Escalator power consumption compared to pedestrian counting data

The energy efficiency of two escalators of different age was evaluated at a subway station in Helsinki, Finland. For this, the escalators' pedestrian counting data and power consumption data were collected for one week. This was done using an infrared beam pedestrian counting sensor and a power logger, both with automatic data acquisition. The measurement results showed remarkable differences between the test escalators. This suggests that pedestrian counting together with power measurements can be exploited in comparing energy efficiency of different escalators. The sensor-based pedestrian counting can further provide a useful tool for condition monitoring of escalators, and adjustment of their energy saving settings based on the periodical pedestrian patterns.