A Quick Overview Of How To Power Your Event Efficiently
Whether it’s a corporate event, a PR display or an outdoor music festival, you’ll always want to make sure your power is running at peak capacity – preferably without straining any generators or other power sources! Mastering this efficiency might well be harder than you think, and even professional festival organisers generally only manage to keep theirs between 70% and 80%. We won’t go into exhaustive details in this post, but as experts in electrical power distribution, we’re confident the below should give you a good idea of the key areas you need to consider.
The Basic Considerations For Powering Your Event
Whether you’re an electrical professional who’s taking the lead, or you’re liaising with senior technicians and engineers, you’ll need to make sure that everyone concerned (including yourself) is familiar with the core basics. First and foremost, this includes the layout of the venue; that means looking at the power distribution performance areas, any traders, public arenas and access and egress routes. Then you’ll need to consider all the individual and collective power requirements of these areas, and ensure that you’ve got the capacity to meet demand. Generators are the most common resort for outdoor music venues, as they often take place in relatively remote areas, but if you’re planning a corporate or PR event, you might well have access to existing power mains that you can use for your power distros.
If so, you’ll need to make sure you’re thoroughly familiar with its capabilities, and whether it alone is enough to power your event. If not, a generator might well be a worthy investment! From there, you’ll need to make sure you know the locations of any existing overhead power lines or buried cables, so you can avoid disrupting them. (If you accidentally do so, you might find that your event suddenly gets a lot more expensive, if you catch our drift!) Be mindful of any environmental conditions such as likely rain or forecasted snow, and generally ensure that your electrical environment is set out in a way that adheres to the advice in BS7909 – the code of practice for temporary electrical systems for entertainment and similar purposes.
Guaranteeing Efficiency And Smooth Running
Once you’re certain of the power requirements, ensure that you sort out a timetable of what’s being used at what time. Remember, too much power being drawn at once can all too easily lead to an electrical overload. Earthing your cables and rerouting any overhead or underground cables as necessary are two more vital considerations for guaranteeing everything goes smoothly. You might also want to think about special or dedicated power supplies for certain equipment, especially if it’s not UK-equipment.
Then you’ll want to look at various supplies for individual facilities like catering, first aid, incident control and security. The comfort of your attendees should also come high up the list, so make sure all relevant areas are equipped with proper heating and air conditioning. Finally, ensure there are provisions to recharge any battery charged equipment – you don’t want your security or medical staff to be suddenly left unable to communicate with each other!
At Rubber Box, we’re experts in creating quality power distros and rubber boxes to help you create and maintain the optimum distribution system. You can click here to browse our range of 32a power distros, or give us a call on 01282 677 910 if you’re thinking about placing an order.