Question about enclosures and outside temperatures

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henry_jacobs
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Joined: Wed Feb 15, 2023 9:43 pm

Question about enclosures and outside temperatures

Post by henry_jacobs »

Any issues with devices overheating in an UL enclosure in the winter or freezing up under extreme cold?
How much heat does each module generate?
Jameson
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Location: Santa Cruz, CA
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Re: Question about enclosures and outside temperatures

Post by Jameson »

In our experience, the concern usually has to do more with heat than with cold. As long as the enclosure is in a shaded location you should be fine. The issue comes if the clear enclosure is mounted in very hot direct sun, the clear lid can act like a magnifying glass. Electronics really hate heat, it will tend to lower their lifespan.

We have not noticed as many issues with our electric meters or Push gateways in the cold. They do have maximum and minimum temperature ratings (which can be found on the spec sheets) but to be honest I have never seen an issue that was attributed to cold. We have customers in Northern Canada and Alaska that have their meters out in the brutal cold without issues. The Omnimeters and Push consume about a watt, so they do not generate much heat themselves.

Either way, I like to leave a few openings on the bottom edge of the watertight enclosure, these allow for a little bit of venting and drain any moisture or humidity that may accumulate. I find it better than trying to tightly seal everything in the enclosure.

If you are interested in monitoring temperatures, you can either connect a temperature switch to the input of an Omnimeter Pulse v.4 to monitor the temperature (via On/Off state) or if you are feeling adventurous you can checkout our new EKM ioStack which will be amazing for monitoring temperatures via the 4 analog inputs or 4 1wire sensor inputs!!: https://www.ekmmetering.com/collections ... ts/iostack
Jameson
EKM METERING
http://www.ekmmetering.com
831.425.7371
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