Testing Electrical Capacity of New Offices?

Posted by Cliff on Wednesday March 10, 2004 @08:10AM from the tossing-on-a-load dept.

An anonymous reader asks: "Running a small graphic design studio, we've hit a snag that I'm sure many tech-reliant small businesses have hit before: our small flock of file servers, multi-processor machines and 22" monitors draws more electricity then the wiring in our current space can take. We're looking for a new space for this and other reasons, and as we look around we're generally forced to take the word of landlords as to what sort of amperage an electrical system can provide. Does anyone in the Slashdot community know a reliable way to test and see if an electrical system can support the needs of a computer-reliant business?"

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Have you considered? by krangomatik · 2004-03-10 08:10 · Score: 4, Insightful

Bringing a qualified electrician along when looking for new office space. Or at least having an electrician give it a looking over before you sign a lease. They should be able to look at the power coming into the building as well as the current distribution system within the building and give you some idea as to whether or not it could meet your needs.

Total available amperage to your offices doesn't always do you a whole lot of good if you can't get the circuits you need to your server rooms. Be sure to discuss with the landlord any plans you may have to add or move existing circuits around.