I`m looking at leasing another office unit with what ive been told has "60 amp 600 volt" electrical capacity.

The unit can be upgraded to 100amp with an additional 45KVA transformer.

Is there a way I can check the electrical draw down of a full computer system to see how many systems can be powered on at once?

I`m thinking there must be a device to plug the system into that would tell me peak draw down?

I`m currently "between" I.T. managers so I need to figure this out myself.  

look at the back of the computer case (at the power supply where the power plug is) and look at the back of a monitor. Dont forget to leave extra room for periphals. Hopefully all your monitors are LCD.

Why not just ask the electrician who will install thw transformer? Any decent commercial leasing agent should be able to help.

Not an electrician,

but 600v @ 60 amp = 120v at 240 ish Amp

thats a boatload of PC's..

Donnie:

You cannot run PC's at 600V so you need a step down transformer to 208V. Most industrial offices/building have 30KVA transformers = 30,000 Watts, which sound about right for a 600V - 60 Amp supply which is a max. 36,000 Watt supply. If upgrade to 100 amp, then you can have a 45KVA Transformer or 45000 Watts. The average computer and monitor uses less than 1,000 watts, so you can run quite a few computers, Remember you have the office lights and all other electrical needs to account for also.  

we use macpros - they are 8 core with 14GB memory and 30 inch apple monitors - Im told this is 5amps per computer...theres no marking on the computers as to draw.

I`ll use the meter tinyrodent knidly mentioned to test true draw when the computers are doing heavy work.  I hope its a lot less than 5amps as thats not too many computers.

Quoted from HP5P

Donnie:

You cannot run PC's at 600V so you need a step down transformer to 208V. Most industrial offices/building have 30KVA transformers = 30,000 Watts, which sound about right for a 600V - 60 Amp supply which is a max. 36,000 W supply. If upgrade to 100 amp, then you can have a 45KVA Transformer or 45000 Watts. The average computer and monitor uses less than 1,000 watts do you can run quite a few computers, Remember you have the office lights and all other electrical needs to account for also.  

The current amp service is 60 amp - 240 Volts

Im told if they upgrade to 100amps that would run off a new 45KVA transformer.

so my guess is its already running the 30KVA transformers.

Question to help me get my head around electrics basics.

60 amps at 240 volts.

how many total watts is that?

The conversion of Amps to Watts is governed by the equation Watts = Amps x Volts

For example 1 amp * 110 volts = 110 watts

So.. 14400

Quoted from donnie

Question to help me get my head around electrics basics.

60 amps at 240 volts.

how many total watts is that?

Watts = Volts x Amps

You normally have 208V x 60 = 12,480 Watts

Quoted from donnie

Question to help me get my head around electrics basics.

60 amps at 240 volts.

how many total watts is that?

60 amps at 240 Volts is 14,400 Volt/Amps's or 14.4 KVA.

VA is apparent power
Watts is true power.

To convert VA to Watts you multiply by the power factor, which can vary (usually assumed to be 0.8 )
So 60 amps at 240 Volts is 14.4 KVA or 11.52 KWatts

As HP5P states what you want to do first is a general load calculation.

First, count up you general lighting and general use equipment.

coffee maker 15 Amp breaker
fridge 15 amp breaker
photocopier 15 amp breaker

Tally this up as your common use requirements.

Then count up your workspaces (1 15 amp breaker per every two spaces is a good working number. This accounts for the computer, but also screens, lights, fans, and so on.

Once you have your requirments, have a look at your capacity.

a 60 amp service at 240 V will give you 8 15 amp breakers.

A 100 amp service at 240V will give you 12 15 amp breakers.

This is just an avg calc, you can squeeze things a little tighter but you want to avoid tripping workstation breakers everytime you use the coffee maker or make a photocopy.

Wait...something doesn't fit.

240V x 100A = 24 KVA which is nowhere near 45KVA

You should confirm your power.

Questions to ask would be:

Is it a single phase or 3 phase system?
What is the line to line voltage?
What is the main breaker size?

These three questions will determine the overall rating. ie 3phase 208V 60A service/  1phase 240 60A service/ 3phase 600V 60A service.

This would very much affect the outcome of any load calculation you would do.

For example

3phase 208V 60A service is equal to 21.5 KVA
1phase 240 60A service is equal to 14.4 KVA
3phase 600V 60A service is equal to 62.3 KVA

I assume you have some kind of set up in use at the moment, Just put a clip on ampmeter on the cable going to your present load, take the current reading, and estimate proportionally what you will need.
No need to break out the calculator, if it's that close you are headed for trouble anyway.
Tim

Quoted from Alienagent

I assume you have some kind of set up in use at the moment, Just put a clip on ampmeter on the cable going to your present load, take the current reading, and estimate proportionally what you will need.
No need to break out the calculator, if it's that close you are headed for trouble anyway.
Tim

Not really a good practice.  To draw a comparison, if you were building a new house you wouldn't meter your old house electrical and base your decisions on that. You would design a electrical system based on the requirements of the new house. Besides that, a meter reading is only a snap shot of electrical consumption, It doesn't really reflect capacity, only usage for that moment. Random usage figures can be misleading.

To do a proper job, you want to base your decisions on your actual new requirements. Take the time to look at how your business operates, do a little research on your actual requirements, and install the electrical system you need.

Pete, I think the 45kVA was from the 600V, not 240V (600Vx100Ax0.8pf=48kW).  Even so the numbers seem a bit off.

Donnie, I wouldn't worry about determining if the building will cover the load, figure out your load requirements and then give those as your specifications in the lease.  Here's a bad analogy, if you want a 2'x4' table made, but the manufacturer's machines are in metric.  Who would you feel more comfortable making the conversion?  Better yet, what happens if the conversion is wrong?