Getting started

PowerSense is organised around lists: one per distro or circuit. Each list has its own feed, its own loads and its own cable runs. The site overview at the bottom adds them all up.

Quick start

1. Open PowerSense from the dashboard.
2. In Feed & phases, choose the Region — Europe (230/400 V, mm²) or North America (120/208 V, AWG) — and the Feed the venue is giving you (for example CEE 32 A · 400 V · 3-ph). Choose Custom… to type the breaker per phase and the phase count yourself.
3. Leave Power factor at 0.95 (typical rig) and pick a Safety margin — +25 % is a sensible default for a rig with amp racks or motors.
4. In Loads per phase, pick a device from Add device and press Add. Presets are grouped as Lighting, Audio, Video, Backline and Stage & other; edit the name, power and quantity in the row.
5. Watch the phase bars, Total load, Worst phase and Headroom update as you add gear.
6. Press + New list for the next distro and repeat.

The screen

• Feed & phases — region, feed, power factor, safety margin, then the live per-phase bars and totals. Generator feeds show Generator: keep continuous load ≤ 70 %.
• Loads per phase — the device table: Device, Power, Qty, Phase, and per-row actions (☆ save to My gear, duplicate, remove). Auto-balance phases, Pin auto phases and Clear list sit underneath.
• Cable runs — one row per cable with its verdict. See Check cable runs.
• All lists — site overview — every list with feed, load, worst phase, headroom and a status, plus Export CSV and Print phase plan. See Hand the plan to the venue.
• ? (top right) — the help dialog: the formulas, the eight good practices and the workflow.

Core concepts

• Units. Enter a device in W, VA or A. Plated amps count toward the phase directly; W and VA are converted at the mains voltage using the power factor.
• Phase assignment. A device set to auto is placed largest-first on the lightest phase, and the row shows where it landed (auto → L2). Set a phase by hand for anything that is physically fixed. Choose 3-ph for 400 V racks, motor controllers and hoists — the load then lands on all three phases in full.
• Pin auto phases freezes the plan so adding a device does not reshuffle a sheet you already printed.
• Headroom is what is left on the worst phase after the safety margin. The readout turns amber below 20 %. In the site overview a list is Tight below 20 % headroom (30 % on a generator feed) and Overloaded when the worst phase exceeds the breaker.
• My gear. Press ☆ on a row to save that device as a one-tap chip above the table; Forget removes it. Lists and gear sync with your account — see Account sync.

Next

• Check cable runs — check every run for rating and voltage drop.
• Hand the plan to the venue — export the CSV or print the plan for the house electrician.