How do I set up a schedule alarm to detect off-hours consumption?

Schedule alarms monitor your meters during specific time windows — typically when a building should be unoccupied or equipment should be off. They are ideal for catching unexpected after-hours usage that wastes energy and money.

Configuration fields (schedule_config)

Days: Which days to monitor — select from mon, tue, wed, thu, fri, sat, sun. Example: check "sat" and "sun" for weekend monitoring.
Start time / End time: The time window in HH:mm format. Example: 22:00 to 06:00 monitors overnight.
Expected usage: How much consumption you expect during that window:
- zero — No usage expected (0 kWh). Any reading above zero triggers the alarm.
- low — Minimal standby usage (25% of normal). Triggers if reading exceeds 25% of the meter's average.
- medium — Reduced but not zero (50% of normal). For buildings with partial overnight operations.
- high — Near-normal usage (75% of normal). For monitoring slight deviations only.

Step-by-step setup

Go to Analytics → Alarms (Dynamic Threshold tab)
Select the meter to monitor
The pattern analysis panel on the left shows weekday vs weekend averages — if it says "System likely off on weekends," a schedule alarm makes sense
Enable "Schedule-aware (weekday/weekend)" in the threshold configuration
Set your days, time window, and expected usage level
Choose severity (warning or critical) and notification channels
Activate the alarm

Common schedule alarm scenarios

Office building: Monitor electricity sat–sun, all day, expected = zero. Catches lights or HVAC left running.
School: Monitor heating mon–fri, 18:00–06:00, expected = low. Allows setback heating but catches full-power overnight.
Retail store: Monitor electricity mon–sun, 22:00–07:00, expected = low. Catches equipment left on after closing.

Tip: Combine a schedule alarm with a threshold alarm on the same meter for comprehensive monitoring — the threshold catches daytime spikes while the schedule catches off-hours waste.

Where to configure: Analytics → Alarms → Dynamic Threshold tab → Schedule-aware option.