Toronto Electricians and Electrical Contractors

Each of us can point to a new technology that changed life as we knew it. The TV remote. The PC or Mac. Streaming music and video. In the recent business world, disruptive technologies have included mobility, sensing, analytics, IoT, IoT Edge and, last but not least, cloud . The cloud was—and remains—huge. The phenomenon of cloud computing led to life-changing digital services such as a revamped Netflix business model. It also launched a frenzy of corporate efforts to move enterprise IT applications to the cloud, which delivers highly scalable computing power, low-cost data storage, and easier access to that data. Now, more than a decade later, we’re all taking another look at the big brain that is the cloud. For sure we need the cloud, especially for processing huge volumes of data to build, test, and perfect AI models . But does it make business sense to push everything there? When you consider critical environments such as heavy processing (Oil & Gas, petro chemicals), nuclear...

We all know how potentially devastating electrical fires can be in any kind of building. Not only is human life put at risk, but also the resulting property damage and business disruption can be extremely costly. Take, for example, the fire caused by a switchgear failure at Atlanta’s Hartsfield Airport in 2017, which caused US$50 million in losses and 1,400 cancelled flights for Delta Airlines. Electrical fires account for 22 percent of workplace fires and are one of the top causes of fires in hospitals (after cooking-related incidents). While the electrical fires are often due to defects in medium or low voltage system wiring, switches, and motors, one major insurance carrier estimates approximately 25 percent of all major electrical failures are due to loose or faulty connections. This is why many regulatory bodies require annual thermal surveys to reduce the risks of fire due to faulty connections. Up to now, infrared (IR) thermography has been the method used for these surveys. ...

Connect to power fast For panel builders, one of the most powerful ways to improve margins is to save time. Well, to be more specific, to save time while ensuring an accurate, safe installation . Saving time only works when it includes precision. For example, plenty of panelboards look great at a glance: well-designed, organized, and clean. But then perhaps an issue arose after meter installation – one that initially went unnoticed – and now there’s secondary work to do. Too bad that these issues weren’t noticed during design. Now there are dozens of screw terminals (probably requiring different screwdriver sizes) and terminal blocks to troubleshoot or re-wire. The simple things make the difference Panel builders will be familiar with the above scenario. A rushed meter installation might lead to unforced errors or extra time spent fabricating and assembling. Thankfully, meter technology exists that can save significant meter installation time (up to 75% in fact) with a couple of R...

As the cleanup continues in the Caribbean, Puerto Rico, Texas, Florida and elsewhere from some of the most devastating storms these areas have seen in decades, companies would do well to determine what additional steps they can take beyond their usual disaster preparedness plans in the face of serious, “500-year” storms. Schneider Electric operates data centers around the globe on behalf of its customers, so has detailed disaster preparedness plans in place that we continually update and optimize. In most instances, disaster preparedness means having enough supplies on hand – fuel, water and food, for example – to last about 7 days. That is normally enough time to get roads cleared and such, so you can resupply after the event. But “normal” doesn’t always apply. With some of these storms, we’ve seen roads largely impassable, making it difficult to distribute the limited supplies that reach the area. It’s a situation that presents valuable lessons in planning for the worst. In the ...

SESTA Approved by Senate Commerce Committee—Still an Awful Bill The Senate Commerce Committee just approved a slightly modified version of SESTA, the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act ( S. 1693 ). SESTA was and continues to be a deeply flawed bill. It would weaken 47 U.S.C. § 230, (commonly known as “CDA 230” or simply “Section 230”), one of the most important laws protecting free expression online . Section 230 says that for purposes of enforcing certain laws affecting speech online, an intermediary cannot be held legally responsible for any content created by others. It’s not surprising when a trade association endorses a bill that would give its own members a massive competitive advantage. SESTA would create an exception to Section 230 for laws related to sex trafficking, thus exposing online platforms to an immense risk of civil and criminal litigation. What that really means is that online platforms would be forced to take drastic measures to censor their users. Some SE...

The previous post in this series pointed out that operating conditions are critical in medium voltage (MV) design. Extremes in temperature and humidity should be avoided as well as exposure to pollutants. The first post noted that components meeting standard IEC 62271-200 ensures switchgear and controlgear can handle all situations that fall within environmental and operating conditions. However, that brings up an important point for panel builders. Standards aren’t set in stone. Beyond their primary purpose to protect users, workers, the environment, and not to reinvent the wheel, they also are used to sell globally while trying to harmonize any functional need facilitating any specification. Standards must evolve over time to respond to changes in products, technology and the regulatory framework. Standards that specify how devices are to be integrated and tested, are mentioned within IEC 62271 series and IEEE C37.20.2 . These have been transformed to meet new requirements, and...

Oil and Gas producers continue to be highly focused on reducing their operations costs to reach break-even prices below $40/bbl.  Although oil prices have recovered to above $60/bbl recently, companies must continue to make investments in improving operational efficiencies to sustain and improve their profitability in the new ‘normal’ era of low oil prices. Break-Even Prices of Oil Companies since 2014 Where to focus to sustain continuing cost reduction…. According to ARC Advisory Group, companies could lose up to 5% of production due to unplanned downtime. The average impact of unscheduled downtime has caused process companies to lose more than $20 billion in production annually. As production assets in the oil fields -whether offshore or onshore- are always exposed to harsh environments, maintaining equipment to keep up with production is often challenging.   Due to the asset-intensive nature of oil and gas companies, any slight improvement in asset utilization can...