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Raleigh, N.C. — Jan. 16, 2015 — Power management company Eaton announced a two-year contract to provide the Mount Washington Observatory (MWO) with integrated power management solutions.
Located in North Conway, N.H., the non-profit institution faces some of the world’s harshest weather conditions, including wind gusts in excess of 100 mph, direct lightning strikes, and heavy winter snowstorms that can knock out electricity. Amid this unpredictable weather, Eaton’s power backup and monitoring solutions help the observatory to keep systems up-and-running.
“The MWO facility can’t have any interruptions in power and Eaton’s power management solutions provide the protection we need to deal with some of the world’s worst weather,” said Cyrena-Marie Briedé, director of summit operations at the observatory. “Our observations are taken every hour on the hour, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. With backup power and a service plan that address our unique needs, Eaton’s platform serves as the backbone holding our entire information technology (IT) infrastructure together.”
Dedicated to advancing the understanding of global weather and climate patterns, the observatory maintains a mountaintop station that conducts research and collects real-time data that feeds into the National Weather Service’s forecast models. To help avoid downtime and protect against critical data loss, MWO uses an Eaton 9355 uninterruptible power system (UPS) for backup power with scalable runtimes. The solution is backed by a cohesive service plan that features preventive maintenance twice a year and an eight-hour response time in the event of a critical alarm.
“By combining Eaton’s advanced power backup solutions with regular preventive maintenance, we can predict future power events such as the batteries or capacitors going bad, and even smaller failures like a fan or circuit board,” said Brian Tenters, Northeast area supervisor, Eaton. “MWO’s service plan will help keep consistent uptime through some of the worst weather conditions on the planet. Eaton’s remote-monitoring capabilities will also allow MWO to keep tabs on its power and equipment needs from virtually anywhere.”
The UPS is paired with Eaton’s eNotify Remote Monitoring software, which provides MWO with 24x7 real-time power monitoring, supported by trained Eaton service and support technicians. Eaton’s Environmental Monitoring Probe also allows MWO to monitor the conditions in its network closet, including ambient temperature and humidity, for added reliability.
With the help of Eaton’s integrated power management platform deployed, MWO seeks to achieve 100 percent uptime, maintaining its 80-year continuous weather history and remaining a go-to source for data.
