Janitza: Electrical measurement, power quality and GridVis software

Janitza develops electrical measurement instruments and GridVis software for energy management, power quality and residual-current monitoring.

Summary

Best for
Industrial and building projects combining consumption data with power-quality or residual-current monitoring.
Less suited to
A simple plug-in appliance monitor: the cited UMG instruments are distribution-system devices, and functions depend on the exact model.
Deployment
Local UMG measurement instruments and optional GridVis software, with model-specific network interfaces.
Data in
Documented Modbus mappings; selected models add PROFINET, Ethernet or MQTT. GridVis exposes software-level data interfaces.
Pricing
Instrument, software edition and licensed scope are separate selection decisions.

Overview

Janitza treats energy consumption, power quality and residual-current monitoring as related but distinct engineering tasks. Its GridVis software description spans all three, while the measurement portfolio provides different instruments and system components to supply the underlying data. That distinction is important: software cannot recover an electrical event that the chosen instrument never captured.

For a project comparing meters, the useful starting point is therefore the required measurement and response. A consumption total, an electrical-quality investigation and residual-current supervision need different inputs and capabilities. A common UMG family name helps identify a product range, but it does not establish that every model performs each of those tasks.

Offering

The UMG 96RM-PN is specifically positioned for PROFINET integration, with digital inputs and outputs accessible through both Modbus and PROFINET. That is a named model with a specific automation role, not a feature that should be attributed to every UMG 96 instrument.

The UMG 96-EL instead highlights direct Ethernet connectivity with Modbus TCP/IP and MQTT. For the UMG 96-PQ-L, Janitza publishes a separate Modbus address list. These examples show why a comparison should retain the full suffix: closely related model names can lead to different interfaces, integration work and measurement capabilities. The right choice follows the receiving system and the quantities needed at that point in the installation.

Products and platforms

  1. GridVis

    Monitoring software

    Energy, power-quality and residual-current analysis with data interfaces.5

Technology

Janitza's UMG 96-PQ-L register documentation provides a model-specific Modbus reference. This is the appropriate level for defining addresses and data interpretation in an external collector. A vendor-wide “Janitza Modbus” setting can hide important differences between instrument models or revisions.

The software layer is separate. GridVis describes connectivity through OPC UA, REST API and CSV alongside visualisation, alarms and reports. These are software-level interfaces rather than a claim that every connected UMG meter exposes those protocols directly. For a system design, that distinction determines whether an external application talks to an instrument, a serial/Ethernet collection path or the monitoring software's own data interface.

Markets

Janitza's data-centre guidance describes power-quality reports, dashboards and tools for electrical availability. This is a useful example of a project where annual kWh alone is insufficient: an operator may also need to understand disturbances and the condition of the electrical supply. That requires suitably capable instruments as well as a software view.

Its broader energy-measurement portfolio addresses measurements across electrical infrastructure, with data exports into other management systems. For industrial plants and buildings, the practical comparison is between the measurement points and analysis required, rather than the size of a dashboard. Adding more software functions does not by itself add measurement channels or improve an instrument's physical accuracy.

Company

Janitza's company history traces its origins to Eugen Janitza's business, founded in 1961, and distinguishes the creation of Janitza electronics in 1986. Its anniversary account records the expansion of production in Lahnau and development of the UMG measurement range. The founding note here preserves that distinction rather than presenting the two dates as contradictory.

The company develops measurement hardware and software around electrical infrastructure. For buyers, that combination offers a documented path from an instrument to a monitoring application, while still leaving room for external collection through supported interfaces. The decision should remain model-specific: the firm's history and product breadth do not imply that any one device implements its entire portfolio of functions.

Alternatives in power metering and monitoring

What to look for in power metering and monitoring

References

  1. Future with tradition: made in Germany (opens in a new tab)
  2. 40 years of Janitza electronics (opens in a new tab)
  3. UMG 96RM-PN (opens in a new tab)
  4. UMG 96-PQ-L Modbus address list (opens in a new tab) (PDF)
  5. GridVis 9 power grid monitoring software (opens in a new tab)
  6. Janitza energy measurement portfolio (opens in a new tab)
  7. UMG 96-EL energy analyser (opens in a new tab)
  8. GridVis for data centres (opens in a new tab)

This profile does not imply a commercial relationship with Janitza and may contain inaccuracies.