An empty retail unit used as much electricity as 50 households
Around 450 kWh of excess consumption a day, in premises where nobody was working
The shop had closed, and nobody was working on the premises. Even so, electricity consumption rose from under 150 kWh to over 600 kWh a day. Enity’s support team spotted the excess consumption during daily monitoring, contacted the customer, and the excess consumption was stopped.
150 → 600 kWh
Daily consumption rose from under 150 kWh to over 600 kWh while the unit stood empty
+450 kWh
Excess consumption every day, equal to the daily use of around 40 households
€5,500
Saved on a single meter once Enity’s support team spotted the excess consumption
What happened?
An empty shop should use very little electricity
The shop closed on 5 April. After that, electricity consumption dropped to the low level you would expect in premises with no staff, no customers and no opening hours. Normal daily consumption was under 150 kWh.
On 14 May that changed. Consumption suddenly rose, and until 25 May it stayed above 600 kWh a day. That is around 450 kWh of excess consumption every day, or more than four times the normal level.
How much is 600 kWh?
An average Danish household uses around 4,000 kWh of electricity a year, or around 11 kWh a day*. So every day, the empty unit used as much electricity as around 50 households. The excess consumption of 450 kWh alone equals the daily use of around 40 households.
*source: Bolius
How the excess consumption was found
The customer has an Enity Full Service subscription. That means Enity’s support team monitors their energy data every day, using advanced analytics tools and AI. The team reviews the system’s alerts and anomalies daily, so unusual consumption is caught early and problems can be dealt with quickly.
When consumption in the empty unit rose, the support team spotted it and contacted the customer. The customer found the cause, and from 25 May consumption was back at a low level.
The result
- Around €5,500 saved on a single meter
- The excess consumption was stopped after around 11 days
- Consumption settled below its level before the problem began
Empty buildings are blind spots
When a shop closes or a unit stands empty, hardly anyone drops by. The electricity bill only arrives afterwards, and excess consumption can run for weeks or months without anyone noticing.
The cause is often something entirely mundane. An air conditioning unit running at full power in empty rooms. Ventilation that no longer follows opening hours because the timer was reset after a power cut. Heating and cooling working against each other in the same room. Or an electric radiator or fan heater that a contractor switched on and forgot to switch off.
It also happens in buildings that are in use. In the evenings and at weekends, nobody hears a compressor that never stops, or sees that the lights in the storeroom are on all night.
On their own, these are small faults, but they cost money for as long as they go unnoticed.
If you have many buildings, it is precisely the ones you don’t think about day to day that need monitoring. With hourly data, you can see excess consumption as it happens, not when the bill arrives.
What it looked like in Enity
More cases from the meters
- A daycare centre used as much water every day as a family uses in three months
- Do you know which of your sites are working overtime tonight?
- 24,000 litres of water vanished while the building slept
See all customer cases, or read more about Enity for retail and wholesale.
Frequently asked questions
Why does an empty building use electricity?
Even in empty premises, equipment such as ventilation, heating, lighting, cooling or servers is often still running. If something isn’t switched off or starts running incorrectly, consumption can rise without anyone being there.
How do you detect excess consumption in an empty building?
By tracking consumption hour by hour and comparing it with the building’s normal level. An energy management system like Enity EMS collects data from your meters and makes anomalies quick to spot. With a Full Service subscription, Enity’s support team also reviews those anomalies for you every day.
What can it cost if excess consumption goes unnoticed?
In this case, the excess consumption was around 450 kWh a day. The saving on that one meter came to around €5,500.
We can help you, too
Download brochure
Read more about energy efficiency with Enity EMS. To the benefit of both the budget and the climate.
Book a demo
We show you the possibilities and potentials for optimizing your energy consumption.
