Creating virtual meters

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Virtual meters are used to create a calculated meter point from one or more physical meters, for example, to create a meter that aggregates total HVAC load from several HVAC related meters.

The first step in creating a virtual meter is to create the meter. Only users with system administrator access can create meters.
  1. In the Meters grid, click Create New.
  2. Fill in the details of the meter. Labels prefixed with * are mandatory.
    • The chosen component must be the same as the source meters. If the component is not the same as the source meters then you will not be able to configure the virtual meter correctly.
    • The Serial No. is the unique reference for the virtual meter and should follow the same naming convention as the source meter. Add a suffix of either .vm or _vm, for example, ACME_MTR_E0_vm.
  3. After you have created the meter, select the meter and right-click Virtual Meter Setup.
  4. Click Create New on the Virtual Meter Setup page.
  5. Select the source meter that this virtual meter is linked to and enter the percentage of the source meter that is included in the virtual meter. A positive assigned percentage (e.g 100, 75, 50 etc.) will apply an addition function of the source meter to the virtual meter based on the nominated percentage. A negative assigned percentage (e.g -100, -75, -50 etc.) will apply a subtraction function of the source meter to the virtual meter based on the nominated percentage.

Virtual meter reporting based on statistics

Although you can view virtual meter data in most meter level dashboards and reports, virtual meter data does not roll up to dashboards and reports at the location, group and organization level by default. Dashboards and reports at these levels are normally based on monthly aggregated data, which is typically generated only for physical meters.

A setting can be enabled by IBM Envizi to generate monthly aggregated data for virtual meters to enable the data to be displayed on higher level dashboards and reports. Consider the following items before requesting the setting to be enabled:
Virtual meter consolidation rules

Before enabling monthly data aggregation for virtual meters, check that the consolidation tag for all virtual meters has been set correctly to avoid double counting and over-reporting. For more information, see the Setting consolidation tags topic.

Historical virtual meter Stats

Enabling monthly data aggregation for virtual meters applies only to data loaded from that point onwards. If you require monthly data to be aggregated for historical data, this can be performed on request from IBM Envizi.

Virtual meter with physical readings

If a virtual meter for some reason has physical readings loading against it directly, the monthly data aggregation ignores the physical readings and relies only on the calculated values based on the related source or physical meters.

Data integrity check

Monthly data aggregation occurs only for virtual meters where there is a minimum threshold of 95% readings available in the related source meters. This is to reduce false alarms, and to reduce the generation of misleading reports related to virtual meters because of incomplete data. The 95% threshold equates to approximately two missing readings per day for each related source meter.

If you have reviewed the previous information and consider that the monthly aggregated data feature is required for your reporting need, contact IBM® support to assess the impact and arrange it to be enabled for your environment.