The minute a lightbulb burns out in your place of business, Don Howell can tell you about it. By e-mail, that is – the tall Virginian won’t show up at your office door. His company, ADMMicro, installs power metering equipment that can tell when an air conditioning filter needs to be changed or whether a freezer door has been left open.
“We know at any moment exactly how energy is being used,” Howell says in a thick Blue Ridge drawl.
At one time only large commercial facilities could afford such sophisticated technology. But Howell is making submetering pay in even the smallest buildings. ADM installs submeters wherever the client can save money by cutting power consumption. Popular sites include HVAC units and lighting systems. Clients can view online power reports that are updated from every 10 seconds to once a day, depending on their preference.
Because ADM handles its own manufacturing and power monitoring, Howell believes that the company will come to dominate the small-client niche. And a promising development on the horizon is overseas sales. Howell recently signed a contract with Eason and Son, a large chain of bookstores in Ireland.
Photo by ADMMicro.