts for
those exterior light fixtures on the mechanical
timer -- with a commercial electrical service you
get billed for the highest simultaneous demand
for current as well as the simple kWh of usage...

It sounds to me like you have a lot to learn before you
even attempt to dispute anything with anyone...

It is also waaaay to late to dispute charges for
electricity billed like over a year ago -- there is usually
a time limitation which covers when you can challenge
a utility bill, I have never heard of one that let you go
more than 60-90 days after the billing date to initiate
a complaint...

Good luck man -- hope you can return safely to
earth since you are clearly in orbit somewhere with
all of this...

~~ Evan