Essential Install | Smart Thinking: Cables
iDaC Solutions supply
a variety of high
performance network
cabling products
Connecting
the costs
iDaC Solutions’ technical director, Paul Hunter, reveals the surprising
cost of cables and how to lower the overall operating price.
More than ever before, businesses are looking to move
their offices and industrial facilities to a smart building
or Internet of Things (IoT) model and relying on a
converged IT/OT infrastructure to provide automated
building management services and integrated
manufacturing. By adopting this strategy, companies
are hoping to optimise operational efficiency, increase
productivity, reduce power consumption and provide a
better working environment for staff.
This is achieved by using Power over Ethernet (PoE)
devices or ‘things’, such as IP cameras and door entry
systems, lighting, HVAC and manufacturing sensors,
running over standard twisted pair data cabling. This
reduces the need for a secondary, parallel electrical
cabling system and improves the level of real time
monitoring and data analytics available to the client.
Some may consider using a higher category data
cable for offices, data centres and other business critical
applications, and a lower category of cabling to support
the PoE / IoT equipment. The standards define the
minimum cabling spec as Cat5e for new PoE and PoE Plus
installations (using type 2-4). However, as higher power
PoE devices become more common, it’s generally agreed
that higher category cabling systems (Cat6A or above)
should be used.
Table created
by Datwyler HQ.
Figures shown are
an illustration to
demonstrate relative
cost savings between
different categories
of data cabling
Cable
1 Price (€/km)
2 Electricity price (€/kWh)
More information: iDaC Solutions 02380 279 999,
idacs.uk.com
CU7702 (AWG22)
Cat7A CU7080 (AWG23)
Cat 7 CU5502 (AWG 24)
Cat 5e Comment
600.00 510.00 461.00 Relative Example
0.20 0.20 0.20 Comparative example only
#
3 Lifetime (Years) 6 6 6 4 Amperage PoE+ (mA) Type 3 600 600 600 As per standard
5 Resistance (Ώ/km) 116 140 155 Datwyler Cable spec.
6 Power loss (W/km) 41.76 50.4 55.8 P= I² * R
W= P/1000 * t
7 Energy loss (kWh/km) 2194.9 2649.0 2932.8 8 Higher energy costs (€/km) 438.98 529.80 586.56 [7]*[2]
9 Total Cost (€/km) 1038.98 1039.80 1047.56 [8]+[1]
t = 6x365x24 (hours in 6 years)
#
6 Years ROI
24 | October 2017
With larger wire gauge sizes and shielding, higher
specification cables offer reduced insertion loss, better
heat dissipation, improved power delivery and greater
network efficiency.
As a result, they improve return on investment (ROI) –
as the chart below illustrates.
The total cost of the cabling system (expressed in €/
km) can be calculated by combining the price of the cable
/ km with the energy cost – taking into account kWh/km.
As shown, Cat7 and 7A cables cost more than Cat5e
initially, but their overall operating costs are lower.
As PoE applications become more demanding and
devices require more power, there will be increased
current and therefore increased temperatures in the
cable conductor (core). In the short term, this can result in
attenuation of signal and power to the device and in the
long term create damage to the cable jacket and latency
every time a new device is added. Using a cable with a
larger core size will reduce this effect.
This applies to permanently installed solid core cables
and also flexible patch leads, so higher spec patch leads
should be considered for connection to wireless access
points and/or CCTV cameras.